Genesis 2
1 That is the way God created the heavens and the earth.
Then the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the living things that filled them.
2 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.
On the seventh day God came to the end of his work which he had done, and so he rested on the seventh day from all his work.
3 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.
God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it he rested from all his work which he had done in his creation.
4 That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
These were the events concerning the heavens and the earth, when they were created, on the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens.
5 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.
No bush of the field was yet in the earth, and no plant of the field had yet sprouted, for Yahweh God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6 Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that it watered the surface of the ground.
But a mist went up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
7 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.
Yahweh God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living being.
8 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.
Yahweh God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom he had formed.
9 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].
Out of the ground Yahweh God made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. This included the tree of life that was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 A river flowed from Eden to provide water for the park/garden. Outside of Eden, the river divided into four rivers.
A river went out of Eden to water the garden. From there it divided and became four rivers.
11 The name of the first river is Pishon. That river flows through all the land of Havilah, where there is gold.
The name of the first is Pishon. It is the one which flows throughout the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 That gold (is very pure/has no impurities in it). There is [also a sweet-smelling gum called] bdellium, and valuable stones called onyx.
The gold of that land is good. There are also bdellium and the onyx stone.
13 The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cain.
The name of the second river is Gihon. This one flows throughout the whole land of Cush.
14 The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of [the city of] Asshur. The name of the fourth river is Euphrates.
The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Ashur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden park/garden to till/cultivate it and take care of it.
Yahweh God took the man and put him into the garden of Eden to work it and to maintain it.
16 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.”
Yahweh God commanded the man, saying, “From every tree in the garden you may freely eat.
But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you may not eat, for on the day that you eat from it, you will surely die.”
18 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.”
Then Yahweh God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
19 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.
Out of the ground Yahweh God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the sky. Then he brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name.
20 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.
The man gave names to all the livestock, to all the birds of the sky, and to every beast of the field. But for the man himself there was found no helper suitable for him.
21 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].
Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, so the man slept. Yahweh God took one of his ribs and closed up the flesh where he took the rib.
22 Yahweh then made a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man’s body, and he brought her to the man.
With the rib that Yahweh God had taken from the man, he made a woman and brought her to the man.
23 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.”
The man said, “This time, this one is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called 'woman,' because she was taken out of man.”
24 [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.
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, he will be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
25 Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about that.
They were both naked, the man and his wife, but were not ashamed.
