Every Woman's Bible Genesis sampler - Flipbook - Page 20
GENESIS 4
And to the man he said,
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18
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“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.
It will grow thorns and thistles for you,
though you will eat of its grains.
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.”
Paradise Lost: God’s Judgment
Then 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!” 23So the
Lord 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.
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Cain and Abel
Now 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!” 2 Later she gave birth to his
brother and named him Abel.
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd,
while Cain cultivated the ground. 3When 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
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portions of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The
Lord accepted Abel and his gift, 5but he did not 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? 7You 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.
9Afterward the Lord asked Cain, “Where is your
brother? Where is Abel?”
“I don’t know,” Cain responded. “Am I my brother’s
guardian?”
10 But the Lord said, “What have you done? Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the
ground! 11 Now you are cursed and banished from
the ground, which has swallowed your brother’s
blood. 12 No 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.”
13 Cain replied to the Lord, “My punishment* is
too great for me to bear! 14 You 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. 16 So Cain left the Lord’s presence and
settled in the land of Nod,* east of Eden.
The Descendants of Cain
17 Cain 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. 18 Enoch had a son named Irad. Irad became
the father of* Mehujael. Mehujael became the father of Methushael. Methushael became the father
of Lamech.
3:20 Eve sounds like a Hebrew term that means “to give life.” 3:22 Or the man; Hebrew reads ha-adam. 4:1a Or the man; also
in 4:25. 4:1b Or I have acquired. Cain sounds like a Hebrew term that can mean “produce” or “acquire.” 4:8 As in Samaritan
Pentateuch, Greek and Syriac versions, and Latin Vulgate; Masoretic Text lacks “Let’s go out into the fields.” 4:13 Or My sin.
4:16 Nod means “wandering.” 4:18 Or the ancestor of, and so throughout the verse.
3:20-24 God graciously clothed Adam and Eve since they
had become ashamed of their nakedness. In his mercy, God
prevented them from eating of the tree of life, so that they
would not live forever in their state of alienation from God
and each other.
4:1 Eve recognized God’s blessing in the gift of children.
The birth of a son ensured the continuation of the family line.
However, the tragic consequences of sin threatened her family’s survival. Cain did not offer God his best, and his jealousy
toward Abel drove him to kill his own brother.
4:17 Where did Cain find a wife? If Adam and Eve were the
only people, then he would have to have married his sister.
However, Genesis does not specifically claim that Adam and
Eve were the only humans created. It’s possible that their
story is an archetype of the human experience. The existence
of other humans seems to be implied in Cain’s fear that others
would kill him if he wandered alone (4:14-15). In 1 Corinthians
15:22, the apostle Paul speaks of Adam’s representative role
for humanity. Some believe Adam’s role requires him to be the
genetic parent of all humans, while others do not.
