Adam and Eve

4 This is the accountr of the heavens and the earth when they were created,s when the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.

5 Now no shrub had yet appeared on the eartha and no plant had yet sprung up,t for the Lord God had not sent rain on the earthu and there was no one to work the ground, 6 but streamsb came up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground. 7 Then the Lord God formedv a manc w from the dustx of the groundy and breathed into his nostrils the breathz of life,a and the man became a living being.b

8 Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden;c and there he put the man he had formed. 9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground—treesd that were pleasing to the eye and good for food. In the middle of the garden were the tree of lifee and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.f

10 A riverg watering the garden flowed from Eden;h from there it was separated into four headwaters. 11 The name of the first is the Pishon; it winds through the entire land of Havilah,i where there is gold. 12 (The gold of that land is good; aromatic resind j and onyx are also there.) 13 The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the entire land of Cush.e 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris;k it runs along the east side of Ashur. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.l

15 The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Edenm to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden;n 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil,o for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”p

18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”q

19 Now the Lord God had formed out of the ground all the wild animalsr and all the birds in the sky.s He brought them to the man to see what he would name them; and whatever the man calledt each living creature,u that was its name. 20 So the man gave names to all the livestock, the birds in the sky and all the wild animals.

But for Adamf no suitable helperv was found. 21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep;w and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribsg and then closed up the place with flesh. 22 Then the Lord God made a woman from the ribh x he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man.

23 The man said,

“This is now bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;y

she shall be calledz ‘woman,’

for she was taken out of man.a”

24 That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is unitedb to his wife, and they become one flesh.c