1Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed.a 2* On the seventh day God completed the work he had been doing; he rested on the seventh day from all the work he had undertaken.b 3God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work he had done in creation.c

I. The Story of the Nations

The Garden of Eden. 4This is the story* of the heavens and the earth at their creation. When the Lord God made the earth and the heavens— 5there was no field shrub on earth and no grass of the field had sprouted, for the Lord God had sent no rain upon the earth and there was no man* to till the ground, 6but a stream* was welling up out of the earth and watering all the surface of the ground— 7then the Lord God formed the man* out of the dust of the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.d

8The Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east,* and placed there the man whom he had formed.e 9* Out of the ground the Lord God made grow every tree that was delightful to look at and good for food, with the tree of life in the middle of the garden and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.f

10A river rises in Eden* to water the garden; beyond there it divides and becomes four branches. 11The name of the first is the Pishon; it is the one that winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. 12The gold of that land is good; bdellium and lapis lazuli are also there. 13The name of the second river is the Gihon; it is the one that winds all through the land of Cush.g 14The name of the third river is the Tigris; it is the one that flows east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

15The Lord God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it.h 16The Lord God gave the man this order: You are free to eat from any of the trees of the gardeni 17except the tree of knowledge of good and evil. From that tree you shall not eat; when you eat from it you shall die.* j

18The Lord God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.* k 19So the Lord God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them; whatever the man called each living creature was then its name. 20The man gave names to all the tame animals, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals; but none proved to be a helper suited to the man.

21So the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.l 22The Lord God then built the rib that he had taken from the man into a woman. When he brought her to the man, 23the man said:

24m That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.*

25The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.*