Genesis 2
1 The heavens, the earth, and all their vast array were finished.
That is the way God created the heavens and the earth.
2 On the seventh day God finished his work which he had done; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had done.
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 God blessed the seventh day, and made it holy, because he rested in it from all his work of creation which he had done.
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 history of the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens.
That is how God created the heavens and the earth. God, whose name is Yahweh, made the heavens and the earth.
5 No plant of the field was yet in the earth, and no herb of the field had yet sprung up; for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the earth. There was not a man to till 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 a mist went 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 The LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
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 The LORD God planted a garden eastward, in Eden, and there he put the man whom 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 made every tree to grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food, including the tree of life in the middle of the garden 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 A river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it was parted, and became the source of four rivers.
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 is Pishon: it flows 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 good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also 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 is the same river that flows 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. This is the one which flows in front of Assyria. 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 The LORD God took the man, and put him into 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 The LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may freely eat of 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 shall not eat of 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 said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make him a helper comparable to him.”
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 Out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of the field, and every bird of the sky, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them. Whatever the man called every living creature became 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 livestock, and to the birds of the sky, and to every animal of the field; but for man there was not found a helper comparable to him.
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 The LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep. As the man slept, he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh in its place.
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 The LORD God made a woman from the rib which he had taken from the man, and brought her to the man.
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 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh. She will be called ‘woman,’ because she was taken out of Man.”
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 Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be 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 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.
