Genesis 2
1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
That is the way God created the heavens and the earth.
2 And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
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 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
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 This is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made them.
That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
5 Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted; for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate 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 springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that it watered the surface of the ground.
7 Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
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 the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man 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 Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life 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 Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
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 first river is Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
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 pure, and bdellium and onyx are found 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 The name of the second river is Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cain.
14 The name of the third river is Hiddekel; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the 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 Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden park/garden to till/cultivate it and take care of it.
16 And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden,
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 you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”
18 The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.”
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 the LORD God formed every beast of the field and every bird of the air, and He brought them to the man to see what he would name each one. And whatever the man called each living creature, 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 The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
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 So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
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 from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
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 the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
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 For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will 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 the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.
Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about that.
