Genesis 4:1–17

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.