Genesis 4:9-24

New American Standard Bible

⁹ Then the Lord said to Cain, “^(A)Where is Abel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” ¹⁰ Then He said, “What have you done? ^(B)The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground. ¹¹ Now ^(C)you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ^12 (D)When you cultivate the ground, it will no longer yield its strength to you; ^(E)you will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth.” ¹³ Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great to endure! ¹⁴ Behold, You have ^(F)driven me this day from the face of the ground; and I will be hidden from Your face, and ^(G)I will be a wanderer and a drifter on the earth, and ^(H)whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵ So the Lord said to him, “Therefore whoever kills Cain, vengeance will be taken on him ^(I)seven times as much.” And the Lord ^[a](J)placed a mark on Cain, so that no one finding him would kill him.

¹⁶ Then Cain left the presence ^(K)of the Lord, and ^[b]settled in the land of ^[c]Nod, east of Eden.

¹⁷ Cain ^[d]had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city, and named the city Enoch, after the name of his son. ¹⁸ Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech. ¹⁹ Lamech took ^(L)two wives for himself: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. ²⁰ Adah gave birth to Jabal; he was the father of those who live in tents and have livestock. ²¹ His brother’s name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute. ²² As for Zillah, she also gave birth to Tubal-cain, the forger of all implements of bronze and iron; and the sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.

²³ Lamech said to his wives,