CHAPTER LXXIX

A wicked plan is carried to a tragic conclusion.

Cain is frightened. "Am I my brother's keeper?" The seven punishments. Peace is shattered.

1 And so they went on, until they came to a lonely place, where there were no sheep; then Abel said to Cain, "Behold, my brother, we are tired from walking; for we see none of the trees, nor of the fruits, nor of the flourishing green plants, nor of the sheep, nor any one of the things of which you told me. Where are those sheep of thine you told me to bless?"

Then Cain said to him, "Come on, and you shall see many beautiful

things very soon, but go before me, until I catch up to you."
Then went Abel forward, but Cain remained behind him.
And Abel was walking in his innocence, without guile; not believing

his brother would kill him.
Then Cain, when he came up to him, comforted him with his talk,

walking a little behind him; then he ran up to him and beat him with the staff, blow after blow, until he was stunned.
But when Abel fell down on the ground, seeing that his brother meant

to kill him, he said to Cain, "O, my brother, have pity on me. By the breasts we have sucked, don't hit me! By the womb that bore us and that brought us into the world, don't beat me to death with that staff! If you will kill me, take one of these large stones and kill me outright."
Then Cain, the hard-hearted, and cruel murderer, took a large stone,

and beat his brother's head with it, until his brains oozed out, and he wallowed in his blood, before him.
And Cain repented not of what he had done.
But the earth, when the blood of righteous Abel fell on it,

trembled, as it drank his blood, and would have destroyed Cain because of it.
And the blood of Abel cried mysteriously to God, to avenge him of

his murderer.
Then Cain began at once to dig the ground wherein to lay his

brother; for he was trembling from the fear that came over him, when he saw the earth tremble on his account.

He then cast his brother into the pit he made, and covered him with

dust. But the ground would not receive him; but it threw him up at once.
Again Cain dug the ground and hid his brother in it; but again the

ground threw him up on itself; until three times the ground thus threw up on itself the body of Abel.
The muddy ground threw him up the first time, because he was not the

first creation; and it threw him up the second time and would not receive him, because he was righteous and good, and was killed without a cause; and the ground threw him up the third time and would not receive him, that there might remain before his brother a witness against him.
And so the earth mocked Cain, until the Word of God, came to him

concerning his brother.
Then was God angry, and much displeased at Abel's death; and He

thundered from heaven, and lightnings went before Him, and the Word of the Lord God came from heaven to Cain, and said to him, "Where is Abel your brother?"
Then Cain answered with a proud heart and a gruff voice, "How, O

God? Am I my brother's keeper?"
Then God said to Cain, "Cursed be the earth that has drunk the blood

of Abel your brother; and as for you, you will always be trembling and shaking; and this will be a mark on you so that whoever finds you, will kill you."
But Cain cried because God had said those words to him; and Cain

said to Him, "O God, whosoever finds me shall kill me, and I shall be blotted out from the face of the earth."
Then God said to Cain, "Whoever finds you will not kill you;"

because before this, God had been saying to Cain, "I shall put seven punishments on anyone that kills Cain." For as to the word of God to Cain, "Where is your brother?" God said it in mercy for him, to try and make him repent.
For if Cain had repented at that time, and had said, "O God, forgive

me my sin, and the murder of my brother," God would then have

forgiven him his sin.

And as to God saying to Cain, "Cursed be the ground that has drunk

the blood of your brother" That also, was God's mercy on Cain. For God did not curse him, but He cursed the ground; although it was not the ground that had killed Abel, and committed a wicked sin.
For it was fitting that the curse should fall on the murderer; yet

in mercy did God so manage His thoughts as that no one should know it, and turn away from Cain.
And He said to him, "Where is your brother?" To which he answered

and said, "I know not." Then the Creator said to him, "Be trembling and quaking."
Then Cain trembled and became terrified; and through this sign did

God make him an example before all the creation, as the murderer of his brother. Also did God bring trembling and terror over him, that he might see the peace in which he was at first, and see also the trembling and terror he endured at the last; so that he might humble himself before God, and repent of his sin, and seek the peace that he enjoyed at first.
And in the word of God that said, "I will put seven punishments on

anyone who kills Cain," God was not seeking to kill Cain with the sword, but He sought to make him die of fasting, and praying and crying by hard rule, until the time that he was delivered from his sin.
And the seven punishments are the seven generations during which God

awaited Cain for the murder of his brother.
But as to Cain, ever since he had killed his brother, he could find

no rest in any place; but went back to Adam and Eve, trembling, terrified, and defiled with blood. . . .