2 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.”

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

19The Lord God had formed all of the wild animals. He had also formed all of the birds of the air. He had made all of them out of the ground. He brought them to the man to see what names he would give them. And the name the man gave each living creature became its name.

20So the man gave names to all of the livestock. He gave names to all of the birds of the air. And he gave names to all of the wild animals.

But Adam didn’t find a helper that was right for him. 21So the Lord God caused him to fall into a deep sleep. While the man was sleeping, the Lord God took out one of his ribs. He closed up the opening that was in his side.

22Then the Lord God made a woman. He made her from the rib he had taken out of the man. And he brought her to him.

23The man said,

“Her bones have come from my bones.

Her body has come from my body.

She will be named ‘woman,’

because she was taken out of a man.”

24That’s why a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife. The two of them will become one.

25The man and his wife were both naked. They didn’t feel any shame.