Genesis 2

1Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all their multitude. 2And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. 3So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.

4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

Another Account of the Creation

In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5when 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 no one to till the ground; 6but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed man from the dust of the ground,#2.7 Or formed a man (Heb adam) of dust from the ground (Heb adamah) and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground the Lord God made 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.

10A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 11The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, 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 Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and keep it. 16And the Lord God commanded the man, “You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die.”

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper as his partner.” 19So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought 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 cattle, and to the birds of the air, and to every animal of the field; but for the man#2.20 Or for Adam there was not found a helper as his partner. 21So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and he slept; then he 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 into a woman and brought her to the man. 23Then the man said,

“This at last is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called Woman,#2.23 Heb ishshah

for out of Man#2.23 Heb ish this one was taken.”

24Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.

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Genesis 2

Day number 7

1God finished making everything. He finished making the sky, and the earth, and everything that is on the earth too. 2After God finished all that, it was day number 7, and God rested on that day.#Hebrews 4:4, 10 3So God made day number 7 a good and special day. He said, “I’ve finished making everything now, and I’m resting on day number 7. So day number 7 is a special day.”#Exodus 20:11

At first everything was different

4This story is about the time when God made the earth and the sky. 5At first, God didn’t send any rain on the earth, and there were no people to make the ground right for the plants. So nothing was growing on the earth at that time. 6Water used to come up from under the ground and wet the top of all the ground.

God made the first man

7God took some dirt, and he made a man out of it. Then God breathed into the man’s nose, and God’s breath gave him life. So that man became a living person.#1 Corinthians 15:45

The garden in Eden

8Then God made a garden in a place called Eden. It was in the east part of the land. And God put the man in that garden. 9And God made some trees grow there in that garden. They were pretty, and they had fruit that was good to eat. And God put 2 special trees in the middle of the garden. If people eat the fruit of one of those trees, they will stay alive. And if they eat the fruit from the other tree, they will know if the things they do are good, or if they are bad.#Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14

10A river started in Eden, and it watered the garden. Then that river flowed out and split up into 4 rivers. 11The 1st river was called Pishon. It flowed around the land called Havilah. In that country there was lots of gold. 12It was really good gold. And there were pretty stones, and a good-smelling gum that comes from a tree too.

13The 2nd river was called Gihon. It flowed all around the country called Cush.

14The 3rd river was called Tigris. It flowed east of the country called Assyria.

The 4th river was called Euphrates.

15God put the man into the garden in Eden and gave him some work to do. He had to look after the garden and make sure all the plants grew strong and healthy.

The special tree

16And God told the man, “You can eat fruit from the trees in this garden. 17There is only one tree that you can’t eat its fruit. You can’t eat the fruit from that tree that lets you know if the things you do are good, or if they are bad. I’m telling you, if you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die, for sure.”

God made the first woman

18And God said, “It is not good for this man to be by himself. I’m going to make somebody else to be a mate for the man, somebody that will be good for him.”

19And God made all the animals and birds out of dirt from the ground, and he brought them to the man. God wanted the man to give all the animals and birds their names. The man could say any name he wanted for each one, and those names stayed with them. 20So the man gave each animal a name. He named all the wild animals, and all the animals that are not wild, and all the birds. That man’s own name was Adam. (That name means man.) There were lots of animals and birds, but none of them were the right sort of mate that was good for Adam.

21So God made the man go to sleep. It was a really strong deep sleep. And while he was asleep, God took out one of his rib bones. Then God closed up the place where that rib was. 22Then God used the man’s rib bone and made a woman from it. After the man woke up, God took the woman over to the man. 23The man looked at that woman, and he said, “This is really good. Now I have a mate. God took out a part of my body, and he made it into a mate for me. Yes, he used my rib bone to make her. God made her out of a man’s body, so I’m going to call her woman.”

24That’s how God made a woman, he made her out of a man’s body. That is the reason why a man will leave his mother and father and marry a woman. The man and his wife will join with each other, and their bodies will be like one body.#Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31

25The man and his wife didn’t have any clothes on. They were both naked, but they didn’t feel any shame.

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