Genesis 4 New American Standard Bible

Cain and Abel

4 Now the man ^[a]had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a male child with the help of the Lord.” ²And again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now ^(A)Abel was ^(B)a keeper of flocks, but Cain was a cultivator of the ground. ³So it came about ^[b]in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the ground. ⁴^(C)Abel, on his part also brought an offering, from the firstborn of his flock and from their fat portions. And ^(D)the Lord had regard for Abel and his offering; ⁵but ^(E)for Cain and his offering He had no regard. So ^(F)Cain became very angry and his face ^[c]was gloomy. ⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(G)Why are you angry? And why is your face ^[d]gloomy? ⁷^(H)If you do well, ^[e]will your face not be ^[f]cheerful? ^(I)And if you do not do well, sin is lurking at the door; and its desire is for you, ^(J)but you must master it.” ⁸Cain ^[g]talked to his brother Abel; and it happened that when they were in the field Cain rose up against his brother Abel and ^(K)killed him.

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(L)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰Then He said, “What have you done? ^(M)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹Now ^(N)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²^(O)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(P)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴Behold, You have ^(Q)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(R)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(S)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(T)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[h]^(U)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶Then Cain left the presence ^(V)of the Lord, and ^[i]settled in the land of ^[j]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷Cain ^[k]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹Lamech took ^(W)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²²As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³Lamech said to his wives,

“Adah and Zillah,
Listen to my voice,
You wives of Lamech,
Pay attention to my words,
^(X)For I have killed a man for wounding me;
And a boy for striking me!
²⁴If Cain is avenged ^(Y)seven times,
Then Lamech seventy-seven times!”

²⁵^(Z)Adam ^[l]had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him ^[m]Seth, for, she said, “God ^[n]has appointed me another ^[o]child in place of Abel, ^(AA)because Cain killed him.” ²⁶To Seth also ^(AB)a son was born; and he named him Enosh. Then people began ^(AC)to call ^[p]upon the name of the Lord.