Genesis 2

The Seventh Day, God Rests

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 creation of the heavens and the earth and everything in them was completed. 2On the seventh day God had finished his work of creation, so he rested#2:2 Or ceased; also in 2:3. from all his work. 3And God blessed the seventh day and declared it holy, because it was the day when he rested from all his work of creation.

4This is the account of the creation of the heavens and the earth.

The Man and Woman in Eden

When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens, 5neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil. 6Instead, springs#2:6 Or mist. came up from the ground and watered all the land. 7Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

8Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. 9The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10A river flowed from the land of Eden, watering the garden and then dividing into four branches. 11The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found. 12The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there. 13The second branch, called the Gihon, flowed around the entire land of Cush. 14The third branch, called the Tigris, flowed east of the land of Asshur. The fourth branch is called the Euphrates.

15The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it. 16But the Lord God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden— 17except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”

18Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.” 19So the Lord God formed from the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the sky. He brought them to the man#2:19 Or Adam, and so throughout the chapter. to see what he would call them, and the man chose a name for each one. 20He gave names to all the livestock, all the birds of the sky, and all the wild animals. But still there was no helper just right for him.

21So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man slept, the Lord God took out one of the man’s ribs#2:21 Or took a part of the man’s side. and closed up the opening. 22Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib, and he brought her to the man.

23“At last!” the man exclaimed.

“This one is bone from my bone,

and flesh from my flesh!

She will be called ‘woman,’

because she was taken from ‘man.’”

24This explains why a man leaves his father and mother and is joined to his wife, and the two are united into one.

25Now the man and his wife were both naked, but they felt no shame.

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