Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[a]Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a man (baby boy, son) with the help of the Lord.” ² And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground. ³ And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. ⁴ But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the ^[b]fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering;^{(A) 5} but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and ^[c]he looked annoyed and hostile. ⁶ And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? ⁷ If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” ⁸ Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain ^[d]attacked Abel his brother and killed him.^(B)

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice].^{(C) 11} And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand.^{(D) 12} When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴ Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, “^[e]Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] ^[f]mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.^(E)

¹⁶ So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain knew his ^[g]wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. ¹⁹ And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute. ²² Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, the smith (craftsman) and teacher of every artisan in instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,

²⁵ Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], “God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” ²⁶ To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].^(F)