4 What follows tells[fn] more details about the history of what God did when he created the heavens and the earth:

During the time when Yahweh God[fn] made the earth and the heavens, 5 there weren’t yet any bushes growing on the earth, and no plants had yet sprung up in the countryside, because Yahweh God had not yet made it rain, and nor were there any people yet to till the ground. 6 However, a mist came up from the ground and watered the entire surface of the land.

7 Then Yahweh God formed the first man out of the dust on the ground and he breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living person.[ref]

8 Now in the east, Yahweh God had planted a garden in Eden, and he put the man there that he had formed. 9 He also caused all kinds of trees to grow there—some that are pleasant to look at and good for food. In the middle of the garden was the tree of life[ref] and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil

10 A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and then from there it split into four rivers. 11 The first river was named Pishon, and it winds around through the entire region of Havilah, where there’s gold. 12 The gold from there is very pure, and there’s also a type of fragrant resin and onyx gemstones there. 13 The second river was named Gihon, and it winds through the entire region of Kush (Ethiopia). 14 The third river was named Hidekel, and it flowed east of the Ashur (Assyria) region, and then the fourth river was named Perat (Euphrates).

15 Yahweh God took the man and put him in the garden at Eden to cultivate and maintain it 16 and instructed him, “You can eat as much fruit as you want from any tree in the garden, 17 but you mustn’t eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, because the day you eat its fruit you’ll certainly die.”

18 Then Yahweh God said, “It’s not good for the man to be alone, so I’ll make a suitable helper for him.”

19 Now Yahweh God had formed every living thing of the countryside and every bird of the sky from the ground, so he brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that would become its name. 20 The man gave names to all the various livestock and to the birds of the sky and to every living creature in the countryside, but none of them was a suitable companion to help him.

21 So Yahweh God caused the man to go into a deep sleep, and then while he was sleeping, he removed one of his ribs and closed up over its place with flesh. 22 Then Yahweh God used the rib which he had taken from the man to form into a woman, and he brought her to the man, 23 and the man said:

“Now this is bone from my bones

and flesh from my flesh.

She’ll be named ‘woman’

because she came from a man.”

24 So that’s why a man leaves his father and mother, and becomes united to his wife, and the two of them become one being.[ref]

25 At that time, both the man and his wife were naked, but they had no sense of shame.