Genesis 4:1-16·~2 min

Cain and Abel

Adam and Eve have Cain and Abel, whose work leads into offerings before the LORD. When Abel’s offering is regarded and Cain’s is not, Cain falls into anger, and the LORD warns him that sin is near and must be mastered.

A¹nd Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. ²Later she gave birth to Cain’s brother Abel. ³Now Abel was a keeper of sheep, while Cain was a tiller of the soil. So in the course of time, Cain brought some of the fruit of the soil as an offering to the LORD, ⁴while Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. ⁵And the LORD looked with favor on Abel and his offering, but He had no regard for Cain and his offering. So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell. ⁶“Why are you angry,” said the LORD to Cain, “and why has your countenance fallen? ⁷If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”

Cain leads Abel into the field and kills him. When the LORD confronts him, Abel’s blood cries from the ground, and Cain is cursed away from the soil he once worked, becoming a wanderer.

⁸Then Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let us go out to the field.” And while they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. ⁹And the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” ¹⁰“What have you done?” replied the LORD. “The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground. ¹¹Now you are cursed and banished from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. ¹²When you till the ground, it will no longer yield its produce to you. You will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.”

Cain protests that his punishment is too great, fearing both estrangement and revenge. The LORD places a protective mark on him, and Cain goes out from the LORD’s presence to settle east of Eden.

¹³But Cain said to the LORD, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. ¹⁴Behold, this day You have driven me from the face of the earth, and from Your face I will be hidden; I will be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” ¹⁵“Not so!” replied the LORD. “If anyone slays Cain, then Cain will be avenged sevenfold.” And the LORD placed a mark on Cain, so that no one who found him would kill him. ¹⁶So Cain went out from the presence of the LORD and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.

Section summaryCain and Abel bring offerings to the LORD, but Cain turns from warning to murder when his gift is not regarded. The section traces the first fratricide from wounded anger to judgment, yet even in exile Cain remains under a mark of restrained mercy.

Role in the chapterThis opening section shows how the disobedience of Eden takes root in ordinary work, worship, and kinship. It sets the chapter’s main pattern: sin grows quickly, judgment follows, and God still limits destruction.