The Seventh Day (Exodus 16:22–30; Hebrews 4:1–11)
1 UDB That is the way God created the heavens and the earth and the living things that filled them. BSB BSB: Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all their vast array.
2 UDB By the time it was the seventh day, God had finished the work of creating everything, so he did not work anymore on that day. BSB BSB: And by the seventh day God had finished the work He had been doing; so on that day He rested from all His work.
3 UDB God declared that each seventh day would have his favor. He set those days apart to be special days because on the seventh day God did not work anymore after finishing all his work of creating everything. BSB BSB: Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on that day He rested from all the work of creation that He had accomplished.
Man and Woman in the Garden 5 UDB At first there were no plants growing, because Yahweh God had not yet caused rain to fall on the ground. Furthermore, there was no one to plow the ground for planting crops. BSB BSB: Now no shrub of the field had yet appeared on the earth, nor had any plant of the field sprouted, for the LORD God had not yet sent rain upon the earth, and there was no man to cultivate the ground.
6 UDB Instead, mist rose up from the ground, so that there was water all over the surface of the ground. BSB BSB: But springs welled up from the earth and watered the whole surface of the ground.
8 UDB Yahweh God made a park in a place named Eden, which was east of the land of Canaan. There he placed the man that he had formed. BSB BSB: And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, where He placed the man He had formed.
9 UDB Yahweh God caused to grow from the ground every kind of tree that is beautiful to see and that produces fruit that is good to eat. He also placed in the middle of the park a tree whose fruit would enable those who ate it to live forever. He also placed there another tree whose fruit would enable those who ate it to know what actions were good to do and what actions were evil to do. BSB BSB: Out of the ground the LORD God gave growth to every tree that is pleasing to the eye and good for food. And in the middle of the garden were the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
10 UDB A river flowed from Eden to provide water for the park. Outside of Eden, the river divided into four rivers. BSB BSB: Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it branched into four headwaters:
11 UDB The name of the first river is Pishon. That river flows through all the land of Havilah, where there is gold. BSB BSB: The name of the first river is the Pishon; it winds through the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold.
12 UDB That gold is very pure. There is also a sweet-smelling gum called bdellium and valuable stones called onyx. BSB BSB: And the gold of that land is pure, and bdellium and onyx are found there.
13 UDB The name of the second river is Gihon. That river flows through all the land of Cush. BSB BSB: The name of the second river is the Gihon; it winds through the whole land of Cush.
14 UDB The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows east of the city of Ashur. The name of the fourth river is Euphrates. BSB BSB: The name of the third river is the Tigris; it runs along the east side of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.
15 UDB Yahweh God took the man and put him in Eden to plow it and take care of it. BSB BSB: Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.
20 UDB Then the man gave names to all the kinds of cattle, birds, and wild animals, but none of these creatures was a partner that was suitable for the man. BSB BSB: The man gave names to all the livestock, to the birds of the air, and to every beast of the field. But for Adam no suitable helper was found.
21 UDB So Yahweh God caused the man to become deeply asleep. While the man was sleeping, Yahweh took out one of the man's ribs. Then he immediately closed the opening in his body and healed it. BSB BSB: So the LORD God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep, and while he slept, He took one of the man’s ribs and closed up the area with flesh.
22 UDB Yahweh then made a woman from the rib that he had taken from the man's body, and he brought her to the man. BSB BSB: And from the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man, He made a woman and brought her to him.
23 UDB The man exclaimed, "Finally, this is truly someone like me! Her bones came from one of my bones, and her flesh came from my flesh. So I will call her woman because she was taken from me, a man." BSB BSB: And the man said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man she was taken.”
25 UDB Although the man and his wife were naked, they were not ashamed about being naked. BSB BSB: And the man and his wife were both naked, and they were not ashamed.