Cain and Abel
Two brothers bring offerings; only Abel's is favored, and our Father warns Cain that sin is crouching for him. Cain kills anyway, then bargains over his sentence. He gets a protective mark and a wandering life east of Eden.
4 1Adam slept with his wife Eve; she conceived and bore Cain, saying, "With our Father's help I have gained a man." a a v1 The name Cain sounds like "gotten" or "brought forth" — Eve names him for the help she received in bringing him into the world. 2Later she gave birth to his brother Abel. Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the ground. 3After some time, Cain brought our Father an offering of the ground's fruit. 4Abel, too, brought the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Our Father favored Abel and his offering, 5but not on Cain and his offering, so Cain burned with anger and his face fell.
6Then our Father said to Cain, "Why are you angry? Why has your face fallen? 7If you do right, won't you be accepted? If you don't, sin crouches at your door, longing for you—but you must rule over it."
8Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go to the field." There, Cain rose against his brother Abel and killed him. b b v8 These words are absent from the Hebrew text but present in the Samaritan, Greek, and Syriac.
9Then our Father asked Cain, "Where's your brother Abel?" "I don't know," he said. "Am I my brother's keeper?"
10Our Father said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground. 11Now a curse drives you from the ground, which opened its mouth to take your brother's blood from your hand. 12When you work the ground, it will no longer give you its strength; you will be a wandering fugitive on the earth."
13Cain said to our Father, "My punishment is more than I can bear. 14Today you drive me from this ground; I'll be hidden from your presence, a restless fugitive on earth, and whoever finds me will kill me."
15But our Father told him, "No—whoever kills Cain will be avenged seven times over." Then our Father marked Cain, so no one who found him would kill him. c c v15 Even after the first murder, our Father did not abandon Cain — he marked him as protected. The Father's mercy reaches the guilty.
16Cain left the presence of our Father and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. d d v16 Nod means "wandering." Cain, sentenced to wander the earth, settles in the land of wandering itself.
17Cain slept with his wife; she conceived and bore Enoch. He was building a city and named it after his son Enoch. 18Irad was born to Enoch. Irad fathered Mehujael, Mehujael fathered Methushael, Methushael fathered Lamech. 19Lamech married two women, one named Adah and the other Zillah. 20Adah bore Jabal, father of tent dwellers and livestock herders. 21His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the harp and flute. 22Zillah also bore Tubal-Cain, forger of all bronze and iron tools; Tubal-Cain's sister was Naamah. 23Lamech told his wives: "Adah and Zillah, hear me; wives of Lamech, listen to what I say. I killed a man who wounded me, a young man who bruised me. 24If Cain is avenged seven times, then Lamech seventy-seven times."
25Adam slept with his wife again; she bore a son and named him Seth: "Our Father has given me another child instead of Abel, since Cain killed him." e e v25 The name Seth sounds like "granted" or "appointed" — Eve names him for the child our Father gave her in place of Abel. 26Seth too had a son and named him Enosh. Then people began calling on our Father's name.
