创世记 4
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Simplified)
该隐和亚伯
4 亚当和他妻子夏娃同房,夏娃便怀孕,生了该隐。她说:“耶和华让我得了一个男孩。” 2 后来,夏娃又生了该隐的弟弟亚伯。长大后,亚伯做了牧羊人,该隐做了农夫。
3 到了收成的时候,该隐把地里的出产当祭物献给耶和华, 4 亚伯也把羊群中头生的羊及其最肥美的部分献给耶和华。耶和华悦纳亚伯和他的祭物, 5 却不悦纳该隐和他的祭物。该隐便非常恼火,面带怒容。 6 耶和华问该隐:“你为什么恼火?为什么面带怒容? 7 如果你做得对,难道不会蒙悦纳吗?如果你做得不对,罪就蹲在你的门口要控制你,但你必须制服罪。”
8 该隐对弟弟亚伯说:“我们去田间吧!”[a]他们在田间的时候,该隐动手打亚伯,把他杀了。
9 后来,耶和华问该隐:“你弟弟亚伯在哪里?”他说:“我不知道!难道我是弟弟的看护人吗?” 10 耶和华说:“你做了什么事?你弟弟的血从地里向我哭诉。 11 地张开口从你手上接受了你弟弟的血,你在地上必受咒诅。 12 你种地,地却不会再为你长出任何东西,你必在地上四处漂泊。” 13 该隐对耶和华说:“这惩罚太重!我承受不了。 14 今天你把我赶出去,使我不能再见你的面。我在地上四处漂泊,见到我的人都会杀我。” 15 耶和华对他说:“不会的,因为凡杀你的,必遭受七倍的报应。”于是,耶和华在该隐身上留下一个记号,免得见到他的人杀他。 16 该隐离开耶和华,来到伊甸东边的挪得住下来。
该隐的后代
17 该隐和妻子同房,他的妻子就怀孕,生了以诺。该隐建了一座城,用他儿子的名字给这城取名叫以诺。 18 以诺生以拿,以拿生米户雅利,米户雅利生玛土撒利,玛土撒利生拉麦。 19 拉麦娶了两个妻子,一个叫亚大,另一个叫洗拉。 20 亚大生了亚八,亚八是游牧民族的祖先, 21 亚八的弟弟犹八是吹奏乐器之人的鼻祖。 22 洗拉生了土八·该隐,他是打造各种铜铁器具的匠人[b],他的妹妹叫拿玛。
23 一天,拉麦对他的两个妻子说:
“亚大,洗拉,你们听我的声音;
拉麦的妻子啊,侧耳听我的话,
有人伤我,我杀了他,
青年打我,我宰了他。
24 杀该隐的遭受七倍的报应,
杀拉麦的遭受七十七倍的报应。”
塞特和以挪士
25 亚当又与妻子夏娃同房,夏娃生了一个儿子,取名叫塞特,因为她说:“上帝赐我另一个儿子来代替亚伯,因为该隐杀了他。” 26 塞特生了一个儿子,给他取名叫以挪士。那时候,人才开始求告耶和华。
Genesis 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Cain and Abel
4 Adam had sex with his wife, Eve. She became pregnant. She gave birth to Cain. She said, ‘With the Lord's help, I have given birth to a son.’[a]
2 Some time later, Eve gave birth to Cain's brother. She called him Abel. When they had grown to become men, Abel took care of sheep. Cain worked on the land as a farmer.
3 One day, it was time for the harvest. Cain brought to the Lord some of his crops as an offering. 4 But Abel brought to God some of the first lambs that his sheep had given birth to. He brought pieces of fat from the best of his lambs to offer them to God. Abel and his gift pleased the Lord.[b] 5 But God was not pleased with Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry. His face looked sad.[c]
6 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry? Why do you look sad? 7 If you do what is right, I will accept you. But if you do not do the right thing, sin will be very near to you. It will be like a wild animal at your door that is ready to eat you. But you must become its master.’[d]
Cain kills Abel
8 One day Cain said to his brother Abel, ‘We should go out to the fields.’ While they were in the fields, Cain attacked his brother Abel. He killed Abel.
9 Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is Abel, your brother?’ Cain replied, ‘I do not know where he is. Must I always keep my brother safe?’
10 Then the Lord God said, ‘Why have you done this bad thing? Now your brother's blood is lying there on the ground. That is like his voice which is shouting to me for help. 11 The ground received your brother's blood when you killed him. As a result, the ground no longer accepts you. It has brought a curse on you. 12 When you work hard to dig the ground, no plants will grow in it for your food. You will travel from place to place. You will not have your own home.’[e]
13 Cain said to the Lord, ‘That punishment is too much! It will give me too much pain. 14 Now you are making me leave my home here on the land. I will be far away from where you are. I will be a traveller without a home. If someone sees me, they will kill me.’
15 But the Lord said to Cain, ‘No! If anyone kills Cain, I will punish that person seven times more than I have punished you.’
Then the Lord put a special mark on Cain. This was to tell other people that they must not kill Cain.
16 Cain went away from the Lord. He went to live in the land called Nod, which is east of Eden.
The descendants of Cain
17 Cain had sex with his wife. She became pregnant and she gave birth to Enoch. Cain started to build a city. He called the city Enoch because that was his son's name. 18 Enoch became the father of Irad. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech married two women. One was called Adah. The other was called Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal. Jabal became the father of people who live in tents and they take care of animals.
21 Jabal had a brother called Jubal. Jubal became the father of people who make music with harps and flutes.
22 Zillah gave birth to a son. His name was Tubal-Cain. He used bronze and iron to make tools. Tubal-Cain had a sister. Her name was Naamah.
23 Lamech said to his two wives,
‘Adah and Zillah, listen to me!
My wives, hear my words!
A man attacked me, so I killed him.
Yes, I killed a young man because he hurt me.
24 If someone kills Cain, God will punish that person seven times more.
But if someone attacks me, I will punish that person 77 times more!’[f]
The birth of Seth
25 Adam again had sex with his wife, Eve. She gave birth to another son. She called him Seth. Eve said, ‘God has given me another child to take the place of Abel, because Cain killed Abel.’ 26 Later Seth had a son and he called him Enosh.
At that time, people began to use the name of the Lord to worship him.
Footnotes
- 4:1 Eve knew that God has authority over life and death.
- 4:4 Abel chose the firstborn young animals to give to God. He killed them, and then he gave God the fat pieces. This is the best part of the meat from the animal.
- 4:5 Cain was angry because God was not happy with him and his gift. Cain did not try to learn what God really wanted as a gift. Instead, Cain showed God that he was angry.
- 4:7 God told Cain that, if he continued to do wrong things, sin would destroy him. God told Cain that he must turn away from his sins. Then he would accept Cain.
- 4:12 God's question to Cain is like the question that he asked Adam and Eve. That was when they hid in the garden. God knew that Cain had killed Abel. He wanted Cain to say that he is sorry. But Cain was not sorry that he had killed his brother.
- 4:24 Lamech is proud because he killed the young man. He wants to tell people what he has done. He does not think that he has done anything wrong. This shows that sin has become much worse in the world.
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