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.

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Genesis 4

Cain Murders Abel

1Adam was intimate with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have had a male child with the Lord’s help.” # Lit the Lord 2Then she also gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel became a shepherd of flocks, but Cain worked the ground. 3In the course of time Cain presented some of the land’s produce as an offering to the Lord. # Ex 23:19; 34:26; Neh 10:35 4And Abel also presented an offering — some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. # Ex 13:12; Nm 18:17; Pr 3:9 The Lord had regard for Abel and his offering, # Heb 11:4 5but He did not have regard for Cain and his offering. Cain was furious, and he looked despondent. # Lit and his face fell

6Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you furious? # Jnh 4:4 And why do you look despondent? # Lit why has your face fallen 7If you do what is right, won’t you be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is for you, but you must rule over it.” # Gn 3:16

8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.” # Sam, LXX, Syr, Vg; MT omits Let’s go out to the field And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. # Mt 23:35; Lk 11:51; 1Jn 3:12-15; Jd 11

9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel? ”

“I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s guardian? ”

10Then He said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground! # Nm 35:33; Dt 21:1-9; Heb 12:24; Rv 6:9-10 11So now you are cursed, alienated, from the ground that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood you have shed. # Lit blood from your hand 12If you work the ground, it will never again give you its yield. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” # Dt 28:16-18; Is 26:21

13But Cain answered the Lord, “My punishment # Or sin is too great to bear! 14Since You are banishing me today from the soil, and I must hide myself from Your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, whoever finds me will kill me.” # Nm 35:26-27

15Then the Lord replied to him, “In that case, # LXX, Syr, Vg read Not so! whoever kills Cain will suffer vengeance seven times over.” # Or suffer severely And He placed a mark # Ex 9:4; Ezk 9:4,6; Rv 13:16-17 on Cain so that whoever found him would not kill him. 16Then Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

The Line of Cain

17Cain was intimate with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Then Cain became the builder of a city, and he named the city Enoch after his son. 18Irad was born to Enoch, Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. 19Lamech took two wives for himself, one named Adah and the other named Zillah. 20Adah bore Jabal; he was the father of the nomadic herdsmen. # Lit the dweller of tent and livestock 21His brother was named Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and the flute. 22Zillah bore Tubal-cain, who made all kinds of bronze and iron tools. Tubal-cain’s sister was Naamah.

23Lamech said to his wives:

Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

wives of Lamech, pay attention to my words.

For I killed a man for wounding me,

a young man for striking me.

24If Cain is to be avenged seven times over,

then for Lamech it will be seventy-seven times!

25Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and named him Seth, for she said, “God has given # The Hb word for given sounds like the name “Seth.” me another child in place of Abel, since Cain killed him.” 26A son was born to Seth # Lk 3:38 also, and he named him Enosh. At that time people began to call on the name of Yahweh. # Gn 12:8; 26:25; 1Kg 18:24; Ps 116:17; Jl 2:32; Zph 3:9; 1Co 1:2

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