Genesis 2:4b-14 (NRSV)

4These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.

In the day that the Lord GOD made the earth and the heavens, 5when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up — for the Lord GOD had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was no one to till the ground; 6but a stream would rise from the earth, and water the whole face of the ground — 7then the Lord GOD formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and the man became a living being. 8And the Lord GOD planted a garden in Eden, in the east; and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9Out of the ground the Lord GOD made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

10A river flows out of Eden to water the garden, and from there it divides and becomes four branches. 11The name of the first is Pishon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; 12and the gold of that land is good; bdellium and onyx stone are there. 13The name of the second river is Gihon; it is the one that flows around the whole land of Cush. 14The name of the third river is Tigris, which flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates.

ELCA's daily Bible readings are chosen from "Revised Common Lectionary Daily Readings," prepared by Consultation on the Common Texts, © 2005.
All text is from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyrighted, 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches USA, and is used by permission. All rights reserved.