Genesis 4:1-12
New King James Version
Cain Murders Abel(A)
4 Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore [a]Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” 2 Then she bore again, this time his brother [b]Abel. Now (B)Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. 3 And [c]in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit (C)of the ground to the Lord. 4 Abel also brought of (D)the firstborn of his flock and of (E)their fat. And the Lord (F)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 [d]for you, but you should rule over it.”
8 Now Cain [e]talked with Abel his [f]brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and (G)killed him.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, (H)“I do not know. Am I (I)my brother’s keeper?”
10 And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood (J)cries out to Me from the ground. 11 So now (K)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.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 4:1 Lit. Acquire
- Genesis 4:2 Lit. Breath or Nothing
- Genesis 4:3 Lit. at the end of days
- Genesis 4:7 Lit. toward
- Genesis 4:8 Lit. said to
- Genesis 4:8 Sam., LXX, Syr., Vg. add “Let us go out to the field.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.