Genesis 2:1–17

So the heavens and the earth and everything in them were completed.

²By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing. So on the seventh day he rested from all of his work. ³God blessed the seventh day and made it holy. He rested on it. After he had created everything, he rested from all of the work he had done.

Adam and Eve

⁴Here is the story of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

The Lord God made the earth and the heavens. ⁵At that time, bushes had not appeared on the earth. Plants had not come up in the fields. The Lord God had not sent rain on the earth. And there wasn’t any man to work the ground. ⁶But streams came up from the earth. They watered the whole surface of the ground.

⁷Then the Lord God formed a man. He made him out of the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into him. And the man became a living person.

⁸The Lord God had planted a garden in the east. It was in Eden. There he put the man he had formed. ⁹The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground. Their fruit was pleasing to look at and good to eat.

The tree that gives life forever was in the middle of the garden. The tree that gives the ability to tell the difference between good and evil was also there.

¹⁰A river watered the garden. It flowed from Eden. From there it separated into four other rivers.

¹¹The name of the first river is the Pishon. It winds through the whole land of Havilah. Gold is found there. ¹²The gold of that land is good. Onyx and sweet-smelling resin are also found there.

¹³The name of the second river is the Gihon. It winds through the whole land of Cush. ¹⁴The name of the third river is the Tigris. It runs along the east side of Asshur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

¹⁵The Lord God put the man in the Garden of Eden. He put him there to work its ground and to take care of it.

¹⁶The Lord God gave the man a command. He said, “You can eat the fruit of any tree that is in the garden. ¹⁷But you must not eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you do, you can be sure that you will die.”