The Seventh Day: God Rests

(Exodus 16:22-36; Hebrews 4:1-11)

1And the heavens and the earth and all their host were finished. 2And God had finished on the seventh day his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. 3And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it, because that on it he rested from all his work which God had created in making it.

The Creation of Man

4These are the histories of the heavens and the earth, when they were created, in the day that Jehovah Elohim made earth and heavens, 5and every shrub of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew; for Jehovah Elohim had not caused it to rain on the earth, and there was no man to till the ground. 6But a mist went up from the earth, and moistened the whole surface of the ground. 7And Jehovah Elohim formed Man, dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and Man became a living soul.

The Planting of the Garden

8And Jehovah Elohim planted a garden in Eden eastward, and there put Man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; and the tree of life, in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10And a river went out of Eden, to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became four main streams. 11The name of the one is Pison: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Havilah, where the gold is. 12And the gold of that land is good; bdellium and the onyx stone are there. 13And the name of the second river is Gihon: that is it which surrounds the whole land of Cush. 14And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which flows forward toward Asshur. And the fourth river, that is Euphrates.

The Forbidden Fruit

15And Jehovah Elohim took Man, and put him into the garden of Eden, to till it and to guard it. 16And Jehovah Elohim commanded Man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou shalt freely eat; 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it; for in the day that thou eatest of it thou shalt certainly die.

Adam Names the Animals

18And Jehovah Elohim said, It is not good that Man should be alone; I will make him a helpmate, his like. 19And out of the ground Jehovah Elohim had formed every animal of the field and all fowl of the heavens, and brought [them] to Man, to see what he would call them; and whatever Man called each living soul, that was its name. 20And Man gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the heavens, and to every beast of the field; but as for Adam, he found no helpmate, his like.

The Creation of Woman

21And Jehovah Elohim caused a deep sleep to fall upon Man; and he slept. And he took one of his ribs and closed up flesh in its stead. 22And Jehovah Elohim built the rib that he had taken from Man into a woman; and brought her to Man.

23And Man said, This time it is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh: this shall be called Woman, because this was taken out of a man.

24Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and cleave to his wife; and they shall become one flesh. 25And they were both naked, Man and his wife, and were not ashamed.