⁴ By faith ^(A)Abel offered to God ^(B)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^(C)through his faith, though he died, he ^(D)still speaks.

³ In the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of ^(A)the fruit of the ground, ⁴ and Abel also brought of ^(B)the firstborn of his flock and of their fat portions. And the Lord ^(C)had regard for Abel and his offering, ⁵ but ^(D)for Cain and his offering he had no regard. So Cain was very angry, and his face fell.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(A)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(B)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(C)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(D)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.

²⁴ and to Jesus, ^(A)the mediator of a new covenant, and to ^(B)the sprinkled blood ^(C)that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

³⁵ so that on you may come all ^(A)the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous ^(B)Abel to the blood of ^(C)Zechariah the son of Barachiah,^[a] whom you murdered between ^(D)the sanctuary and ^(E)the altar.