Genesis 2
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.
© 2021, Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. All rights reserved.
Genesis 2
2
1And so the whole universe was completed. 2#Heb 4.4, 10 #Ex 20.11By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. 3He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation#2.3 by that day he had completed his creation; or on that day he completed his creation. and stopped working. 4And that is how the universe was created.
The Garden of Eden
When the LORD#2.4 the lord: See LORD in Word List God made the universe, 5there were no plants on the earth and no seeds had sprouted, because he had not sent any rain, and there was no one to cultivate the land; 6but water would come up from beneath the surface and water the ground.
7 # 1 Cor 15.45 Then the LORD God took some soil from the ground and formed a man#2.7 ground… man: The Hebrew words for “man” and “ground” have similar sounds. out of it; he breathed life-giving breath into his nostrils and the man began to live.
8Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the East, and there he put the man he had formed. 9#Rev 2.7; 22.2, 14He made all kinds of beautiful trees grow there and produce good fruit. In the middle of the garden stood the tree that gives life and the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.#2.9, 2.17 knowledge of what is good and what is bad; or knowledge of everything.
10A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers. 11The first river is the Pishon; it flows round the country of Havilah. 12(Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.) 13The second river is the Gihon; it flows round the country of Cush.#2.13 Cush (of Mesopotamia); or Ethiopia. 14The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15Then the LORD God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to cultivate it and guard it. 16He said to him, “You may eat the fruit of any tree in the garden, 17except the tree that gives knowledge of what is good and what is bad.#2.17, 2.9 knowledge of what is good and what is bad; or knowledge of everything. You must not eat the fruit of that tree; if you do, you will die the same day.”
18Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to live alone. I will make a suitable companion to help him.” 19So he took some soil from the ground and formed all the animals and all the birds. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and that is how they all got their names. 20So the man named all the birds and all the animals; but not one of them was a suitable companion to help him.
21Then the LORD God made the man fall into a deep sleep, and while he was sleeping, he took out one of the man's ribs and closed up the flesh. 22He formed a woman out of the rib and brought her to him. 23Then the man said,
“At last, here is one of my own kind —
Bone taken from my bone, and flesh from my flesh.
‘Woman’ is her name because she was taken out of man.”#2.23 woman… man: The Hebrew words for “woman” and “man” have similar sounds.
24 # Mt 19.5; Mk 10.7–8; 1 Cor 6.16; Eph 5.31 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united with his wife, and they become one.
25The man and the woman were both naked, but they were not embarrassed.
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.