There was a river flowing from Eden to water the garden, and when it left the garden it branched into four streams. The name of the first is Pishon, that is the river which encircles all the land of Havilah, where the gold is. The gold of that land is good; bdellium and cornelians are also to be found there. The name of the second river is Gihon; this is the one which encircles all the land of Cush. The name of the third is Tigris; this is the river which runs east of Asshur. The fourth river is the Euphrates.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to till it and care for it . He told the man, ‘You may eat from every tree in the garden, but not from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for on the day that you eat from it , you will certainly die. ’then the Lord God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will provide a partner for him. ’So God formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds of heaven. He brought them to the man to see what he would call them, and whatever the man called each living creature, that was its name. Thus the man gave names to all cattle, to the birds of heaven, and to every wild animal; but for the man himself no partner had yet been found. And so the Lord God put the man into a trance, and while he slept, he took one of his ribs and closed the flesh over the place. The Lord God then built up the rib, which he had taken out of the man, into a woman. He brought her to the man, and the man said:
‘Now this, at last - bone from my bones,
flesh from my flesh!-
this shall be called woman,
for from man was this taken. ’
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and the two become one flesh. Now they were both naked, the man and his wife, but they had no feeling of shame towards one another.
人世之始
创世记
上帝造天地时，地上全无野生草丛树木，因为天主上帝没有降雨到大地，亦无人耕耘土地，只靠地上涌出水流灌溉土地表层。后来，天主上帝以泥土造一男人，朝他鼻孔吹一口生气，他才有了生命。然后天主上帝在东边之伊甸建造一座花园，他把他造的男人安置在伊甸园中。上帝使地面长出各种树木，这些树木不但秀美悦目，而且又有果实可供食用。在花园正中，他种下一株生命之树和一株能辨善恶的知识之树。
伊甸园中流过一条河，河水可作灌溉之用。这河流出伊甸后分为四股。第一股名比逊河，它曲折流经哈腓拉全境，此地盛产高成色黄金，还有琥珀及红玛瑙。第二股名基训河，它环绕流经古实全境。第三股名希底结河，亦即流经亚述之东那条河。第四股名伯拉河。
天主上帝把他造的男人带去伊甸园，让他在园中耕耘管理。他嘱咐这人说：“你可以随意采食园中任何树上之果实，惟独那能辨善恶之知识树果子你不能吃。你吃它之时，你就会死去！”天主上帝又说；“一人独居不好，我要为他找个伴。”于是上帝以泥土塑造出各种飞禽走兽，带它们到这人的面前，看他如何称呼它们。那人对每种动物的称呼就成了这种动物的名称。这样，人就给所有的牲畜、飞禽和走兽定了名，但是这男人自己仍然没有伴侣。于是，天主上帝使他昏睡，在他昏睡时，取他的一条肋骨，然后使伤口愈合。上帝以这人身上取出的肋骨造了一个女人，并领她到这人面前，这人说：“如今，终于有了这生灵，骨取自我骨，肉取自我肉，就称之为女人。”
这就是为何男人要离开父母，与自妻子结合成为夫妇的缘故。此时，他们两人，男人和他的妻子都赤身露体，但他们彼此相对，并不难为情。
