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Genesis 4 - Cain and Abel

  1. And Adam made love to Ewe his wife; and she became with child, and bore Cain, and said, ‘I have brought forth a man from the Lord.1
  2. And she ayen bore his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
  3. And in time it came to ago, that Cain brought of the ovet of the ground a tiver to the Lord.
  4. And Abel, he also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord nimmed a liking to Abel and his tiver:
  5. But to Cain and his tiver he did not nim a liking. And Cain was highly wroth, and his ansen fell.
  6. And the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why art thou wroth? and why is thy ansen fallen?
  7. If thou doest well, shalt thou not be welcomed? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And his list shall be to thee, and thou shalt wield over him.’
  8. And Cain talked mid his brother Abel: and it came to ago, when hy were in the field, that Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
  9. And the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is thy brother Abel?’ And he said, ‘I know not: Am I my brother's keeper?’
  10. And hy said, ‘What hast thou done? the steven of thy brother's blood chyeth to me from the ground.
  11. ‘And now thou art mansed from the earth, which hath opened its mouth to reap thy brother's blood from thy hand;
  12. ‘When thou tillest the ground, it shall henceforth not yield its strength2 to thee; thou shalt be a runaway and a drifter on the earth.’
  13. And Cain said to the Lord, ‘My wrake is greater than I can bear.
  14. ‘Behold, thou hast driven me out from the anlet of the earth this day; and from thy anlet shall I be hid; and I shall be a runaway and a drifter on the earth; and it shall come to ago, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.’
  15. And the Lord said to him, ‘Not so; anyone who slayeth Cain, wrake shall be nimmed on hem sevenfold.’ And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any man finding him should slay him.
  16. And Cain went out from the anwardness of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, to the east of Eden.
  17. And Cain made love to his wife; and she beyot and bore Enoch: and Cain built a borough, and named it after his son, Enoch.
  18. And to Enoch was born Irad: and Irad beyat Mehujael: and Mehujael beyat Methushael3: and Methushael beyat Lamech.
  19. And Lamech wed two wives: the name of the first was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah.
  20. And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in fieldhouses and own livestock.
  21. And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all those who glew4 mid stringed tools and whistles.
  22. And Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, who hewed all kinds of tools from brass and iron: and the sister of Tubal-Cain was Naamah.
  23. And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, ‘Hear my steven; ye wives of Lamech, listen to my speech: for I have slain a man for wounding me, a young man for harming me.
  24. ‘If Cain shall be wrakened5 sevenfold, then Lamech shall be wrakened seventy-sevenfold.’
  25. And Adam made love to his wife ayen; and she bore a son and named him Seth: ‘For God,’ she said, ‘hath atithed me another child instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.’
  26. And to Seth, there was also born a son; and he named him Enosh: then men began to chy the name of the Lord.

  1. The Hebrew word for Cain, קַיִן (qayin) sounds like the Hebrew word for "brought forth": קָנָה (qānâ). 

  2. The literal translation is "strength" or "ability", but many translations use the terms "resources", "crops", "produce", and "wealth" when referring to soil. 

  3. Was Methusael in the KJV, but the origin Hebrew was מְתוּשָׁאֵל (mᵉtûšā’ēl), with a "sh" sound. 

  4. Would use play here, but it is of uncertain origin. OED suggests it may be Germanic, as Middle Dutch has pleyen, but there is no further evidence for Germanic origins. glew here instead also encodes information about playing music, which is good too. 

  5. A new word coined from wrake 'punishment, vengeance' and the verbal suffix -en meaning 'to give or obtain something'. Thus, wraken means 'to give or obtain vengeance; avenge'.