Adam and Eve got two sons; the first was called Cain and the second Abel. Cain tilled the ground, and Abel kept sheep. Once they both brought their offerings to the Lord: Cain brought of the fruit of the ground, and Abel of the best of his flock. God had respect unto Abel and his offering; but unto Cain and his offering He had not respect. Then Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. And God said unto him: Why is thy countenance fallen? Is it not so that if thou doest well, thou mayst freely look up? And if thou doest not well, sin coucheth at the door, and its desire shall be unto thee, but do thou rule over it. Still Cain rose up against Abel his brother and slew him, when they were in the field. And the Lord asked Cain: Where is thy brother? Cain answered: I know not; am I my brother’s keeper? Then the Lord said: Thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground. Therefore cursed art thou; and a fugitive and a wanderer shalt thou be in the earth. And Cain went and dwelt on the east of Eden. His descendants were inventive and skilful, they invented harps and flutes and forged weapons; but they did also that which was evil in the eyes of the Lord. (Gen. 4.) 5. Seth and His Descendants Adam and Eve got a son instead of Abel. He was called Seth. Seth and his descendants were pious and were called the children of God; but they were not innocent; for all have sinned in Adam. One of them was called Enoch; he walked with God and did not die; the Lord took him, when he was 365 years old. Methuselah lived 969 years, and is the oldest of all men. His grandson was Noah. (Gen. 5.) 6. The Flood Men multiplied on the earth, and the sons of Seth mingled with the descendants of Cain and took their daughters for wives. Thereby wickedness became great over all the earth, and it repented God that he had made man. But Noah found favor in the eyes of God. Therefore He said to Noah: Make thee an ark, three hundred cubits[1] long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high, and pitch it within and without with pitch; for I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy everything that lives. Noah built the ship which is called the ark, and went into it with his wife and his three sons, Shem, Ham and Japhet, and their wives, and a male and a female of all the animals that cannot live in the water. Then God let it rain for 40 days and 40 nights, and the waters rose 15 cubits over the highest mountains. And every living thing was destroyed upon the earth. Noah only, and those that were with him in the ark, were left alive. ----- Footnote 1: This cubit was about 19 inches long. -----