1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and #Deut. 4:19; Ps. 33:6all the host of them. 2And #Ex. 20:8-11; 31:17; Deut. 5:12-14; Heb. 4:4on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

The Creation of Man and Woman

4 # ch. 1:1 These are the generations

of the heavens and the earth when they were created,

in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5When no #[ch. 1:11, 12] bush of the field#2:5 Or open country was yet in the land#2:5 Or earth; also verse 6 and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man #ch. 3:23to work the ground, 6and a mist#2:6 Or spring was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed the man of #ch. 3:19, 23; 18:27; Ps. 103:14; Eccles. 12:7; 1 Cor. 15:47 dust from the ground and #ch. 7:22; Job 33:4; Isa. 2:22 breathed into his #Job 27:3 nostrils the breath of life, and #Cited 1 Cor. 15:45the man became a living creature. 8And the Lord God planted a #ver. 15; ch. 13:10; Isa. 51:3; Ezek. 28:13; 31:8; Joel 2:3garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground the Lord God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. #ch. 3:22; Rev. 2:7; 22:2, 14 The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, #ver. 17and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers. 11The name of the first is the Pishon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of #ch. 10:7, 29; 25:18; 1 Sam. 15:7Havilah, where there is gold. 12And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13The name of the second river is the Gihon. It is the one that flowed around the whole land of Cush. 14And the name of the third river is the #Dan. 10:4Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15The Lord God took the man #ver. 8and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil #ch. 3:1-3, 11, 17 you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat#2:17 Or when you eat of it you #Rom. 6:23; James 1:15shall surely die.”

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; #1 Cor. 11:9; 1 Tim. 2:13I will make him a helper fit for#2:18 Or corresponding to; also verse 20 him.” 19#ch. 1:20, 24 Now out of the ground the Lord God had formed#2:19 Or And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the heavens and #Ps. 8:6brought them to the man to see what he would call them. And whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name. 20The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam#2:20 Or the man there was not found a helper fit for him. 21So the Lord God caused a #ch. 15:12; 1 Sam. 26:12deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. 22And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made#2:22 Hebrew built into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is #ch. 29:14; Judg. 9:2; 2 Sam. 5:1; 19:13; [Eph. 5:28-30] bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

she shall be called Woman,

because she was #1 Cor. 11:8taken out of Man.”#2:23 The Hebrew words for woman (ishshah) and man (ish) sound alike

24 # Cited Matt. 19:5; Mark 10:7; 1 Cor. 6:16; Eph. 5:31; [Ps. 45:10; 1 Cor. 7:10, 11] Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.

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Genesis 2

1So the heavens and the earth and everything else were created.

The seventh day

2By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested.#Ex 20.11.#He 4.4,10. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it special because on that day he rested from his work.

4That's how God created the heavens and the earth.

The Garden of Eden

When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, 5no grass or plants were growing anywhere. God had not yet sent any rain, and there was no one to work the land. 6But streams#2.6 streams: Or “mist”. came up from the ground and watered the earth.

7The LORD God took a handful of soil and made a man.#2.7 man: In Hebrew “man” comes from the same word as “soil”. God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing.#1 Co 15.45. 8The LORD made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

9The LORD God placed all kinds of beautiful trees and fruit trees in the garden. Two other trees were in the middle of the garden. One of the trees gave life—the other gave the power to know the difference between right and wrong.#Rev 2.7; 22.2,14.

10From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. 11The first one is the River Pishon that flows through the land of Havilah, 12where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. 13The second is the River Gihon that winds through Ethiopia.#2.13 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has “Cush”, which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan. 14The River Tigris that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the River Euphrates.

15The LORD God put the man in the Garden of Eden to take care of it and to look after it. 16But the LORD told him, “You may eat fruit from any tree in the garden, 17except the one that has the power to let you know the difference between right and wrong. If you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die before the day is over!”

18The LORD God said, “It isn't good for the man to live alone. I need to make a suitable partner for him.” 19-20So the LORD took some soil and made animals and birds. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give each of them. Then the man named the tame animals and the birds and the wild animals. That's how they got their names.

None of these was the right kind of partner for the man. 21So the LORD God made him fall into a deep sleep, and he took out one of the man's ribs. Then after closing the man's side, 22the LORD made a woman out of the rib.

The LORD God brought her to the man, 23and the man exclaimed,

“Here is someone like me!

She is part of my body,

my own flesh and bones.

She came from me, a man.

So I will name her Woman!”#2.23 a man…woman: In Hebrew the words “man” and “woman” are similar.

24That's why a man will leave his own father and mother. He marries a woman, and the two of them become like one person.#Mt 19.5; Mk 10.7,8; 1 Co 6.16; Eph 5.31.

25Although the man and his wife were both naked, they were not ashamed.

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Genesis 2

Genesis 2