2:1 The heavens and the earth 1 were completed with everything that was in them. 2 2:2 By 3 the seventh day God finished the work that he had been doing, 4 and he ceased 5 on the seventh day all the work that he had been doing. 2:3 God blessed the seventh day and made it holy 6 because on it he ceased all the work that he 7 had been doing in creation. 8
The Creation of Man and Woman
2:4 This is the account 9 of the heavens and the earth 10 when they were created – when the Lord God 11 made the earth and heavens. 12
2:5 Now 13 no shrub of the field had yet grown on the earth, and no plant of the field 14 had yet sprouted, for the Lord God had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground. 15 2:6 Springs 16 would well up 17 from the earth and water 18 the whole surface of the ground. 19 2:7 The Lord God formed 20 the man from the soil of the ground 21 and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, 22 and the man became a living being. 23
2:8 The Lord God planted an orchard 24 in the east, 25 in Eden; 26 and there he placed the man he had formed. 27 2:9 The Lord God made all kinds of trees grow from the soil, 28 every tree that was pleasing to look at 29 and good for food. (Now 30 the tree of life 31 and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil 32 were in the middle of the orchard.)
2:10 Now 33 a river flows 34 from Eden 35 to water the orchard, and from there it divides 36 into four headstreams. 37 2:11 The name of the first is Pishon; it runs through 38 the entire land of Havilah, where there is gold. 2:12 (The gold of that land is pure; 39 pearls 40 and lapis lazuli 41 are also there). 2:13 The name of the second river is Gihon; it runs through 42 the entire land of Cush. 43 2:14 The name of the third river is Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. 44 The fourth river is the Euphrates.
2:15 The Lord God took the man and placed 45 him in the orchard in 46 Eden to care for it and to maintain it. 47 2:16 Then the Lord God commanded 48 the man, “You may freely eat 49 fruit 50 from every tree of the orchard, 2:17 but 51 you must not eat 52 from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when 53 you eat from it you will surely die.” 54
2:18 The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. 55 I will make a companion 56 for him who corresponds to him.” 57 2:19 The Lord God formed 58 out of the ground every living animal of the field and every bird of the air. He brought them to the man to see what he would 59 name them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. 2:20 So the man named all the animals, the birds of the air, and the living creatures of the field, but for Adam 60 no companion who corresponded to him was found. 61 2:21 So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, 62 and while he was asleep, 63 he took part of the man’s side 64 and closed up the place with flesh. 65 2:22 Then the Lord God made 66 a woman from the part he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. 2:23 Then the man said,
“This one at last 67 is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one will be called 68 ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of 69 man.” 70
2:24 That is why 71 a man leaves 72 his father and mother and unites with 73 his wife, and they become a new family. 74 2:25 The man and his wife were both naked, 75 but they were not ashamed. 76
The Temptation and the Fall
3:1 Now 77 the serpent 78 was more shrewd 79
than any of the wild animals 80 that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Is it really true that 81 God 82 said, ‘You must not eat from any tree of the orchard’?” 83 3:2 The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat 84 of the fruit from the trees of the orchard; 3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, 85 or else you will die.’” 86 3:4 The serpent said to the woman, “Surely you will not die, 87 3:5 for God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will open 88 and you will be like divine beings who know 89 good and evil.” 90
3:6 When 91 the woman saw that the tree produced fruit that was good for food, 92 was attractive 93 to the eye, and was desirable for making one wise, 94 she took some of its fruit and ate it. 95 She also gave some of it to her husband who was with her, and he ate it. 96 3:7 Then the eyes of both of them opened, and they knew they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
The Judgment Oracles of God at the Fall
3:8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God moving about 97 in the orchard at the breezy time 98 of the day, and they hid 99 from the Lord God among the trees of the orchard. 3:9 But the Lord God called to 100 the man and said to him, “Where are you?” 101 3:10 The man replied, 102 “I heard you moving about 103 in the orchard, and I was afraid because I was naked, so I hid.” 3:11 And the Lord God 104 said, “Who told you that you were naked? 105 Did you eat from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” 106 3:12 The man said, “The woman whom you gave me, she gave 107 me some fruit 108 from the tree and I ate it.” 3:13 So the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this 109 you have done?” And the woman replied, “The serpent 110 tricked 111 me, and I ate.”
3:14 The Lord God said to the serpent, 112
“Because you have done this,
cursed 113 are you above all the wild beasts
and all the living creatures of the field!
On your belly you will crawl 114
and dust you will eat 115 all the days of your life.
3:15 And I will put hostility 116 between you and the woman
and between your offspring and her offspring; 117
her offspring will attack 118 your head,
and 119 you 120 will attack her offspring’s heel.” 121
3:16 To the woman he said,
“I will greatly increase 122 your labor pains; 123
with pain you will give birth to children.
You will want to control your husband, 124
but he will dominate 125 you.”
3:17 But to Adam 126 he said,
“Because you obeyed 127 your wife
and ate from the tree about which I commanded you,
‘You must not eat from it,’
cursed is the ground 128 thanks to you; 129
in painful toil you will eat 130 of it all the days of your life.
3:18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you,
but you will eat the grain 131 of the field.
3:19 By the sweat of your brow 132 you will eat food
until you return to the ground, 133
for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you will return.” 134
3:20 The man 135 named his wife Eve, 136 because 137 she was the mother of all the living. 138 3:21 The Lord God made garments from skin 139 for Adam and his wife, and clothed them. 3:22 And the Lord God said, “Now 140 that the man has become like one of us, 141 knowing 142 good and evil, he must not be allowed 143 to stretch out his hand and take also from the tree of life and eat, and live forever.” 3:23 So the Lord God expelled him 144 from the orchard in Eden to cultivate the ground from which he had been taken. 3:24 When he drove 145 the man out, he placed on the eastern side 146 of the orchard in Eden angelic sentries 147 who used the flame of a whirling sword 148 to guard the way to the tree of life.
