Genesis 4
Eve Gives Birth to Cain and Abel
The man became acquainted with his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain [which means “possession”]. She said,
“A human being has come into my possession thanks to the Existing One.”
She later gave birth to his brother Abel [which means “breath”].
God Favors Abel Over Cain
Abel tended to the livestock while Cain worked the land.
Cain gifted fruits and vegetables to the Existing One, while Abel gifted him the livestock’s first offspring along with their juiciest meats. Abel and his gifts caught the Existing One’s attention, while Cain and his gifts did not. That upset Cain, which showed on his downcast face. Then the Existing One asked Cain,
“Why are you mad, and why do you look so downcast? If you do things well, that should cheer you up, but if you do things poorly, then sin will be hungrily waiting for you at the door and you’ll have to subdue it.”
Cain told his brother what God had said.
Cain Kills Abel
Eventually, Cain ended up opposing Abel in the field and killed him.
Then the Existing One asked Cain,
“Where is your brother Abel?”
Can said,
“How should I know? I’m not his bodyguard.”
God said,
“What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground. The ground has opened its mouth to absorb your brother’s blood from your hands, so now you are cursed from the ground. When you cultivate the land, it won’t give you its power any more. You’ll be a nomad without a home on the earth.”
Cain told the Existing One,
“That consequence is too much! You're banishing me from the land which means I’ll be hidden from you. I’ll be a homeless nomad, and whoever finds me will kill me.”
So the Existing One said,
“Whoever kills Cain will receive seven times as much vengeance.”
The Existing One put a mark on Cain so that anyone who found him wouldn’t kill him. Then Cain left the Existing One’s company and lived in the land east of Eden called Nod [which means “wandering”].
Cain’s Family Tree
Cain became acquainted with his wife who got pregnant and gave birth to Enoch [which means “dedicated”]. Cain also built a town called Enoch which was named after his son. This is Cain’s family tree:
*Lamech had two wives: Adah and Zillah.
One day, Lamech told his wives,
“Adah and Zillah, listen to me, my wives. I killed a man and a boy because they injured me. If Cain is avenged 7 times, then I must be avenged 77 times.”
Eve Gives Birth to Seth
Adam had relations with his wife again, and she gave birth to a son who they named Seth [which means compensation], because she said,
“God has given me another child in Abel’s place since Cain killed him.”
Seth had a son named Enosh [which means “man”].
Then mankind started calling on the Existing One.
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