¹⁴ “But if a man acts with ^(A)premeditation against his neighbor, to kill him by treachery, ^(B)you shall take him from My altar, that he may die.

²⁰ “And if a man beats his male or female servant with a rod, so that he dies under his hand, he shall surely be punished.

²⁹ But if the ox ^[a]tended to thrust with its horn in times past, and it has been made known to his owner, and he has not kept it confined, so that it has killed a man or a woman, the ox shall be stoned and its owner also shall be put to death.

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

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

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

¹⁰ And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ^(D)cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ So now ^(E)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 ^[c]punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴ Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^(F)I shall be ^(G)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^(H)anyone who finds me will kill me.”

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

The Family of Cain

¹⁶ Then Cain ^(K)went out from the ^(L)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ^[e]Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^(M)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸ To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹ Then Lamech took for himself ^(N)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰ And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ^[f]flute. ²² And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³ Then Lamech said to his wives:

^4 (A)But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. ⁵ Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; ^(B)from the hand of every beast I will require it, and ^(C)from the hand of man. From the hand of every ^(D)man’s brother I will require the life of man.

²¹ And whoever kills an animal shall restore it; but whoever kills a man shall be put to death.

^16 (A)‘But if he strikes him with an iron implement, so that he dies, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁷ And if he strikes him with a stone in the hand, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ¹⁸ Or if he strikes him with a wooden hand weapon, by which one could die, and he does die, he is a murderer; the murderer shall surely be put to death. ^19 (B)The^[a] avenger of blood himself shall put the murderer to death; when he meets him, he shall put him to death. ^20 (C)If he pushes him out of hatred or, ^(D)while lying in wait, hurls something at him so that he dies, ²¹ or in enmity he strikes him with his hand so that he dies, the one who struck him shall surely be put to death. He is a murderer. The avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death when he meets him.

²² ‘However, if he pushes him suddenly ^(E)without enmity, or throws anything at him without lying in wait, ²³ or uses a stone, by which a man could die, throwing it at him without seeing him, so that he dies, while he was not his enemy or seeking his harm, ²⁴ then ^(F)the congregation shall judge between the manslayer and the avenger of blood according to these judgments. ²⁵ So the congregation shall deliver the manslayer from the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall return him to the city of refuge where he had fled, and ^(G)he shall remain there until the death of the high priest ^(H)who was anointed with the holy oil. ²⁶ But if the manslayer at any time goes outside the limits of the city of refuge where he fled, ²⁷ and the avenger of blood finds him outside the limits of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kills the manslayer, he shall not be guilty of ^[b]blood, ²⁸ because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest. But after the death of the high priest the manslayer may return to the land of his possession.

²⁹ ‘And these things shall be ^(I)a statute of judgment to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings. ³⁰ Whoever kills a person, the murderer shall be put to death on the ^(J)testimony of witnesses; but one witness is not sufficient testimony against a person for the death penalty. ³¹ Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death. ³² And you shall take no ransom for him who has fled to his city of refuge, that he may return to dwell in the land before the death of the priest. ³³ So you shall not pollute the land where you are; for blood ^(K)defiles the land, and no ^[c]atonement can be made for the land, for the blood that is shed on it, except ^(L)by the blood of him who shed it. ³⁴ Therefore ^(M)do not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell; for ^(N)I the Lord dwell among the children of Israel.’ ”