The Seventh Day
(Exodus 16:22–30; Hebrews 4:1–11)

1And so the heavens and the earth were completed, with all their adornment. 2And on the seventh day, God fulfilled his work, which he had made. And on the seventh day he rested from all his work, which he had accomplished. 3And he blessed the seventh day and sanctified it. For in it, he had ceased from all his work: the work whereby God created whatever he should make.

Man and Woman in the Garden

4These are the generations of heaven and earth, when they were created, in the day when the Lord God made heaven and earth, 5and every sapling of the field, before it would rise up in the land, and every wild plant, before it would germinate. For the Lord God had not brought rain upon the earth, and there was no man to work the land. 6But a fountain ascended from the earth, irrigating the entire surface of the land. 7And then the Lord God formed man from the clay of the earth, and he breathed into his face the breath of life, and man became a living soul.

8Now the Lord God had planted a Paradise of enjoyment from the beginning. In it, he placed the man whom he had formed. 9And from the soil the Lord God produced every tree that was beautiful to behold and pleasant to eat. And even the tree of life was in the midst of Paradise, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10And a river went forth from the place of enjoyment so as to irrigate Paradise, which is divided from there into four heads. 11The name of one is the Phison; it is that which runs through all the land of Hevilath, where gold is born; 12and the gold of that land is the finest. In that place is found bdellium and the onyx stone. 13And the name of the second river is the Gehon; it is that which runs through all the land of Ethiopia. 14Truly, the name of the third river is the Tigris; it advances opposite the Assyrians. But the fourth river, it is the Euphrates.

15Thus, the Lord God brought the man, and put him into the Paradise of enjoyment, so that it would be attended and preserved by him. 16And he instructed him, saying: “From every tree of Paradise, you shall eat. 17But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat. For in whatever day you will eat from it, you will die a death.”

18The Lord God also said: “It is not good for the man to be alone. Let us make a helper for him similar to himself.” 19Therefore, the Lord God, having formed from the soil all the animals of the earth and all the flying creatures of the air, brought them to Adam, in order to see what he would call them. For whatever Adam would call any living creature, that would be its name. 20And Adam called each of the living things by their names: all the flying creatures of the air, and all the wild beasts of the land. Yet truly, for Adam, there was not found a helper similar to himself.

21And so the Lord God sent a deep sleep upon Adam. And when he was fast asleep, he took one of his ribs, and he completed it with flesh for it. 22And the Lord God built up the rib, which he took from Adam, into a woman. And he led her to Adam.

23And Adam said: “Now this is bone from my bones, and flesh from my flesh. This one shall be called woman, because she was taken from man.”

24For this reason, a man shall leave behind his father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife; and the two shall be as one flesh. 25Now they were both naked: Adam, of course, and his wife. And they were not ashamed.