And the Lord God said unto the serpent, "Because thou hast done this, cursed art thou above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life: and I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed: he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."

And to Adam he said, "Because thou hast hearkened to the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, 'Thou shalt not eat of it': cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return to the ground; for out of it wast thou [{21}] taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return."

Then the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken. So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden the Cherubim, and the flame of a sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.

[{22}]

THE STORY OF THE FIRST MURDER.
"Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

(After Adam and Eve were driven from the garden of Eden, two sons were born to them. They named these sons Cain and Abel.)

And Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in time it came to pass, that Cain brought of the fruit of the ground an offering to the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect to Abel and to his offering: but to Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. And the Lord said to Cain, "Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin croucheth at the door: and to thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him."

And it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him. And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel thy brother?"

And he said, "I know not: am I my brother's keeper?"

And he said, "What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother's blood crieth unto me from the ground. And now cursed art thou from the ground, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; [{23}] when thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth."