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.
Berĕshith (Genesis) 4
4
1And Aḏam knew Ḥawwah his wife, and she conceived and bore Qayin, and said, “I have gained a man, יהוה.”
2And again, she gave birth to his brother Heḇel. And Heḇel became a keeper of sheep, but Qayin became a tiller of the ground.
3And it came to be, in the course of time, that Qayin brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to יהוה.
4And Heḇel also brought of the first-born of his flock and of their fat. And יהוה looked to Heḇel and his offering,
5but He did not look to Qayin and his offering. And Qayin was very wroth, and his face fell.
6And יהוה said to Qayin, “Why is he wroth towards you? And why is your face#Lit. faces. fallen?
7Is it not if you do good, you are to be accepted? And if you do not do good, towards the door is a sin.#Or, sin-offering (feminine). He is lying#Or, reposing or crouching (masculine). and towards you is his desire, and you must rule over#Lit. in. him.”
8And Qayin told Heḇel his brother. And it came to be when they were in the field, that Qayin rose up against Heḇel his brother and killed him.
9And יהוה said to Qayin, “Where is Heḇel your brother?” And he said, “I do not know. Am I my brother’s guard?”
10And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground.
11“And now you are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand.
12“If you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”
13And Qayin said to יהוה, “My punishment is too great to bear!
14See, You have driven me from the face of the ground today, and I am hidden from Your face. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and it shall be that anyone who finds me kills me.
15And יהוה said to him, “Well, if anyone kills Qayin, vengeance is taken on him sevenfold.” And יהוה set up a sign for Qayin, lest anyone finding him strikes him.
16So Qayin went out from the presence of יהוה and dwelt in the land of Noḏ on the east of Ěḏen.
17And Qayin knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Ḥanoḵ. And he built a city, and called the name of the city after the name of his son, Ḥanoḵ.
18And to Ḥanoḵ was born Iraḏ. And Iraḏ brought forth Meḥuya’ĕl, and Meḥuya’ĕl brought forth Methusa’ĕl, and Methusa’ĕl brought forth Lemeḵ.
19And Lemeḵ took for himself two wives, the name of one was Aḏah, and the name of the second was Tsillah.
20And Aḏah bore Yaḇal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents, with livestock.
21And his brother’s name was Yuḇal. He was the father of all those who play the lyre and flute.
22As for Tsillah, she also bore Tuḇal-Qayin, a smith of all kinds of tools in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tuḇal-Qayin was Na‛amah.
23And Lemeḵ said to his wives, “Aḏah and Tsillah, hear my voice! Wives of Lemeḵ, listen to my words! For I have killed a man for wounding me, even a young man for hurting me.
24For Qayin is avenged sevenfold, and Lemeḵ seventy-sevenfold.
25And Aḏam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and called his name Shĕth, “For Elohim has appointed me another seed instead of Heḇel, because Qayin had killed him.”
26And to Shĕth, to him also a son was born. And he called his name Enosh. Then it was begun to call on the Name of יהוה.#The first record of “calling on the Name of יהוה.”
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