¹⁵ Then the Lord God took ^[a]the man and put him in the garden of Eden to ^[b]tend and keep it. ¹⁶ And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; ¹⁷ but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil ^(A)you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it ^(B)you^[c] shall surely ^(C)die.”

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.

¹⁵ Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God, because ^(A)we have testified of God that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up—if in fact the dead do not rise. ¹⁶ For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. ¹⁷ And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile; ^(B)you are still in your sins! ¹⁸ Then also those who have ^[a]fallen ^(C)asleep in Christ have perished. ^19 (D)If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men the most pitiable.

^18 (A)I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, ^(B)I am alive forevermore. Amen. And ^(C)I have the keys of ^[a]Hades and of Death.