NLT One Year Bible - Flipbook - Page 10
J A N U A R Y
2
17And to the man he said,
“Since you listened to your wife and
ate from the tree
whose fruit I commanded you
not to eat,
the ground is cursed because of you.
All your life you will struggle to
scratch a living from it.
18 It will grow thorns and thistles
for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
19 By the sweat of your brow
will you have food to eat
until you return to the ground
from which you were made.
For you were made from dust,
and to dust you will return.”
20Then
the man—Adam—named his
wife Eve, because she would be the
mother of all who live.* 21And the Lord
God made clothing from animal skins
for Adam and his wife.
22 Then the Lord God said, “Look, the
human beings* have become like us,
knowing both good and evil. What if
they reach out, take fruit from the tree
of life, and eat it? Then they will live forever!” 23 So the L ord God banished
them from the Garden of Eden, and he
sent Adam out to cultivate the ground
from which he had been made. 24After
sending them out, the Lord God stationed mighty cherubim to the east of
the Garden of Eden. And he placed a
flaming sword that flashed back and
forth to guard the way to the tree of life.
4:1Now Adam* had sexual relations with
his wife, Eve, and she became pregnant.
When she gave birth to Cain, she said,
“With the Lord’s help, I have produced*
a man!” 2Later she gave birth to his
brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a
shepherd, while Cain cultivated the
ground. 3 When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops
as a gift to the Lord. 4Abel also brought
a gift—the best portions of the firstborn
lambs from his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5 but he did not
6
accept Cain and his gift. This made Cain
very angry, and he looked dejected.
6“Why are you so angry?” the Lord
asked Cain. “Why do you look so dejected? 7 You will be accepted if you do
what is right. But if you refuse to do what
is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching
at the door, eager to control you. But you
must subdue it and be its master.”
8 One day Cain suggested to his
brother, “Let’s go out into the fields.”*
And while they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him.
9 Afterward the L ord asked Cain,
“Where is your brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I
my brother’s guardian?”
10But the Lord said, “What have you
done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries
out to me from the ground! 11Now you are
cursed and banished from the ground,
which has swallowed your brother’s
blood. 12No longer will the ground yield
good crops for you, no matter how hard
you work! From now on you will be a
homeless wanderer on the earth.”
13Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment* is too great for me to bear!
14You have banished me from the land
and from your presence; you have made
me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who
finds me will kill me!”
15 The Lord replied, “No, for I will give
a sevenfold punishment to anyone who
kills you.” Then the Lord put a mark on
Cain to warn anyone who might try to
kill him. 16So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod,*
east of Eden.
17Cain had sexual relations with his
wife, and she became pregnant and gave
birth to Enoch. Then Cain founded a city,
which he named Enoch, after his son.
18Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became the father of* Mehujael. Mehujael
became the father of Methushael.
Methushael became the father of Lamech.
19Lamech married two women. The
first was named Adah, and the second
was Zillah. 20Adah gave birth to Jabal,
who was the first of those who raise livestock and live in tents. 21His brother’s
