Genesis 4
4
The First Family
1Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. Eve said, “With the Lord’s help, I have given birth to a man.” 2After that, Eve gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. Abel took care of flocks, and Cain became a farmer.
3Later, Cain brought some food from the ground as a gift to God. 4Abel brought the best parts from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5but he did not accept Cain and his gift. So Cain became very angry and felt rejected.
6The Lord asked Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you look so unhappy? 7If you do things well, I will accept you, but if you do not do them well, sin is ready to attack you. Sin wants you, but you must rule over it.”
8Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out into the field.” While they were out in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.
9Later, the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”
Cain answered, “I don’t know. Is it my job to take care of my brother?”
10Then the Lord said, “What have you done? Your brother’s blood is crying out to me from the ground. 11And now you will be cursed in your work with the ground, the same ground where your brother’s blood fell and where your hands killed him. 12You will work the ground, but it will not grow good crops for you anymore, and you will wander around on the earth.”
13Then Cain said to the Lord, “This punishment is more than I can stand! 14Today you have forced me to stop working the ground, and now I must hide from you. I must wander around on the earth, and anyone who meets me can kill me.”
15The Lord said to Cain, “No! If anyone kills you, I will punish that person seven times more.” Then the Lord put a mark on Cain warning anyone who met him not to kill him.
Cain’s Family
16So Cain went away from the Lord and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden. 17He had sexual relations with his wife, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. At that time Cain was building a city, which he named after his son Enoch. 18Enoch had a son named Irad, Irad had a son named Mehujael, Mehujael had a son named Methushael, and Methushael had a son named Lamech.
19Lamech married two women, Adah and Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal, who became the first person to live in tents and raise cattle. 21Jabal’s brother was Jubal, the first person to play the harp and flute. 22Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who made tools out of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives:
“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice!
You wives of Lamech, listen to what I say.
I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man for hitting me.
24If Cain’s killer is punished seven times,
then Lamech’s killer will be punished seventy-seven times.”
Adam and Eve Have a New Son
25Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve again, and she gave birth to a son. She named him Seth and said, “God has given me another child. He will take the place of Abel, who was killed by Cain.” 26Seth also had a son, and they named him Enosh. At that time people began to pray to the Lord.
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Genesis 4: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 4
4
Cain and Abel
1Now the man #The name Adam is the Hebrew word for “man,” so when the word is used with the article (“the”) as it is here, it can be inferred that the writer (Moses) is referring to Adam as “the man.”Adam knew Eve as his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain, and she said, “I have obtained a man (baby boy, son) with the help of the Lord.” 2And [later] she gave birth to his brother Abel. Now Abel kept the flocks [of sheep and goats], but Cain cultivated the ground. 3And in the course of time Cain brought to the Lord an offering of the fruit of the ground. 4But Abel brought [an offering of] the [finest] firstborn of his flock and the #That is, the fat that covered the entrails of the animals. Later, in the Mosaic Law, the Israelites were forbidden to eat this fat (Lev 7:23), which was reserved as an offering to God, especially for sin (Lev 4:8, 26, 35; 9:10; 16:25).fat portions. And the Lord had respect (regard) for Abel and for his offering; 5but for Cain and his offering He had no respect. So Cain became extremely angry (indignant), and #Lit his countenance fell.he looked annoyed and hostile. 6And the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you so angry? And why do you look annoyed? 7If you do well [believing Me and doing what is acceptable and pleasing to Me], will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well [but ignore My instruction], sin crouches at your door; its desire is for you [to overpower you], but you must master it.” 8Cain talked with Abel his brother [about what God had said]. And when they were [alone, working] in the field, Cain #Lit rose up against.attacked Abel his brother and killed him.
9Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” And he [lied and] said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s keeper?” 10The Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s [innocent] blood is crying out to Me from the ground [for justice]. 11And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s [shed] blood from your hand. 12When you cultivate the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength [it will resist producing good crops] for you; you shall be a fugitive and a vagabond [roaming aimlessly] on the earth [in perpetual exile without a home, a degraded outcast].” 13Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. 14Behold, You have driven me out this day from the face of the land; and from Your face (presence) I will be hidden, and I will be a fugitive and an [aimless] vagabond on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” 15And the Lord said to him, “#Some ancient versions read, “Not so!”Therefore, whoever kills Cain, a sevenfold vengeance [that is, punishment seven times worse] shall be taken on him [by Me].” And the Lord set a [protective] #Many commentators believe this sign not to have been like a brand on the forehead, but something awesome about Cain’s appearance that made people dread and avoid him. In the Talmud, the rabbis suggested several possibilities, including leprosy, boils, or a horn that grew out of Cain. But it was also suggested that Cain was given a pet dog to serve as a protective sign.mark (sign) on Cain, so that no one who found (met) him would kill him.
16So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.
17Cain knew his #The simplest explanation for the origin of Cain’s wife is that she was one of his sisters, whom Scripture does not mention specifically, but implies (5:4). It is also possible that she was a niece or more distant relative descended from the original family, but in any case it is evident that the unrecorded children of Adam and Eve married each other. This was possible because the human gene pool was at its purest with Adam and Eve, so at some point their children could begin families of their own.wife [one of Adam’s descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son. 18Now to Enoch was born Irad, and Irad became the father of Mehujael, and Mehujael became the father of Methushael, and Methushael became the father of Lamech. 19And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock. 21His brother’s name was Jubal; he became the father of all those [musicians] who play the lyre and flute. 22Zillah gave birth to Tubal-cain, the smith (craftsman) and teacher of every artisan in instruments of bronze and iron. The sister of Tubal-cain was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives,
“Adah and Zillah,
Hear my voice;
You wives of Lamech,
Listen to what I say;
For I have killed a man [merely] for wounding me,
And a boy [only] for striking (bruising) me.
24If Cain is avenged sevenfold [as the Lord said he would be],
Then Lamech [will be avenged] #Lamech arrogantly declares to his wives that if someone kills him, he will be entitled to far greater vengeance since he merely retaliated for harm suffered, while Cain’s murder of Abel was by comparison unprovoked.seventy-sevenfold.”
25Adam knew [Eve as] his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for [she said], “God has granted another child for me in place of Abel, because Cain killed him.” 26To Seth, also, a son was born, whom he named Enosh (mortal man, mankind). At that [same] time men began to call on the name of the Lord [in worship through prayer, praise, and thanksgiving].
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