Adam and Eve had a baby boy who they named Cain. Later, Eve gave birth to another son who was named Abel.
When they grew up, Cain cultivated the ground while Abel became a shepherd.
When it was time for the harvest, Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift, the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock.
The Lord accepted the sacrifice Abel gave, but He did not accept the gift Cain gave. This made Cain very angry and dejected.
‘Why are you so angry?’ the Lord asked Cain. ‘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.’
One day Cain suggested to his brother, ‘Let’s go out into the fields.’
While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother, Abel, and killed him
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, ‘Where is your brother? Where is Abel?’
‘I don’t know,’ Cain responded. ‘Am I my brother’s guardian?’ ‘What have you done?’ God replied. ‘Listen! Your brother’s blood cries out to me from the ground! Now you are cursed and banished. The ground will no longer yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth.’
‘My punishment is too great to bear!’ Cain uttered. ‘You have banished me and made me a homeless wanderer. Anyone who finds me will kill me!’ ‘No,’ the Lord replied. ‘If anyone murders you their punishment will be seven times greater.’
The Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. So Cain left the Lord’s presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
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