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Genesis 4:8-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Genesis 4:8-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
8 Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out in the field.”[a] When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(A) 9 Then the Lord asked Cain, Where is your brother Abel? He answered, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10 God then said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! 11 Now you are banned from the ground[b] that opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.(B) 12 If you till the ground, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a constant wanderer on the earth. 13 Cain said to the Lord: “My punishment is too great to bear. 14 Look, you have now banished me from the ground. I must avoid you and be a constant wanderer on the earth. Anyone may kill me at sight.” 15 Not so! the Lord said to him. If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged seven times. So the Lord put a mark[c] on Cain, so that no one would kill him at sight. 16 Cain then left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,[d] east of Eden.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 4:8 Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.
- 4:11 Banned from the ground: lit., “cursed.” The verse refers back to 3:17 where the ground was cursed so that it yields its produce only with great effort. Cain has polluted the soil with his brother’s blood and it will no longer yield any of its produce to him.
- 4:15 A mark: probably a tattoo to mark Cain as protected by God. The use of tattooing for tribal marks has always been common among the Bedouin of the Near Eastern deserts.
- 4:16 The land of Nod: a symbolic name (derived from the verb nûd, to wander) rather than a definite geographic region.
Genesis 4:8-16
New International Version
Genesis 4:8-16
New International Version
8 Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”[a] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.(A)
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”(B)
“I don’t know,(C)” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.(D) 11 Now you are under a curse(E) and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.(F) You will be a restless wanderer(G) on the earth.(H)”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is more than I can bear. 14 Today you are driving me from the land, and I will be hidden from your presence;(I) I will be a restless wanderer on the earth,(J) and whoever finds me will kill me.”(K)
15 But the Lord said to him, “Not so[b]; anyone who kills Cain(L) will suffer vengeance(M) seven times over.(N)” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain so that no one who found him would kill him. 16 So Cain went out from the Lord’s presence(O) and lived in the land of Nod,[c] east of Eden.(P)
Footnotes
- Genesis 4:8 Samaritan Pentateuch, Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Masoretic Text does not have “Let’s go out to the field.”
- Genesis 4:15 Septuagint, Vulgate and Syriac; Hebrew Very well
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering (see verses 12 and 14).
New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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