Gênesis 4

¹ And Adam knew Eve his wife; and sheMan's nature, the estate of marriage, and God's blessing were not utterly abolished through sin, but the quality or condition of it was changed.conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a manThat is, according to the Lord's promise, as some read (Gen_3:15), «To the Lord» rejoicing for the son she had born, whom she would offer to the Lord as the first fruits of her birth.from the LORD.

² And againe she brought foorth his brother Habel, & Habel was a keeper of sheepe, and Kain was a tiller of the ground.

³ And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground anThis declares that the father instructed his children in the knowledge of God, and also how God gave them sacrifices to signify their salvation, though they were destitute of the ordinance of the tree of life.offering unto the LORD.

⁴ And Habel also him selfe brought of the first fruites of his sheepe, and of the fat of them, and the Lorde had respect vnto Habel, and to his offering,

⁵ But vnto Kain and to his offering he had no regarde: wherefore Kain was exceeding wroth, and his countenance fell downe.

⁶ Then ye Lord said vnto Kain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance cast downe?

⁷ If thou doest well, shalt thou not beBoth you and your sacrifice shall be acceptable to me.accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at theSin will still torment your conscience.door. And unto thee [shall be] hisThe dignity of the first born is given to Cain over Abel.desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

⁸ Then Kain spake to Habel his brother; when they were in the fielde, Kain rose vp against Habel his brother, and slewe him.

⁹ And the LORD said unto Cain, Where [is] Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not:This is the nature of the reprobate when they are rebuke for their hypocrisy, even to neglect God and outrage him.[Am] I my brother's keeper?

¹⁰ And he said, What hast thou done? theGod avenges the wrongs against his saints, though no one complains: for the iniquity itself cries for vengeance.voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground.

¹¹ And now [art] thou cursedThe earth will be a witness against you, which mercifully received the blood you most cruelly shed.from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand;

¹² When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; aYou will never have rest for your heart will be in continual fear and worry.fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

¹³ And Cain said unto the LORD,He burdens God as a cruel judge because he punished him so severely.My punishment [is] greater than I can bear.

¹⁴ Behold, thou hast cast me out this day fro the earth, and from thy face shall I be hid, and shalbe a vagabond, and a runnagate in the earth, and whosoeuer findeth me, shall slay me.

¹⁵ And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain,Not for the love he had for Cain, but to suppress murder.vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set aWhich was some visible sign of God's judgment, that others should fear by it.mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

¹⁶ Then Kain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod towarde the Eastside of Eden.

¹⁷ And Cain knew his wife; and she conceived, and bare Enoch: and he builded aThinking by this to be safe, and to have less reason to fear God's judgments against him.city, and called the name of the city, after the name of his son, Enoch.

¹⁸ And to Henoch was borne Irad, and Irad begate Mehuiael, and Mehuiael begate Methushael, and Methushael begate Lamech.

¹⁹ And Lamech took unto himThe lawful institution of marriage, which is, that two should be one flesh, was first corrupted in the house of Cain by Lamech.two wives: the name of the one [was] Adah, and the name of the other Zillah.

²⁰ And Adah bare Iabal, who was the father of such as dwell in the tents, and of such as haue cattell.

²¹ And his brothers name was Iubal, who was the father of all that play on the harpe and organes.

²² And Zillah also bare Tubal-kain, who wrought cunningly euery craft of brasse and of yron: and the sister of Tubal-kain was Naamah.

²³ And Lamech said unto his wives, Adah and Zillah, Hear my voice; ye wives of Lamech, hearken unto my speech:His wives seeing that all men hated him for his cruelty, were afraid, therefore he brags that there is none strong enough to resist, even though he was already wounded.for I have slain a man to my wounding, and a young man to my hurt.

²⁴ If Cain shall be avenged sevenfold, truly LamechHe mocked at God's tolerance in Cain jesting as though God would allow no one to punish him and yet give him permission to murder others.seventy and sevenfold.

²⁵ And Adam knewe his wife againe, and she bare a sonne, and she called his name Sheth: for God, saide she, hath appointed me another seede for Habel, because Kain slewe him.

²⁶ And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men toIn these days God began to move the hearts of the godly to restore religion, which had been suppressed by the wicked for a long time.call upon the name of the LORD.