Gen 2 | EE | STEP | So God finished making the earth and everything in it. He made the whole world.

Genesis 2

1 So God finished making the earth and everything in it. He made the whole world.

2 The seventh (7th) day came.

And God stopped working, because he had finished making the earth. God rested on the 7th day.

3 God blessed the 7th day. He made it a special day, because he had finished making the earth. God did not work on that day.

God makes a man and a woman

4 This is what happened when God made the earth and everything in it.

When the LORD God made the heavens and the earth, 5 there were no plants or trees growing on it. That was because the LORD had not sent any rain. And there was no man to work and care for the ground. There was no man to care for things that grow from the ground. 6 But streams came up from the earth. And they made all the top of the ground wet. 7 Then the LORD God made a man from the ground. He gave life to the man. He put air from himself into the nose of the man. And the man became alive. ^{▼▼2:7 LORD is a special name for God. It means that he is above all other things. And it means that he has authority over everything.} ^{▼▼2:7 ‘Man’ in verse 7 means one man. It is the report of how God made the first man.}

8 The LORD God planted a garden. This was east of Israel. It was in a place called Eden. And he put the man that he made in the garden. 9 And the LORD God made different trees grow from the ground. These trees were good to look at. The fruit from the trees was good to eat. In the middle of the garden were two trees. One was the tree that lets you live for ever. And the other was the tree of knowledge of good and evil. ^{▼▼2:9 Eden was a very good place to live. It had everything that the man needed in it.} ^{▼▼2:9 Knowledge means to know or understand something. Evil is the opposite of good. It is bad. There is nothing good in evil.}

10 A river began in Eden. It went through Eden. And it gave water for the ground. It separated into four smaller rivers. 11 The name of the first river is the Pishon. It goes through the whole of the land of Havilah. There is gold in this land. 12 The gold there is good. Bdellium and onyx stone are also in Havilah. ^{▼▼2:12 Bdellium is something that smells nice. It comes out from certain trees when you cut them. Onyx is a valuable stone.}

13 The name of the second river is the Gihon. It goes through the whole of the land of Cush. 14 The name of the third river is the Tigris. It goes along the east side of the Asshur. The name of the fourth river is the Euphrates.

15 The LORD God put the man into the Garden of Eden. The man was to work on the ground and work in the garden. 16 Then the LORD God told the man, ‘You can eat the fruit from any tree in the garden. 17 But you must not eat the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. The day when you eat this fruit you will die.’

18 Then the LORD God said, ‘The man should not be alone. I will make a helper for him.’ ^{▼▼2:18 The helper was someone to live with the man and help him.}

19 The LORD God had made all the animals and birds. He made them from the ground. And he brought them to the man to hear what names the man would give them. Whatever the man called each living thing would be its name. 20 So the man gave names to the livestock, the birds of the air, and all the other animals.

But the man did not find a helper. 21 So the LORD God made the man go to sleep. While the man was sleeping, the LORD God took a rib from the man. Then he closed up the place that he took the rib from. He closed up that part of the man’s body with skin. 22 Then the LORD God made a woman.

23 Then the man said to God, ‘At last, this is one like me. She has bones taken from my bones. And her body is from my body. I will call her “woman” because God took her out of a man.’ 24 Because of this, a man will leave his father and mother to be with his wife. And the two people will become like one person. ^{▼▼2:24 The LORD God made the man sleep. This is not the same as the man going to sleep because he wants to. The man will not wake up until God lets him.} ^{▼▼2:24 A rib is a bone inside the middle of the body. God made woman from the rib that he took from the man. And he brought the woman to the man. Verse 24 God wanted men to leave their mother and father. He wanted them to marry a woman. The man and the woman would become a separate family.}

25 The man and his wife did not wear any clothes. But they did not feel ashamed.