4Adam had sexual relations with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain. ⁿ 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, ⁿ 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 ⁿ 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.

Adam’s Family History

5This is the family history of Adam. When God created human beings, he made them in his own likeness. ²He created them male and female, and on that day he blessed them and named them human beings.

³When Adam was 130 years old, he became the father of another son in his likeness and image, and Adam named him Seth. ⁴After Seth was born, Adam lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁵So Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.

⁶When Seth was 105 years old, he had a son named Enosh. ⁷After Enosh was born, Seth lived 807 years and had other sons and daughters. ⁸So Seth lived a total of 912 years, and then he died.

⁹When Enosh was 90 years old, he had a son named Kenan. ¹⁰After Kenan was born, Enosh lived 815 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹¹So Enosh lived a total of 905 years, and then he died.

¹²When Kenan was 70 years old, he had a son named Mahalalel. ¹³After Mahalalel was born, Kenan lived 840 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁴So Kenan lived a total of 910 years, and then he died.

¹⁵When Mahalalel was 65 years old, he had a son named Jared. ¹⁶After Jared was born, Mahalalel lived 830 years and had other sons and daughters. ¹⁷So Mahalalel lived a total of 895 years, and then he died.

¹⁸When Jared was 162 years old, he had a son named Enoch. ¹⁹After Enoch was born, Jared lived 800 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁰So Jared lived a total of 962 years, and then he died.

²¹When Enoch was 65 years old, he had a son named Methuselah. ²²After Methuselah was born, Enoch walked with God 300 years more and had other sons and daughters. ²³So Enoch lived a total of 365 years. ²⁴Enoch walked with God; one day Enoch could not be found, because God took him.

²⁵When Methuselah was 187 years old, he had a son named Lamech. ²⁶After Lamech was born, Methuselah lived 782 years and had other sons and daughters. ²⁷So Methuselah lived a total of 969 years, and then he died.

²⁸When Lamech was 182, he had a son. ²⁹Lamech named his son Noah ⁿ and said, “He will comfort us in our work, which comes from the ground the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰After Noah was born, Lamech lived 595 years and had other sons and daughters. ³¹So Lamech lived a total of 777 years, and then he died.

³²After Noah was 500 years old, he became the father of Shem, Ham, and Japheth.

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Footnotes

nCain This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “I have given birth.”
nNod This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “wander.”
nSeth This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “to give.”
nNoah This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “rest.”