Genesis 2
1 And the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished.
That is the way God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And God had finished on the seventh day his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
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 God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that on it he rested from all his work which God had created in making it.
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 histories of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heavens,
That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
5 and every shrub of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground.
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 mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole surface of the ground.
Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that it watered the surface of the ground.
7 And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils 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 And Jehovah Elohim planted a garden in Eden eastward, and there put 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 out of the ground Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, 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 out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four main streams.
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 the one is Pison: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is.
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 good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there.
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 Gihon: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Cush.
The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cain.
14 And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which flows forward toward Asshur. And the fourth river, that is 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 And Jehovah Elohim took Man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to till it and to guard it.
Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden park/garden to till/cultivate it and take care of it.
16 And Jehovah Elohim commanded Man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt freely 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 of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.
18 And Jehovah Elohim said, It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like.
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 And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought [them] to Man, to see what he would call them; and whatever Man called each living soul, that was 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 Man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, he found no helpmate, his like.
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 Jehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Man; and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up flesh in its stead.
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 Jehovah Elohim built the rib that he had taken from Man into a woman; and brought her to Man.
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 Man said, This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a 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 Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become 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 And they were both naked, Man and his wife, and were not ashamed.
Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about that.
