4
CHAPTER 4
1Forsooth Adam knew Eve his wife, which conceived, and childed Cain, and said, I have gotten a man by God.
2And again she childed his brother Abel. Forsooth Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was an earth-tiller.
3Soothly it was done after many days, that Cain offered gifts to the Lord of the fruits of the earth#4:3 Not the first fruits, or the best, or it would have been so stated.;
4and Abel offered of the first engendered of his flock, and of the fatness of those [or them]. And the Lord beheld to Abel and to the gifts of him;
5soothly he beheld not to Cain and to his gifts. And Cain was wroth greatly, and his cheer felled down.
6And the Lord said to him, Why art thou wroth, and why felled down thy face?
7Whether not if thou shalt do well, thou shalt receive well; but if thou doest evil, thy sin shall be present anon in the gates? but the desire thereof, that is, of sin, shall be under thee, and thou shalt be lord thereof.
8And Cain said to Abel, his brother, Go we out. And when they were in the field, Cain rose against his brother Abel, and killed him.
9And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? Which answered, I know not; whether I am the keeper of my brother?
10And God said to Cain, What hast thou done? the voice of the blood of thy brother crieth to me from [the] earth.
11Now therefore thou shalt be cursed on [the] earth, that opened his mouth, and received of thine hand the blood of thy brother.
12When thou shalt work the earth, it shall not give his fruits to thee; thou shalt be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about on [the] earth, in all the days of thy life.
13And Cain said to the Lord, My wickedness is more than that I deserve forgiveness;
14lo! today thou castest me out from the face of the earth; and I shall be hid from thy face, and I shall be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about in earth; therefore each man that shall find me shall slay me.
15And the Lord said to him, It shall not be done so, but each man that shall slay Cain shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a sign in Cain, that each man that should find him should not slay him.
16And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelled fleeing about in [the] earth, at the east coast of Eden, that is, of earthly paradise.
17Forsooth Cain knew his wife, which conceived, and childed Enoch; and Cain builded a city, and called the name thereof of the name of his son, Enoch.
18Forsooth Enoch begat Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech;
19that took two wives, the name to the one wife was Adah, and the name to the other was Zillah.
20And Adah begat Jabal, that was the father of dwellers in tents, and of shepherds;
21and the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of the singers in harp and organ.
22And Zillah begat Tubalcain, that was an hammer-beater, and [a] smith on all works of brass and of iron; forsooth the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Ye wives of Lamech, hear my voice, and hearken to my words; for I have slain a man by my wounding, and a young waxing man by my violent beating;
24vengeance shall be given seven-fold of Cain, forsooth of Lamech seventy times seven times.
25Also yet Adam knew his wife, and she childed a son, and called his name Seth#4:25 The name sounds like the Hebrew for ‘has given’., and said, God hath put [or set] to me another seed for Abel, whom Cain killed.
26But also a son was born to Seth, which son he called Enos; this began to call inwardly the name of the Lord.