Genesis 4
4
1Adam slept with Eve his wife. She conceived and had Cain. She said, “I’ve gotten a man, with God’s help!”
2Then she had another baby, Abel. Abel was a herdsman and Cain a farmer.
3-5Time passed. Cain brought an offering to God from the produce of his farm. Abel also brought an offering, but from the firstborn animals of his herd, choice cuts of meat. God liked Abel and his offering, but Cain and his offering didn’t get his approval. Cain lost his temper and went into a sulk.
6-7 God spoke to Cain: “Why this tantrum? Why the sulking? If you do well, won’t you be accepted? And if you don’t do well, sin is lying in wait for you, ready to pounce; it’s out to get you, you’ve got to master it.”
8Cain had words with his brother. They were out in the field; Cain came at Abel his brother and killed him.
9 God said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?”
He said, “How should I know? Am I his babysitter?”
10-12 God said, “What have you done! The voice of your brother’s blood is calling to me from the ground. From now on you’ll get nothing but curses from this ground; you’ll be driven from this ground that has opened its arms to receive the blood of your murdered brother. You’ll farm this ground, but it will no longer give you its best. You’ll be a homeless wanderer on Earth.”
13-14Cain said to God, “My punishment is too much. I can’t take it! You’ve thrown me off the land and I can never again face you. I’m a homeless wanderer on Earth and whoever finds me will kill me.”
15 God told him, “No. Anyone who kills Cain will pay for it seven times over.” God put a mark on Cain to protect him so that no one who met him would kill him.
16Cain left the presence of God and lived in No-Man’s-Land, east of Eden.
17-18Cain slept with his wife. She conceived and had Enoch. He then built a city and named it after his son, Enoch.
Enoch had Irad,
Irad had Mehujael,
Mehujael had Methushael,
Methushael had Lamech.
19-22Lamech married two wives, Adah and Zillah. Adah gave birth to Jabal, the ancestor of all who live in tents and herd cattle. His brother’s name was Jubal, the ancestor of all who play the lyre and flute. Zillah gave birth to Tubal-Cain, who worked at the forge making bronze and iron tools. Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23-24Lamech said to his wives,
Adah and Zillah, listen to me;
you wives of Lamech, hear me out:
I killed a man for wounding me,
a young man who attacked me.
If Cain is avenged seven times,
for Lamech it’s seventy-seven!
25-26Adam slept with his wife again. She had a son whom she named Seth. She said, “God has given me another child in place of Abel whom Cain killed.” And then Seth had a son whom he named Enosh.
That’s when men and women began praying and worshiping in the name of God.
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Genesis 4: MSG
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
Genesis 4
4
Cain and Abel’s Blood
1Now the man had relations with Eve his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I produced a man with Adonai.”
2Then she gave birth again, to his brother Abel. Abel became a shepherd of flocks while Cain became a worker of the ground.
3So it happened after some time that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to Adonai,
4while Abel—he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and their fat portions. Now Adonai looked favorably upon Abel and his offering,
5but upon Cain and his offering He did not look favorably. Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.
6Then Adonai said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?
7If you do well, it will lift. But if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the doorway. Its desire is for you, but you must master it.”
8Cain spoke to Abel his brother. While they were in the field, Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him.
9Then Adonai said to Cain, “Where is Abel, your brother?” “I don’t know,” he said. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”
10Then He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood is crying out to Me from the ground.
11So now, cursed are you from the ground which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12As often as you work the ground, it will not yield its crops to you again. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.”
13Cain said to Adonai, “My iniquity is too great to bear!
14Since You expelled me today from the face of the ground and I must be hidden from Your presence, then I will be a restless wanderer on the earth—anyone who finds me will kill me!”
15But Adonai said to him, “In that case, anyone who kills Cain is to be avenged seven times over.” So Adonai put a mark on Cain, so that anyone who found him would not strike him down.
16Then Cain left Adonai’s presence and dwelled in the Land of Wandering, east of Eden.
17Cain was intimate with his wife and she became pregnant and gave birth to Enoch. And he was building a city, and he named the city after the name of his son, Enoch.
18And to Enoch was born Irad. Irad fathered Mehujael, and Mehujael fathered Methushael, and Methushael fathered Lamech.
19Now Lamech took for himself two wives. The name of the first one was Adah, and the name of the second one was Zillah.
20Adah gave birth to Jabal—he was the pioneer of tent dwellers with livestock.
21His brother’s name was Jubal—he was the pioneer of all who skillfully handle stringed instruments and wind instruments.
22Now Zillah also gave birth to Tubal-Cain, the forger of every kind of bronze and iron tools; Tubal-Cain’s sister was Naamah.
23Lamech said to his wives, “Adah and Zillah: Hear my voice! Lamech’s wives: Listen to my speech! For I have killed a man for wounding me, and a boy for bruising me.
24If Cain is to be avenged seven times, then Lamech—77 times!”
25Adam was intimate with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son and she named him Seth, “For God has appointed me another seed in place of Abel—since Cain killed him.”
26To Seth, also was born a son. He named him Enosh. Then people began to call on Adonai’s Name.
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