Genesis 4

CHAPTER 4

1Forsooth Adam knew Eve his wife, which conceived, and childed Cain, and said, I have gotten a man by God.

2And again she childed his brother Abel. Forsooth Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was an earth-tiller.

3Soothly it was done after many days, that Cain offered gifts to the Lord of the fruits of the earth#4:3 Not the first fruits, or the best, or it would have been so stated.;

4and Abel offered of the first engendered of his flock, and of the fatness of those [or them]. And the Lord beheld to Abel and to the gifts of him;

5soothly he beheld not to Cain and to his gifts. And Cain was wroth greatly, and his cheer felled down.

6And the Lord said to him, Why art thou wroth, and why felled down thy face?

7Whether not if thou shalt do well, thou shalt receive well; but if thou doest evil, thy sin shall be present anon in the gates? but the desire thereof, that is, of sin, shall be under thee, and thou shalt be lord thereof.

8And Cain said to Abel, his brother, Go we out. And when they were in the field, Cain rose against his brother Abel, and killed him.

9And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? Which answered, I know not; whether I am the keeper of my brother?

10And God said to Cain, What hast thou done? the voice of the blood of thy brother crieth to me from [the] earth.

11Now therefore thou shalt be cursed on [the] earth, that opened his mouth, and received of thine hand the blood of thy brother.

12When thou shalt work the earth, it shall not give his fruits to thee; thou shalt be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about on [the] earth, in all the days of thy life.

13And Cain said to the Lord, My wickedness is more than that I deserve forgiveness;

14lo! today thou castest me out from the face of the earth; and I shall be hid from thy face, and I shall be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about in earth; therefore each man that shall find me shall slay me.

15And the Lord said to him, It shall not be done so, but each man that shall slay Cain shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a sign in Cain, that each man that should find him should not slay him.

16And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelled fleeing about in [the] earth, at the east coast of Eden, that is, of earthly paradise.

17Forsooth Cain knew his wife, which conceived, and childed Enoch; and Cain builded a city, and called the name thereof of the name of his son, Enoch.

18Forsooth Enoch begat Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech;

19that took two wives, the name to the one wife was Adah, and the name to the other was Zillah.

20And Adah begat Jabal, that was the father of dwellers in tents, and of shepherds;

21and the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of the singers in harp and organ.

22And Zillah begat Tubalcain, that was an hammer-beater, and [a] smith on all works of brass and of iron; forsooth the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

23And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Ye wives of Lamech, hear my voice, and hearken to my words; for I have slain a man by my wounding, and a young waxing man by my violent beating;

24vengeance shall be given seven-fold of Cain, forsooth of Lamech seventy times seven times.

25Also yet Adam knew his wife, and she childed a son, and called his name Seth#4:25 The name sounds like the Hebrew for ‘has given’., and said, God hath put [or set] to me another seed for Abel, whom Cain killed.

26But also a son was born to Seth, which son he called Enos; this began to call inwardly the name of the Lord.

Learn More About Wycliffe's Bible with Modern Spelling

Genesis 4

Cain and Abel

1Now the man #The name Adam is the Hebrew word for “man,” so when the word is used with the article (“the”) as it is here, it can be inferred that the writer (Moses) is referring to Adam as “the man.”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.” 2And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground. 3And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 4But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the #That is, the fat that covered the entrails of the animals. Later, in the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were forbidden to eat this fat (Lev 7:23), which was reserved as an offering to God, especially for sin (Lev 4:8, 26, 35; 9:10; 16:25).fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering; 5but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and #Lit his countenance fell.he looked annoyed and hostile. 6And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? 7If 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.” 8Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain #Lit rose up against.attacked Abel his brother and killed him.

9Then 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?” 10The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice]. 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand. 12When 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].” 13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, 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.” 15And the Lord said to him, “#Some ancient versions read, “Not so!”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] #Many commentators believe this sign not to have been like a brand on the forehead, but something awesome about Cain’s appearance that made people dread and avoid him. In the Talmud, the rabbis suggested several possibilities, including leprosy, boils, or a horn that grew out of Cain. But it was also suggested that Cain was given a pet dog to serve as a protective sign.mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.

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

17Cain knew his #The simplest explanation for the origin of Cain’s wife is that she was one of his sisters, whom Scripture does not mention specifically, but implies (5:4). It is also possible that she was a niece or more distant relative descended from the original family, but in any case it is evident that the unrecorded children of Adam and Eve married each other. This was possible because the human gene pool was at its purest with Adam and Eve, so at some point their children could begin families of their own.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. 18Now 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. 19And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock. 21His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute. 22Zillah 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.

23Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah,

Hear my voice;

You wives of Lamech,

Listen to what I say;

For I have killed a man [merely] for wounding me,

And a boy [only] for striking (bruising) me.

24If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the Lord said he would be],

Then Lamech [will be avenged] #Lamech arrogantly declares to his wives that if someone kills him, he will be entitled to far greater vengeance since he merely retaliated for harm suffered, while Cain’s murder of Abel was by comparison unprovoked.seventy-sevenfold.”

25Adam 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.” 26To 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].

Amplified® Bible

The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631

Learn More About Amplified Bible