Genesis 4:8-16

Here is the quote from my The New American Bible: "Cain said to his brother Abel, 'Let us go out in the field. When they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord asked Cain, 'Where is your brother Abel?' He answered, 'I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper? 'The Lord then said: 'What have you done! Your brother's blood cries out to me from the soil! Therefore, you shall be banned from the soil that opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. If you till the soil, it shall no longer give you its produce. You shall become a restless wanderer on the earth.' Cain said to the Lord: 'My punishment is too great to bear. Since you have now banished me from the soil, and I must avoid your presence and become a restless wanderer on the earth, anyone may kill me at sight.' 'Not so!' the Lord said to him. 'If anyone kills Cain, Cain shall be avenged sevenfold.' So, the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest anyone should kill him at sight. Cain then left the Lord's presence, and settle in the land of Nod, east of Eden." Cain is rotten to the core, and his resentment and bitterness are now so rabid, that he cannot stand being alive, but rather than kill himself, for he is a selfish coward, he lies to himself further, asserting that Abel is the cause of all his problems, and he deserves execution as his just deserts. He then lies to Abel, who trusts him, and lures him out into the field, where he murders Abel. He lied to Abel to commit a grievous sin. Now, when Yahweh calls out to him as to where Abel is, Cain lies again, still competing with, deceiving and trying to out-think Yahweh. Cain as a blameless tiller of the earth, brought bounty into the world. As a killer, he no longer can bright forth bounty and life from tilling. He is a marked man doomed to roam the earth. This coward is worried about angry strangers killing him. He still clings to life, as lousy as it has become. God vows to protect him. Notice how he is banned from the Lord's presence: I wonder if that banishment is this world only, or in the next world too. Here is this quote from the Holy Bible (KJV): "And 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. And the Lord said unto 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 cries unto me from the ground. And now thou art cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother's blood from thy hand; When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, 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 everyone that findeth me shall slay me. And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord said a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him. And Cain went out from the presence of the Lord, and dwelt in the land of Nod, on the east of Eden." When God asked Cain how his brother was, Cain evaded again, and got snotty retorting: "Am I my brother's keeper?" And though I am a staunch individualist, we are still our brothers’ keepers. We want them to succeed as self-realizing individualists. Note that though God punishes Cain, he still shows him mercy. Note that Cain wants to live, even though his life is ruined. Even a cornered, miserable rat wants to keep living.