Genesis 2

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

The Seventh Day

2 # Ex 20.11. #He 4.4,10. By the seventh day God had finished his work, and so he rested. 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.

7 # Ws 15.8,11; 1 Co 15.45. The Lord God took some soil from the ground and made a man.#2.7 man: In Hebrew “man” comes from the same word as “ground.” God breathed life into the man, and the man started breathing. 8The Lord made a garden in a place called Eden, which was in the east, and he put the man there.

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

10From Eden a river flowed out to water the garden, then it divided into four rivers. 11The first one is the Pishon River that flows through the land of Havilah, 12where pure gold, rare perfumes, and precious stones are found. 13The second is the Gihon River 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 Tigris River that flows east of Assyria is the third, and the fourth is the Euphrates River.

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 will 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.

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

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

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Genesis 2

Shabbat For Rest

1So the heavens and the earth were completed along with their entire array.

2God completed—on the seventh day—His work that He made, and He ceased—on the seventh day—from all His work that He made.

3Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, for on it He ceased from all His work that God created for the purpose of preparing.

Humanity in Gan-Eden

4These are the genealogical records of the heavens and the earth when they were created, at the time when Adonai Elohim made land and sky.

5Now no shrub of the field was in the land yet, and no green plants of the field had sprouted yet. For Adonai Elohim had not caused it to rain upon the land, and there was no one to work the ground.

6But a mist came up from the land and watered the whole surface of the ground.

7Then Adonai Elohim formed the man out of the dust from the ground and He breathed into his nostrils a breath of life—so the man became a living being.

8Then Adonai Elohim planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there He put the man whom He had formed.

9Then Adonai Elohim caused to sprout from the ground every tree that was desirable to look at and good for food. Now the Tree of Life was in the middle of the garden, and also the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.

10A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became four riverheads.

11The name of the first is Pishon, the one that winds around the whole land of the Havilah, where there is gold.

12The gold of that land is good—bdellium and lapis lazuli stones are also there.

13The name of the second river is Gihon—it winds around the whole land of Cush.

14The name of the third river is Tigris—it runs east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.

15Then Adonai Elohim took the man and gave him rest in the Garden of Eden in order to cultivate and watch over it.

16Then Adonai Elohim commanded the man saying, “From all the trees of the garden you are most welcome to eat.

17But of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil you must not eat. For when you eat from it, you most assuredly will die!

18Then Adonai Elohim said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let Me make a well-matched helper for him.”

19Adonai Elohim had formed from the ground every animal of the field and every flying creature of the sky, so He brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called them—each living creature—that was its name.

20So the man gave names to all of the livestock, and to the flying creatures of the sky, and to all the animals of the field; but for the man He did not find a well-matched helper for him.

21Adonai Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall on the man and he slept; and He took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh in its place.

22Adonai Elohim built the rib, which He had taken from the man, into a woman. Then He brought her to the man.

23Then the man said, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh from my flesh. This one is called woman, for from man was taken this one.”

24This is why a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife; and they become one flesh.

From Innocence to Shame

25Now both of them were naked, the man and his wife, and they were not ashamed.

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