Genesis 4–5

Cain Murders Abel

4Now Adam knew Eve his wife, and she conceived and bore ¹Cain, and said, “I have acquired a man from the Lord.” ²Then she bore again, this time his brother ²Abel. Now ^aAbel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. ³And ³in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit ^bof the ground to the Lord. ⁴Abel also brought of ^cthe firstborn of his flock and of ^dtheir fat. And the Lord ^erespected Abel and his offering, ⁵but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell.

⁶So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is ⁴for you, but you should rule over it.”

⁸Now Cain ⁵talked with Abel his ⁶brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and ^fkilled him.

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

He said, ^g“I do not know. Am I ^hmy brother’s keeper?”

¹⁰And He said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood ⁱcries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹So now ^jyou are cursed from the earth, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it shall no longer yield its strength to you. A fugitive and a vagabond you shall be on the earth.”

¹³And Cain said to the Lord, “My ⁷punishment is greater than I can bear! ¹⁴Surely You have driven me out this day from the face of the ground; ^kI shall be ^lhidden from Your face; I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond on the earth, and it will happen that ^manyone who finds me will kill me.”

¹⁵And the Lord said to him, ⁸“Therefore, whoever kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him ⁿsevenfold.” And the Lord set a ^omark on Cain, lest anyone finding him should kill him.

The Family of Cain

¹⁶Then Cain ^pwent out from the ^qpresence of the Lord and dwelt in the land of ⁹Nod on the east of Eden. ¹⁷And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city, ^rand called the name of the city after the name of his son—Enoch. ¹⁸To Enoch was born Irad; and Irad begot Mehujael, and Mehujael begot Methushael, and Methushael begot Lamech.

¹⁹Then Lamech took for himself ^stwo wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the second was Zillah. ²⁰And Adah bore Jabal. He was the father of those who dwell in tents and have livestock. ²¹His brother’s name was Jubal. He was the father of all those who play the harp and ¹flute. ²²And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron. And the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.

²³Then Lamech said to his wives:

“Adah and Zillah, hear my voice;

Wives of Lamech, listen to my speech!

For I have ²killed a man for wounding me,

Even a young man ³for hurting me.

^24tIf Cain shall be avenged sevenfold,

Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold.”

A New Son

²⁵And Adam knew his wife again, and she bore a son and ^unamed him ⁴Seth, “For God has appointed another seed for me instead of Abel, whom Cain killed.” ²⁶And as for Seth, ^vto him also a son was born; and he named him ⁵Enosh. Then men began ^wto call on the name of the Lord.

The Family of Adam

5This is the book of the ^agenealogy of Adam. In the day that God created man, He made him in ^bthe likeness of God. ²He created them ^cmale and female, and ^dblessed them and called them Mankind in the day they were created. ³And Adam lived one hundred and thirty years, and begot a son ^ein his own likeness, after his image, and ^fnamed him Seth. ⁴After he begot Seth, ^gthe days of Adam were eight hundred years; ^hand he had sons and daughters. ⁵So all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years; ⁱand he died.

⁶Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begot ^jEnosh. ⁷After he begot Enosh, Seth lived eight hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters. ⁸So all the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years; and he died.

⁹Enosh lived ninety years, and begot ¹Cainan. ¹⁰After he begot Cainan, Enosh lived eight hundred and fifteen years, and had sons and daughters. ¹¹So all the days of Enosh were nine hundred and five years; and he died.

¹²Cainan lived seventy years, and begot Mahalalel. ¹³After he begot Mahalalel, Cainan lived eight hundred and forty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁴So all the days of Cainan were nine hundred and ten years; and he died.

¹⁵Mahalalel lived sixty-five years, and begot Jared. ¹⁶After he begot Jared, Mahalalel lived eight hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters. ¹⁷So all the days of Mahalalel were eight hundred and ninety-five years; and he died.

¹⁸Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begot ^kEnoch. ¹⁹After he begot Enoch, Jared lived eight hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁰So all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years; and he died.

²¹Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begot Methuselah. ²²After he begot Methuselah, Enoch ^lwalked with God three hundred years, and had sons and daughters. ²³So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. ²⁴And ^mEnoch walked with God; and he was not, for God ⁿtook him.

²⁵Methuselah lived one hundred and eighty-seven years, and begot Lamech. ²⁶After he begot Lamech, Methuselah lived seven hundred and eighty-two years, and had sons and daughters. ²⁷So all the days of Methuselah were nine hundred and sixty-nine years; and he died.

²⁸Lamech lived one hundred and eighty-two years, and had a son. ²⁹And he called his name ^oNoah, ²saying, “This one will comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands, because of the ground ^pwhich the Lord has cursed.” ³⁰After he begot Noah, Lamech lived five hundred and ninety-five years, and had sons and daughters. ³¹So all the days of Lamech were seven hundred and seventy-seven years; and he died.

³²And Noah was five hundred years old, and Noah begot ^qShem, Ham, ^rand Japheth.