Genesis 2
Wycliffe's Bible
1Therefore heavens and earth be made perfect, and all the ornament of those. (And so the heavens and the earth, and all their ornaments, were finished.) 2And God [ful]filled in the seventh day his work which he made; and he rested in the seventh day from all his work which he had made; (Yea, God finished his work by the seventh day; and so he rested on the seventh day from all the work which he had done;) 3and he blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; for in that day God ceased of all his work which he made of nought, that he should make. (and he blessed the seventh day, and made it holy; for on that day God ceased from all his work which he had made out of nothing, that he had intended to make.)

4These be the generations of heaven and of earth, in the day wherein the Lord God made heaven and earth, (These be the generations, or the creation, of the heavens and the earth, in the days when the Lord God made the heavens and the earth,) 5and each little tree of [the] earth before that it sprang out in [the] earth; and he made each herb of the field before that it burgeoned. For the Lord God had not (yet) rained on the earth, and no man there was that wrought the earth (and there was no man yet to work the earth); 6but a well went out of [the] earth, and moisted all the higher part of the earth. (but a well, or a mist, went up out of the ground, and watered all the earth’s surface.) 7Therefore the Lord God formed man of the slime of [the] earth, and breathed into his face the breathing of life; and man was made into a living soul. (And so the Lord God formed man out of the slime of the earth, and breathed into his face the breathe of life; and then the man was made into a living soul.) 8Forsooth the Lord God planted at the beginning (the) paradise of liking, wherein he set man whom he had formed. (And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and he put the man there whom he had formed.) 9And the Lord God brought forth (out) of the earth each tree fair in sight, and sweet to eat; also he brought forth the tree of life in the midst of paradise, and the tree of knowing of good and of evil (and he brought forth the tree of life in the middle of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil).

10And a river went out from the place of liking to moist paradise, which river is parted from thence into four heads. (And a river went out from Eden to water the garden, and this river was parted from there into four rivers.) 11The name of the one river is Pishon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh forth, (The name of the first river is Pishon, and it encircleth all the land of Havilah, where gold cometh from,) 12and the gold of that land is the best, and there is found bdellium, that is, a tree of spicery, and the stone onyx; (and the gold of that land is the best, and bdellium, that is, a spice tree, is also found there, and the onyx stone as well;) 13and the name of the second river is Gihon, that it is that compasseth all the land of Ethiopia (and it encircleth all the land of Ethiopia); 14forsooth the name of the third river is Tigris, that goeth against Assyrians (which floweth east of Assyria); soothly the fourth river is that Euphrates.

15Therefore the Lord God took man, and set him in (the) paradise of liking, that he should work and keep it. (And so the Lord God took the man, and put him in the Garden of Eden, so that he would work it, and care for it.) 16And God commanded to him and said, Eat thou of each tree of paradise; (And God commanded to him and said, Thou can eat of every tree in the garden;) 17forsooth eat thou not of the tree of knowing of good and of evil; for in whatever day thou shalt eat thereof, thou shalt die by death. (but thou shalt not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on the day that thou shalt eat of it, thou shalt die.)

18And the Lord God said, It is not good that a man be alone; make we to him an helper like to himself (let us make for him a helper like himself). 19And therefore when all living beasts of [the] earth, and all the volatiles of (the) heaven(s,) were formed of [the] earth, the Lord God brought those to Adam, that he should see what he should call those; for all thing that Adam called of living soul, that is the name thereof. (And so when all the living beasts of the earth, and all the birds of the air, were formed from the earth, the Lord God brought them to Adam, to see what he would call them; for whatever name that Adam called each thing with a living soul, that is its name.) 20And Adam called by their names all living things, and all volatiles [of (the) heaven(s)], and all unreasonable beasts of [the] earth. Forsooth to Adam was not found an helper like him. (And so Adam named all the living things, yea, all the birds of the air, and all the unreasoning beasts of the earth. But there was not found for Adam a helper like himself.) 21Therefore the Lord God sent sleep into Adam, and when he slept, God took one of his ribs, and filled flesh for it. (And so the Lord God sent sleep into Adam, and while he slept, God took one of his ribs, and then closed up the flesh over that place.) 22And the Lord God builded the rib which he had taken from Adam into a woman, and brought her to Adam.

23And Adam said, This is now a bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; this shall be called virago, for she is taken (out) of man (she shall be called Woman, for she was taken from Man).

24Wherefore a man shall forsake [his] father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall be twain in one flesh [and two shall be in one flesh]. 25Forsooth ever either was naked, that is, Adam and his wife, and they were not ashamed. (And both of them were naked, that is, the man and his wife, but they were not ashamed.)

WYCLIFFE’S BIBLE

Comprising of
Wycliffe’s Old Testament

and

Wycliffe’s New Testament
(Revised Edition)


Translated by

JOHN WYCLIFFE
and JOHN PURVEY


A modern-spelling edition of their
14TH century Middle English translation,
the first complete English vernacular version,
with an Introduction by

TERENCE P. NOBLE

Used by Permission

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