Genesis 2
2
1And the heaven and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. 2And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it: because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
4These are the generations of the heaven and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made earth and heaven. 5And no plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground; 6but there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground. 7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
8And the LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. 10And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four heads. 11The name of the first is Pishon: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone. 13And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Cush. 14And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth in front of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates. 15And the LORD God took the man, and put him into the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.
16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.
18And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. 19And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto the man to see what he would call them: and whatsoever the man called every living creature, that was the name thereof. 20And the man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for man there was not found an help meet for him.
21And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof: 22and the rib, which the LORD God had taken from the man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man. 23And the man said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. 24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. 25And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society
Genesis 2
2
The Seventh Day—Rest
1So the earth, the sky, and everything in them were finished. 2God finished the work he was doing, so on the seventh day he rested from his work. 3God blessed the seventh day and made it a holy day. He made it special because on that day he rested from all the work he did while creating the world.
The First Man and the Garden of Eden
4This is the story about the creation of the sky and the earth. This is what happened when the Lord God made the earth and the sky. 5This was before there were plants on the earth. Nothing was growing in the fields because the Lord God had not yet made it rain on the earth, and there was no one to care for the plants.
6So water#2:6 water Or “a mist.” came up from the earth and spread over the ground. 7Then the Lord God took dust from the ground and made a man.#2:7 man The Hebrew word means “man,” “people,” or the name “Adam.” It is like the word meaning “earth” or “red clay.” He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nose, and the man became a living thing. 8Then the Lord God planted a garden in the East,#2:8 East This usually means the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers as far east as the Persian Gulf. in a place named Eden. He put the man he made in that garden. 9Then the Lord God caused all the beautiful trees that were good for food to grow in the garden. In the middle of the garden, he put the tree of life and the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil.
10A river flowed from Eden and watered the garden. The river then separated and became four smaller rivers. 11The name of the first river was Pishon. This river flowed around the entire country of Havilah.#2:11 Havilah The land along the west coast of the Arabian peninsula and possibly, the part of Africa south of Ethiopia. 12(There is gold in that country, and that gold is pure. A kind of expensive perfume and onyx are also found there.) 13The name of the second river was Gihon. This river flowed around the whole land of Cush.#2:13 Cush Usually this means Ethiopia, but here, it probably refers to the area north and east of the Tigris River. 14The name of the third river was Tigris. This river flowed east of Assyria. The fourth river was the Euphrates.
15The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden to work the soil and take care of the garden. 16The Lord God gave him this command: “You may eat from any tree in the garden. 17But you must not eat from the tree that gives knowledge about good and evil. If you eat fruit from that tree, on that day you will certainly die!”
A Companion for Adam
18Then the Lord God said, “I see that it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make the companion he needs, one just right for him.”
19The Lord God used dust from the ground and made every animal in the fields and every bird in the air. He brought all these animals to the man, and the man gave them all a name. 20The man gave names to all the tame animals, to all the birds in the air, and to all the wild animals. He saw many animals and birds, but he could not find a companion that was right for him. 21So the Lord God caused the man to sleep very deeply. While he was asleep, God took one of the ribs from the man’s body. Then he closed the man’s skin where the rib had been. 22The Lord God used the rib from the man to make a woman. Then he brought the woman to the man. 23And the man said,
“Finally! One like me,
with bones from my bones
and a body from my body.
She was taken out of a man,
so I will call her ‘woman.’”
24That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife. In this way two people become one.
25The man and his wife were naked, but they were not ashamed.
© 1987, 2004 Bible League International