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4
Cain and Abel gave things to God
1 Adam and Eve slept together, like a man does with his wife, and then Eve had a baby boy. Eve said, “God has helped me make another human.” So she gave him the name Cain. That name means make. 2 After that, they had another son, and she gave him the name Abel.
Abel grew up, and he looked after sheep and goats all the time. Cain grew up, and he became a gardener. He dug the ground and grew plants for people to eat.
3 One day, Cain brought a gift to give to God. He brought some food from his garden. 4 And Abel brought a gift to give to God too. He gave God some of his young sheep and goats. They were the first ones born to their mothers. Abel brought the best bits of meat from those sheep and goats. And God was happy with Abel, and with his gift.*Hebrews 11:4 5 But God was not happy with Cain, or with his gift. Then Cain got very angry. His face changed, and he looked very sad.
6 God said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why do you look sad? 7 If you do the right thing, I will be happy with you. But, if you don’t do the right thing, look out, you will always want to do more bad things. But you have to control yourself and stop doing bad things.”
8 After that, Cain went to his brother Abel, and Cain said, “Let’s go for a walk.” So Cain and Abel went out bush together. While they were there, Cain hit his brother, and killed him dead.*Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51; 1 John 3:12
9 Later, God said to Cain, “Where is your brother, Abel?”
Cain said, “I don’t know where my brother is. It’s not my job to look after him.”
10 God said to Cain, “You did a really bad thing. Your brother’s blood is on the ground. It’s like his blood is calling out to me. It is telling me you killed him.*Hebrews 12:24 11 So now I’m going to curse you. You killed your brother, and his blood is on the ground. So I will make the ground bad for you. 12 If you try to grow plants in the ground, nothing will grow for you. You will go away from me. And you will walk around in lots of places, but you will not have a home.”
13 Cain said to God, “God, you are too hard on me. 14 If you make me leave this land where I grow my food, and if you make me go away from you, then I will have to walk around everywhere, and I will not have a home. Then somebody will find me and finish me.”
15 God said, “I will not let that happen. I’ll tell everybody that if they kill you, then I will punish them properly. I will do 7 times as much payback to them.” So God put a mark on Cain’s head, so that everybody will know that they can’t kill him.
The people born into Cain’s family
16 After that, Cain went away from God and went to live in a place called Nod. That country was on the east side of Eden. 17 Cain slept with his wife, like married people do together, and then she had a baby boy, called Enok. Cain built a town, and he also called it Enok, after his son. 18 Enok grew up, and he had a son, called Irad.
Irad grew up, and he had a son, called Mehujayel.
Mehujayel grew up, and he had a son, called Methushayel.
Methushayel grew up, and he had a son, called Lamek.
19 Lamek grew up, and he married 2 women. One wife’s name was Adah, and the other wife’s name was Zillah.
20 Lamek’s wife Adah had a baby boy, called Jabal. Jabal grew up, and he looked after animals. He took those animals around and camped in different places. He was the first person to do that.
21 Adah had another son, called Jubal. Jubal grew up and was the first person to play musical instruments. He played a harp and a flute.
22 Lamek’s other wife, Zillah, had a son called Tubal Cain. Tubal Cain grew up and made tools from iron and from a brown metal called bronze.
Zillah also had a daughter, called Namah.
23 One day, Lamek said to his 2 wives, “Adah and Zillah, listen to me properly. A young man hit me and hurt me, so I killed him dead. 24 God said that if anyone killed Cain, he will punish that person properly. He will do 7 times as much payback to them. I reckon I’m more important than Cain. So if somebody kills me for killing that young man, I reckon God will do 77 times as much payback to that person.”*Matthew 18:22
Adam and Eve had another son
25 Adam and Eve slept together again, like a man does with his wife, and they had another son, and they gave him the name Seth. That name means gave. Eve said, “God gave me another son to take the place of Abel, our son that Cain killed.”
26 Seth grew up, and he had a son too, and he gave him the name Enosh. At that time people started to call God by his special name Yahweh when they showed respect to him.

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*4:4 Hebrews 11:4

*4:8 Matthew 23:35; Luke 11:51; 1 John 3:12

*4:10 Hebrews 12:24

*4:24 Matthew 18:22

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