Cain Murders Abel

4 Adam^[a] and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, “I'll name him Cain because I got^[b] him with the help of the Lord.” ² Later she had another son and named him Abel.

Abel became a sheep farmer, but Cain farmed the land. ³ One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord, ^4 (A) and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord. He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering, ⁵ but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.

⁶ The Lord said to Cain:

What's wrong with you? Why do you look so angry? ⁷ If you had done the right thing, you would be smiling.^[c] But you did the wrong thing, and now sin is waiting to attack you like a lion. Sin wants to destroy you, but don't let it!

^8 (B) Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let's go for a walk.”^[d] And when they were out in a field, Cain attacked and killed him.

⁹ Afterwards the Lord asked Cain, “Where is Abel?”

“How should I know?” he answered. “Am I supposed to look after my brother?”

^10 (C) Then the Lord said:

Why have you done this terrible thing? You killed your own brother, and his blood flowed onto the ground. Now his blood is calling out for me to punish you. ¹¹ And so, I'll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm it again. ¹² When you try to farm the land, it won't produce anything for you. From now on, you'll be without a home, and you'll spend the rest of your life wandering from place to place.

¹³ “This punishment is too hard!” Cain said. ¹⁴ “You're making me leave my home and live far from you.^[e] I will have to wander about without a home, and just anyone could kill me.”

¹⁵ “No!”^[f] the Lord answered. “Anyone who kills you will be punished seven times worse than I am punishing you.” So the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn everyone not to kill him. ¹⁶ But Cain had to go far from the Lord and live in the Land of Wandering,^[g] which is east of Eden.

More and More People

¹⁷ Later, Cain and his wife had a son named Enoch. At the time Cain was building a town, and so he named it Enoch after his son. ¹⁸ Then Enoch had a son named Irad, who had a son named Mehujael, who had a son named Methushael, who had a son named Lamech.

¹⁹ Lamech married Adah, then Zillah. ^20-21 Lamech and Adah had two sons, Jabal and Jubal. Their son Jabal was the first to live in tents and raise sheep and goats. Jubal was the first to play harps and flutes.

²² Lamech and Zillah had a son named Tubal Cain who made tools out of bronze and iron. They also had a daughter, whose name was Naamah.

²³ One day, Lamech said to his two wives, “A young man wounded me, and I killed him. ²⁴ Anyone who tries to get even with me will be punished ten times more than anyone who tries to get even with Cain.”

²⁵ Adam and his wife had another son. They named him Seth, because they said, “God has given^[h] us a son to take the place of Abel, who was killed by his brother Cain.” ²⁶ Later, Seth had a son and named him Enosh.

About this time people started worshiping the Lord.^[i]

Descendants of Adam

5 ^1-2 (D) God created men and women to be like himself. He gave them his blessing and called them human beings. The following is a list of the descendants of Adam, the first man:

^3-4 When Adam was 130, he had a son who was just like him, and he named him Seth. Adam had more children ⁵ and died at the age of 930.

⁶ When Seth was 105, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷ Seth had more children ⁸ and died at the age of 912.

⁹ When Enosh was 90, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰ Enosh had more children ¹¹ and died at the age of 905.

¹² When Kenan was 70, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³ Kenan had more children ¹⁴ and died at the age of 910.

¹⁵ When Mahalalel was 65, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶ Mahalalel had more children ¹⁷ and died at the age of 895.

¹⁸ When Jared was 162, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹ Jared had more children ²⁰ and died at the age of 962.

²¹ When Enoch was 65, he had a son named Methuselah, ²² and during the next 300 years he had more children. Enoch truly loved God, ^23-24 (E) and God took him away at the age of 365.

²⁵ When Methuselah was 187, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶ Methuselah had more children ²⁷ and died at the age of 969.

²⁸ When Lamech was one 182, he had a son. ²⁹ Lamech said, “I'll name him Noah because he will give us comfort,^[j] as we struggle hard to make a living on this land that the Lord has put under a curse.” ³⁰ Lamech had more children ³¹ and died at the age of 777.

³² After Noah was 500 years old, he had three sons and named them Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

The Lord Will Send a Flood

6 ^1-2 (F) More and more people were born, until finally they spread all over the earth. Some of their daughters were so beautiful that supernatural beings^[k] came down and married the ones they wanted. ³ Then the Lord said, “I won't let my life-giving breath remain in anyone forever.^[l] No one will live for more than 120 years.”^[m]

^4 (G)(H) The children of the supernatural beings who had married these women became famous heroes and warriors. They were called Nephilim and lived on the earth at that time and even later.

^5 (I) The Lord saw how bad the people on earth were and that everything they thought and planned was evil. ⁶ He was sorry that he had made them, ⁷ and he said, “I'm going to destroy every person on earth! I'll even wipe out animals, birds, and reptiles. I'm sorry I ever made them.”

⁸ But the Lord was pleased with Noah, ^9 (J) and this is the story about him. Noah was the only person who lived right and obeyed God. ¹⁰ He had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

^11-12 God knew that everyone was terribly cruel and violent. ¹³ So he told Noah:

Cruelty and violence have spread everywhere. Now I'm going to destroy the whole earth and all its people. ¹⁴ Get some good lumber and build a boat. Put rooms in it and cover it with tar inside and out. ¹⁵ Make it 133 meters long, 22 meters wide, and 13 meters high. ¹⁶ Build a roof^[n] on the boat and leave a space of about 44 centimeters between the roof and the sides.^[o] Make the boat three stories high and put a door on one side.

¹⁷ I'm going to send a flood that will destroy everything that breathes! Nothing will be left alive. ¹⁸ But I solemnly promise that you, your wife, your sons, and your daughters-in-law will be kept safe in the boat.^[p]

^19-20 Take into the boat with you a male and a female of every kind of animal and bird, as well as a male and a female of every reptile. I don't want them to be destroyed. ²¹ Store up enough food both for yourself and for them.

^22 (K) Noah did everything God told him to do.

The Wise Men

2 When Jesus was born in the village of Bethlehem in Judea, Herod was king. During this time some wise men^[a] from the east came to Jerusalem ² and said, “Where is the child born to be king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east^[b] and have come to worship him.”

³ When King Herod heard about this, he was worried, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem. ⁴ Herod brought together the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses and asked them, “Where will the Messiah be born?”

⁵ They told him, “He will be born in Bethlehem, just as the prophet wrote,

⁷ Herod secretly called in the wise men and asked them when they had first seen the star. ⁸ He told them, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, let me know. I also want to go and worship him.”

⁹ The wise men listened to what the king said and then left. And the star they had seen in the east went on ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. ¹⁰ They were thrilled and excited to see the star.

¹¹ When the men went into the house and saw the child with Mary, his mother, they knelt down and worshiped him. They took out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh^[c] and gave them to him. ¹² Later they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod, and they went back home by another road.

The Escape to Egypt

¹³ After the wise men had gone, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Hurry and take the child and his mother to Egypt! Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is looking for the child and wants to kill him.”

¹⁴ That night, Joseph got up and took his wife and the child to Egypt, ^15 (B) where they stayed until Herod died. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “I called my son out of Egypt.”

The Killing of the Children

¹⁶ When Herod found out that the wise men from the east had tricked him, he was very angry. He gave orders for his men to kill all the boys who lived in or near Bethlehem and were two years old and younger. This was based on what he had learned from the wise men.

¹⁷ So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet Jeremiah had said,

The Return from Egypt

¹⁹ After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph while he was still in Egypt. ²⁰ The angel said, “Get up and take the child and his mother back to Israel. The people who wanted to kill him are now dead.”

²¹ Joseph got up and left with them for Israel. ²² But when he heard that Herod's son Archelaus was now ruler of Judea, he was afraid to go there. Then in a dream he was told to go to Galilee, ^23 (D) and they went to live there in the town of Nazareth. So the Lord's promise came true, just as the prophet had said, “He will be called a Nazarene.”^[d]