¹² not as ^(A)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

Faith at the Dawn of History^(A)

⁴ By faith ^(B)Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still ^(C)speaks.

⁴ Abel also brought of ^(A)the firstborn of his flock and of ^(B)their fat. And the Lord ^(C)respected Abel and his offering, ⁵ but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶ So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷ If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ^[a]for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸ Now Cain ^[b]talked with Abel his ^[c]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^(D)killed him.

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

He said, ^(E)“I do not know. Am I ^(F)my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(G)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(H)you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹² When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³ And Cain said to the Lord, “My ^[d]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(I)I shall be ^(J)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(K)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵ And the Lord said to him, ^[e]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ^(L)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^(M)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

A New Son

²⁵ And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^(A)named him ^[a]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.”

¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way ^(A)of Cain, ^(B)have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished ^(C)in the rebellion of Korah.

^51 (A)from the blood of Abel to ^(B)the blood of Zechariah who perished between the altar and the temple. Yes, I say to you, it shall be required of this generation.

^35 (A)that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on the earth, ^(B)from the blood of righteous Abel to ^(C)the blood of Zechariah, son of Berechiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar.