Cain and Abel
Adam and Eve's first two sons, Cain and Abel, grew up to follow very different paths -- Cain became a farmer, working the soil, while Abel became a shepherd, tending flocks. When the time came to bring offerings to the Lord, Cain brought some of his crops, and Abel brought the best portions of the firstborn of his flock. God looked with favor on Abel's offering, but not on Cain's, and Cain became furious, his face falling in anger.
God spoke gently to Cain, warning him: "If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it." Instead of heeding the warning, Cain invited his brother out to the field and killed him there.
Afterward, God asked Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" Cain answered defiantly, "I don't know. Am I my brother's keeper?" But God knew what had happened -- Abel's blood, he said, was crying out from the ground. As punishment, Cain was cursed to wander the earth, no longer able to farm the land that had absorbed his brother's blood.
Cain cried out that his punishment was more than he could bear, afraid that anyone who found him would kill him. So God placed a mark on Cain, a sign of protection, promising that vengeance would fall sevenfold on anyone who harmed him. Cain then went out from the Lord's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden.
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See the full scripture text this story is based on.
- 4:1And Adam knew Eve his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the LORD.
- 4:2And she again bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground.
- 4:3And in process of time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering unto the LORD.
- 4:4And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto Abel and to his offering:
- 4:5But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.
- 4:6And the LORD said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?
- 4:7If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
- 4:8And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.
- 4:9And the LORD said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?
- 4:10And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.
- 4:11And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;
- 4:12When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.
- 4:13And Cain said unto the LORD, My punishment is greater than I can bear.
- 4:14Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.
- 4:15And the LORD said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the LORD set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.
- 4:16And Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden.
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