CHAPTER 4
1 Forsooth Adam knew Eve his wife, which conceived, and childed Cain, and said, I have gotten a man by God. (And Adam knew his wife Eve, who conceived, and bare Cain, and she said, Now, with the Lord’s help, I have begotten a man.)
2 And again she childed his brother Abel. Forsooth Abel was a keeper of sheep, and Cain was an earth-tiller. (And then she bare his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain was a farmer, who worked the soil.)
3 Soothly it was done after many days, that Cain offered gifts to the Lord of the fruits of the earth*;
4 and Abel offered of the first engendered of his flock, and of the fatness of those. And the Lord beheld to Abel and to the gifts of him;
5 soothly he beheld not to Cain and to his gifts. And Cain was wroth greatly, and his cheer felled down, (or And Cain was greatly angered, and his face fell).
6 And the Lord said to him, Why art thou wroth, and why felled down thy face?
7 Whether not if thou shalt do well, thou shalt receive well; but if thou doest evil, thy sin shall be present anon in the gates? but the desire thereof, that is, of sin, shall be under thee, and thou shalt be lord thereof. (If thou shalt do well, then thou shalt be accepted; but if thou doest evil, then at once thy sin shall be present at the gates, and the desire of sin shall take thee under, and so thou must be lord of it, or rule over it.)
8 And Cain said to Abel, his brother, Go we out, (or But then Cain said to his brother Abel, Walk with me). And when they were in the field, Cain rose (up) against his brother Abel, and killed him.
9 And the Lord said to Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? Which answered, I know not; whether I am the keeper of my brother? (And the Lord said to Cain, Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered, How do I know; am I my brother’s keeper?)
10 And God said to Cain, What hast thou done? the voice of the blood of thy brother crieth to me from [the] earth (or the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth out to me from the earth).
11 Now therefore thou shalt be cursed on [the] earth, that opened his mouth, and received of thine hand the blood of thy brother. (And so now thou shalt be cursed on the earth, that hath opened its mouth, and received thy brother’s blood from thy hand.)
12 When thou shalt work the earth, it shall not give his fruits to thee; thou shalt be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about on [the] earth, in all the days of thy life. (When thou shalt work the earth, it shall not give its fruits to thee; thou shalt be of unstable dwelling, and fleeing about on the earth, all the days of thy life.)
13 And Cain said to the Lord, My wickedness is more than that I deserve forgiveness (for); (And Cain said to the Lord, My punishment is more than that I can bear;)
14 lo! today thou castest me out from the face of the earth; and I shall be hid from thy face, and I shall be unstable of dwelling, and fleeing about in (the) earth; therefore each man that shall find me shall slay me. (behold! today thou castest me out from the face of the earth; and I shall be hid from thy face, and I shall be of unstable dwelling, and fleeing about on the earth; and any man who findeth me shall slay me.)
15 And the Lord said to him, It shall not be done so, but each man that shall slay Cain shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a sign in Cain, that each man that should find him should not slay him. (And the Lord said to him, It shall not be done so, but any man who shall kill Cain shall be punished seven times. And the Lord put a mark on Cain, so that any man who would find him would not kill him.)
16 And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelled fleeing about in [the] earth, at the east coast of Eden, that is, of (the) earthly paradise. (And so Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and lived in the land of Nod, to the east of the Garden of Eden, that is, to the east of Paradise on earth.)
17 Forsooth Cain knew his wife, which conceived, and childed Enoch; and Cain builded a city, and called the name thereof of the name of his son, Enoch, (or and Cain built a city, and named it after his son Enoch).
18 Forsooth Enoch begat Irad; and Irad begat Mehujael; and Mehujael begat Methusael; and Methusael begat Lamech;
19 that took two wives, the name to the one wife was Adah, and the name to the other was Zillah. (and Lamech took two wives, and his first wife was named Adah, and the other was named Zillah.)
20 And Adah begat Jabal, that was the father of (the) dwellers in tents, and of shepherds;
21 and the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of the singers in harp and organ. (and his brother’s name was Jubal; and he was the father of the players of harps and of organs.)
22 And Zillah begat Tubalcain, that was an hammer-beater, and [a] smith on all works of brass and of iron, (or who used a hammer, and was a smith of all things made out of bronze and of iron); forsooth the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
23 And Lamech said to his wives, Adah and Zillah, Ye wives of Lamech, hear my voice, and harken (to) my word(s); for I have slain a man by my wound(ing), and a young waxing man by my violent beating, (or for I have killed a man with my wounding, and a young man with my violent beatings);
24 (if) vengeance shall be given sevenfold of Cain, forsooth of Lamech seventy times seven times. (if vengeance shall be given seven times for Cain, then for Lamech it shall be seventy-seven times.)
25 Also yet Adam knew his wife, and she childed a son, and called his name Seth†, and said, God hath put to me another seed for Abel, whom Cain killed. (And Adam knew his wife, and she bare a son, and named him Seth, for Eve said, God hath given me another child for Abel, whom Cain killed.)
26 But also a son was born to Seth, which son he called Enos; this began to call inwardly the name of the Lord. (And a son was born to Seth, whom he called Enos; and his generation began to inwardly call on the Lord’s name.)
* CHAPTER 4:3 Not the first fruits, or the best, or it would have been so stated. † CHAPTER 4:25 The name sounds like the Hebrew for ‘has given’.