Bible / Genesis
Genesis 4
Douay-Rheims Bible, Challoner revision (1749–1752), the traditional Catholic English Bible, translated from the Latin Vulgate. If you read a modern Bible, this is the same Scripture in older English; some names are spelled differently (Cesarea for Caesarea, Apocalypse for Revelation). About this translation
1 And Adam knew Eve his wife; who conceived and brought forth Cain, saying: I have gotten a man through God.
2 And again she brought forth his brother Abel. And Abel was a shepherd, and Cain a husbandman.
3 And it came to pass after many days, that Cain offered, of the fruits of the earth, gifts to the Lord.
4 Abel also offered of the firstlings of his flock, and of their fat: and the Lord had respect to Abel, and to his offerings.
5 But to Cain and his offerings he had no respect: and Cain was exceeding angry, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said to him: Why art thou angry? and why is thy countenance fallen?
7 If thou do well, shalt thou not receive? but if ill, shall not sin forthwith be present at the door? but the lust thereof shall be under thee, and thou shalt have dominion over it.
8 And Cain said to Abel his brother: Let us go forth abroad. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and slew him.
9 And the Lord said to Cain: Where is thy brother Abel? And he answered: I know not: am I my brother’s keeper?
10 And he said to him: What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth to me from the earth.
11 Now, therefore, cursed shalt thou be upon the earth, which hath opened her mouth and received the blood of thy brother at thy hand.
12 When thou shalt till it, it shall not yield to thee its fruit: a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be upon the earth.
13 And Cain said to the Lord: My iniquity is greater than that I may deserve pardon.
14 Behold thou dost cast me out this day from the face of the earth, and from thy face I shall be hid, and I shall be a vagabond and a fugitive on the earth: every one, therefore, that findeth me, shall kill me.
15 And the Lord said to him: No, it shall not so be: but whosoever shall kill Cain, shall be punished sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, that whosoever found him should not kill him.
16 And Cain went out from the face of the Lord, and dwelt as a fugitive on the earth at the east side of Eden.
17 And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and brought forth Henoch: and he built a city, and called the name thereof by the name of his son Henoch.
18 And Henoch begot Irad, and Irad begot Maviael, and Maviael begot Mathusael, and Mathusael begot Lamech,
19 Who took two wives: the name of the one was Ada, and the name of the other Sella.
20 And Ada brought forth Jabel: who was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of herdsmen.
21 And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of them that play upon the harp and the organs.
22 Sella also brought forth Tubalcain, who was a hammerer and artificer in every work of brass and iron. And the sister of Tubalcain was Noema.
23 And Lamech said to his wives Ada and Sella: Hear my voice, ye wives of Lamech, hearken to my speech: for I have slain a man to the wounding of myself, and a stripling to my own bruising.
24 Sevenfold vengeance shall be taken for Cain: but for Lamech seventy times sevenfold.
25 Adam also knew his wife again: and she brought forth a son, and called his name Seth, saying: God hath given me another seed for Abel, whom Cain slew.
26 But to Seth also was born a son, whom he called Enos: this man began to call upon the name of the Lord.
This chapter in the Catechism and the early Church
Where the Catechism of the Catholic Church cites these verses (from its footnotes on vatican.va), and where the earliest Church Fathers quote them (Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1, public domain). Short quotes only; follow the links for the full text. The Catechism uses modern verse numbers, so these are listed by chapter.
- Genesis 4:1 in modern BiblesCCC 2335
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- CCC 2335 “Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different…”
- Genesis 4:2 in modern BiblesCCC 2335
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- CCC 2335 “Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different…”
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 401 “After that first sin, the world is virtually inundated by sin There is Cain's murder of his brother Abel and the universal…”
- CCC 2538 “The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to…”
“And it came to pass, while they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”
Quoted in First Letter to the Corinthians, St. Clement of Rome (c. AD 96), Chapter IV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
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- Genesis 4:5 in modern BiblesCCC 2538
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- CCC 2538 “The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to…”
- Genesis 4:6 in modern BiblesCCC 2538
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- CCC 2538 “The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to…”
- Genesis 4:7 in modern BiblesCCC 2538
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 2538 “The tenth commandment requires that envy be banished from the human heart. When the prophet Nathan wanted to spur King David to…”
“… is without blame, and worketh no evil – that God who reveals what is hidden [in the heart], but who worketh not evil – when Cain was by no means at rest, He saith to him: "To thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book IV, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XVIII. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Genesis 4:8 in modern BiblesCCC 2259
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- CCC 2259 “In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of…”
- Genesis 4:9 in modern BiblesCCC 2259
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- CCC 2259 “In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of…”
Read the Catechism and Fathers
- CCC 1736 “Every act directly willed is imputable to its author: Thus the Lord asked Eve after the sin in the garden: "What is…”
- CCC 1867 “The catechetical tradition also recalls that there are "sins that cry to heaven": the blood of Abel, The sin of the Sodomites,…”
- CCC 2259 “In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of…”
- CCC 2268 “The fifth commandment forbids direct and intentional killing as gravely sinful. the murderer and those who cooperate voluntarily in murder commit a…”
“But inasmuch as blood cries out (vocalis est) from the beginning [of the world], God said to Cain, when he had slain his brother, "The voice of thy brother's blood crieth to Me.”
Quoted in Against Heresies, Book V, St. Irenaeus of Lyons (c. AD 180), Chapter XIV. Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1
- Genesis 4:11 in modern BiblesCCC 2259
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- CCC 2259 “In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of…”
- Genesis 4:12 in modern BiblesCCC 2259
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- CCC 2259 “In the account of Abel's murder by his brother Cain, Scripture reveals the presence of anger and envy in man, consequences of…”
- Genesis 4:25 in modern BiblesCCC 2335
Read the Catechism
- CCC 2335 “Each of the two sexes is an image of the power and tenderness of God, with equal dignity though in a different…”
A modern English Catholic translation will be added once its publisher grants permission.