Genesis 4:1–12

Cain and Abel

4Adam^a made love to his wife^z Eve,^a and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.^bb She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth^c a man.” ²Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.^c

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil.^{d 3}In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering^e to the Lord.^{f 4}And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions^g from some of the firstborn of his flock.^h The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering,^{i 5}but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.

⁶Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?^j Why is your face downcast? ⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door;^k it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.^l”

⁸Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^d While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.^m

⁹Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?”ⁿ

“I don’t know,^o” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰The Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground.^{p 11}Now you are under a curse^q and driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you.^r You will be a restless wanderer^s on the earth.^t”