Genesis 2
1 And so the heavens and the earth were completed, with all their adornment.
That is the way God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And on the seventh day, God fulfilled his work, which he had made. And on the seventh day he rested from all his work, which he had accomplished.
By the time it was the seventh day, God had finished the work of creating everything, so he did not work any more on that day.
3 And he blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. For in it, he had ceased from all his work: the work whereby God created whatever he should make.
God blessed each seventh day, and he set those days apart to be special days, because on the seventh day God did not work any more, after finishing all his work of creating everything.
4 These are the generations of heaven and earth, when they were created, in the day when the Lord God made heaven and earth,
That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
5 and every sapling of the field, before it would rise up in the land, and every wild plant, before it would germinate. For the Lord God had not brought rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the land.
At first there were no plants growing, because Yahweh God had not yet caused rain to fall on the ground. Furthermore, there was no one to till the ground for planting crops.
6 But a fountain ascended from the earth, irrigating the entire surface of the land.
Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that it watered the surface of the ground.
7 And then the Lord God formed man from the clay of the earth, and he breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.
Then Yahweh God took some soil and formed a man. He breathed into the man’s nostrils his own breath that gives life, and as a result the man became a living person.
8 Now the Lord God had planted a Paradise of enjoyment from the beginning. In it, he placed the man whom he had formed.
Yahweh God made a park/garden in a place named Eden, which was east of the land of Canaan, and he put there the man that he had created.
9 And from the soil the Lord God produced every tree that was beautiful to behold and pleasant to eat. And even the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Yahweh God also put there every kind of tree that is beautiful to see and that produced fruit that was good to eat. He also placed in the middle of the park/garden a tree [whose fruit would enable those who ate it] to live forever. He also placed there another tree whose fruit would enable those who ate it to know what actions were good [to do] and what actions were evil [to do].
10 And a river went forth from the place of enjoyment so as to irrigate Paradise, which is divided from there into four heads.
A river flowed from Eden to provide water for the park/garden. Outside of Eden, the river divided into four rivers.
11 The name of one is the Phison; it is that which runs through all the land of Hevilath, where gold is born;
The name of the first river is Pishon. That river flows through all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 and the gold of that land is the finest. In that place is found bdellium and the onyx stone.
That gold (is very pure/has no impurities in it). There is [also a sweet-smelling gum called] bdellium, and valuable stones called onyx.
13 And the name of the second river is the Gehon; it is that which runs through all the land of Ethiopia.
The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cain.
14 Truly, the name of the third river is the Tigris; it advances opposite the Assyrians. But the fourth river, it is the Euphrates.
The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of [the city of] Asshur. The name of the fourth river is Euphrates.
15 Thus, the Lord God brought the man, and put him into the Paradise of enjoyment, so that it would be attended and preserved by him.
Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden park/garden to till/cultivate it and take care of it.
16 And he instructed him, saying: “From every tree of Paradise, you shall eat.
But Yahweh said to him, “You must not eat the fruit of the tree that will enable you to know what actions are good to do and what actions are evil to do. If you eat any fruit from that tree, on that day your relationship with me will end. But I will permit you to eat the fruit of any of the other trees in the park/garden.”
17 But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in whatever day you will eat from it, you will die a death.”
18 The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.”
Then Yahweh God said, “It is not good for this man to be alone. So I will make someone who will be a suitable partner for him.”
19 Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature, that would be its name.
Yahweh God had taken some soil and had formed from it all kinds of animals and birds, and he brought them to the man to hear what names he would give them.
20 And Adam called each of the living things by their names: all the flying creatures of the air, and all the wild beasts of the land. Yet truly, for Adam, there was not found a helper similar to himself.
Then the man gave names to all the kinds of livestock and birds and wild animals, but none of these creatures was a partner that was suitable for the man.
21 And so the Lord God sent a deep sleep upon Adam. And when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and he completed it with flesh for it.
So Yahweh God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. While the man was sleeping, Yahweh took out one of the man’s ribs. Then he immediately closed the opening in his body [and healed it].
22 And the Lord God built up the rib, which he took from Adam, into a woman. And he led her to Adam.
Yahweh then made a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man’s body, and he brought her to the man.
23 And Adam said: “Now this is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh. This one shall be called woman, because she was taken from man.”
The man exclaimed, “[Wow]! This is truly (someone like me/what I was looking for!) She is truly from my bones and from my flesh. So I will call her woman, because she was taken from me, a man.”
24 For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh.
[The first woman was taken from the man’s body, ] so that is why when a man and a woman marry, they must leave their parents. The man will join very closely to his wife, so that the two of them will be as though they are one person.
25 Now they were both naked: Adam, of course, and his wife. And they were not ashamed.
Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about that.
