1 God finished making everything. He finished making the sky, and the earth, and everything that is on the earth too. 2 After God finished all that, it was day number 7, and God rested on that day.* Hebrews 4:4, 10 3 So God made day number 7 a good and special day. He said, “I’ve finished making everything now, and I’m resting on day number 7. So day number 7 is a special day.”* Exodus 20:11

4 This story is about the time when God made the earth and the sky. 5 At first, God didn’t send any rain on the earth, and there were no people to make the ground right for the plants. So nothing was growing on the earth at that time. 6 Water used to come up from under the ground and wet the top of all the ground.

7 God took some dirt, and he made a man out of it. Then God breathed into the man’s nose, and God’s breath gave him life. So that man became a living person.* 1 Corinthians 15:45

8 Then God made a garden in a place called Eden. It was in the east part of the land. And God put the man in that garden. 9 And God made some trees grow there in that garden. They were pretty, and they had fruit that was good to eat. And God put 2 special trees in the middle of the garden. If people eat the fruit of one of those trees, they will stay alive. And if they eat the fruit from the other tree, they will know if the things they do are good, or if they are bad.* Revelation 2:7; 22:2, 14

10 A river started in Eden, and it watered the garden. Then that river flowed out and split up into 4 rivers. 11 The 1st river was called Pishon. It flowed around the land called Havilah. In that country there was lots of gold. 12 It was really good gold. And there were pretty stones, and a good-smelling gum that comes from a tree too.

13 The 2nd river was called Gihon. It flowed all around the country called Cush.

14 The 3rd river was called Tigris. It flowed east of the country called Assyria.

The 4th river was called Euphrates.

15 God put the man into the garden in Eden and gave him some work to do. He had to look after the garden and make sure all the plants grew strong and healthy.

16 And God told the man, “You can eat fruit from the trees in this garden. 17 There is only one tree that you can’t eat its fruit. You can’t eat the fruit from that tree that lets you know if the things you do are good, or if they are bad. I’m telling you, if you eat any fruit from that tree, you will die, for sure.”

18 And God said, “It is not good for this man to be by himself. I’m going to make somebody else to be a mate for the man, somebody that will be good for him.”

19 And God made all the animals and birds out of dirt from the ground, and he brought them to the man. God wanted the man to give all the animals and birds their names. The man could say any name he wanted for each one, and those names stayed with them. 20 So the man gave each animal a name. He named all the wild animals, and all the animals that are not wild, and all the birds. That man’s own name was Adam. (That name means man.) There were lots of animals and birds, but none of them were the right sort of mate that was good for Adam.

21 So God made the man go to sleep. It was a really strong deep sleep. And while he was asleep, God took out one of his rib bones. Then God closed up the place where that rib was. 22 Then God used the man’s rib bone and made a woman from it. After the man woke up, God took the woman over to the man. 23 The man looked at that woman, and he said, “This is really good. Now I have a mate. God took out a part of my body, and he made it into a mate for me. Yes, he used my rib bone to make her. God made her out of a man’s body, so I’m going to call her woman.”

24 That’s how God made a woman, he made her out of a man’s body. That is the reason why a man will leave his mother and father and marry a woman. The man and his wife will join with each other, and their bodies will be like one body.* Matthew 19:5; Mark 10:7-8; 1 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 5:31

25 The man and his wife didn’t have any clothes on. They were both naked, but they didn’t feel any shame.