Genesis 4
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.”
13 And Cain said to the Lord, “My [g]punishment is greater than I can bear! 14 Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; (L)I shall be (M)hidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that (N)anyone who finds me will kill me.”
15 And the Lord said to him, [h]“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him (O)sevenfold.” And the Lord set a (P)mark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.
The Family of Cain
16 Then Cain (Q)went out from the (R)presence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of [i]Nod on the east of Eden. 17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, (S)and called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. 18 To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.
19 Then Lamech took for himself (T)two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. 20 And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and [j]flute. 22 And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23 Then Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;
Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!
For I have [k]killed a man for wounding me,
Even a young man [l]for hurting me.
24 (U)If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,
Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”
A New Son
25 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and (V)named him [m]Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” 26 And as for Seth, (W)to him also a son was born; and he named him [n]Enosh. Then men began (X)to call on the name of the Lord.
Footnotes
- 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.”
- Genesis 4:13 iniquity
- Genesis 4:15 So with MT, Tg.; LXX, Syr., Vg. Not so;
- Genesis 4:16 Lit. Wandering
- Genesis 4:21 pipe
- Genesis 4:23 slain a man for my wound
- Genesis 4:23 for my hurt
- Genesis 4:25 Lit. Appointed
- Genesis 4:26 Gr. Enos, Luke 3:38
Genesis 4
Evangelical Heritage Version
The First Children: Cain and Abel
4 The man was intimate with Eve, his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have gotten a man with the Lord.”[a] 2 She also gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel.
Abel tended sheep, but Cain worked the ground. 3 As time passed, one day Cain brought an offering to the Lord from the fruit of the soil. 4 Abel also brought some of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. The Lord looked favorably on Abel and his offering, 5 but he did not look favorably on Cain and his offering. Cain was very angry, and his face showed it.
6 The Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you have that angry look on your face?[b] 7 If you do good, will you not be lifted up? If you do not do good, sin is crouching at the door. It has a strong desire for you, but you must rule over it.”
8 Cain said to Abel, his brother, “Let’s go into the field.”[c] When they were in the field, Cain attacked Abel, his brother, and killed him.
9 The Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?”
He said, “I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10 The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying to me from the soil. 11 Now you are cursed and sent away from the soil[d] which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. 12 When you work the soil, it will no longer give its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13 Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is too great for me to bear. 14 Look, today you have driven me away from the soil. I will be hidden from your face, and I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth. And whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 The Lord said to him, “No![e] If anyone kills Cain, he will face sevenfold revenge.” And the Lord appointed a sign for[f] Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.
The Descendants of Cain
16 Cain went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod,[g] east of Eden.
17 Cain was intimate with his wife. She conceived and gave birth to Enoch. Cain built a city and named the city after his son Enoch. 18 To Enoch, Irad was born. Irad became the father of Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19 Lamech took two wives. The name of one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah. 20 Adah gave birth to Jabal, who was the predecessor[h] of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. 21 His brother’s name was Jubal, who was the predecessor of all who play the lyre and flute. 22 Zillah also gave birth to Tubal Cain, who made all kinds of tools and weapons from bronze and iron. Tubal Cain’s sister was Na’amah.
23 Lamech said to his wives:
Adah and Zillah, hear my voice.
You wives of Lamech, listen to my speech.
Look, I have killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for bruising me.
24 If Cain will be avenged seven times,
then Lamech will be avenged seventy-seven times.
The Family Line of Seth
25 Adam was intimate with his wife again. She gave birth to a son and named him Seth,[i] because she said, “God has set another child in place of Abel for me, since Cain killed him.” 26 Later a son was born to Seth, and he named him Enosh. This is when people began to proclaim[j] the name of the Lord.
Footnotes
- Genesis 4:1 Or, following Luther’s translation, I have gotten a man, the Lord. The Jerusalem Targum reads I have acquired a man, the Angel of the Lord. Cain means get or acquire.
- Genesis 4:6 Literally why has your face fallen
- Genesis 4:8 The words let’s go into the field, which are missing from the Hebrew text, are supplied from the ancient versions.
- Genesis 4:11 Here and in verse 14 the Hebrew word adamah, which can be translated ground or land, refers to the soil that Cain worked.
- Genesis 4:15 The translation no is supported by the ancient versions. The Hebrew reads very well then.
- Genesis 4:15 Or placed a mark on
- Genesis 4:16 Nod means wandering.
- Genesis 4:20 Literally father, that is, the founder of this way of life
- Genesis 4:25 Seth sounds like the Hebrew word for set or place.
- Genesis 4:26 Or call on
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.