Psalm 50:1-21 and Genesis 4:1-15, 25

Psalm 50:1-21
1 Unto the end. A Psalm of David,
2 when Nathan the prophet came to him, after he went to Bathsheba.
3 Be merciful to me, O God, according to your great mercy. And, according to the plentitude of your compassion, wipe out my iniquity.
4 Wash me once again from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.
5 For I know my iniquity, and my sin is ever before me.
6 Against you only have I sinned, and I have done evil before your eyes. And so, you are justified in your words, and you will prevail when you give judgment.
7 For behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sinfulness did my mother conceive me.
8 For behold, you have loved truth. The obscure and hidden things of your wisdom, you have manifested to me.
9 You will sprinkle me with hyssop, and I will be cleansed. You will wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow.
10 In my hearing, you will grant gladness and rejoicing. And the bones that have been humbled will exult.
11 Turn your face away from my sins, and erase all my iniquities.
12 Create a clean heart in me, O God. And renew an upright spirit within my inmost being.
13 Do not cast me away from your face; and do not take your Holy Spirit from me.
14 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and confirm me with an unsurpassed spirit.
15 I will teach the unjust your ways, and the impious will be converted to you.
16 Free me from blood, O God, the God of my salvation, and my tongue will extol your justice.
17 O Lord, you will open my lips, and my mouth will announce your praise.
18 For if you had desired sacrifice, I would certainly have given it, but with holocausts, you will not be delighted.
19 A crushed spirit is a sacrifice to God. A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not spurn.
20 Act kindly, Lord, in your good will toward Zion, so that the walls of Jerusalem may be built up.
21 Then you will accept the sacrifice of justice, oblations, and holocausts. Then they will lay calves upon your altar.
Genesis 4:1-15, 25
1 Truly, Adam knew his wife Eve, who conceived and gave birth to Cain, saying, "I have obtained a man through God."
2 And again she gave birth to his brother Abel. But Abel was a pastor of sheep, and Cain was a farmer.
3 Then it happened, after many days, that Cain offered gifts to the Lord, from the fruits of the earth.
4 Abel likewise offered from the firstborn of his flock, and from their fat. And the Lord looked with favor on Abel and his gifts.
5 Yet in truth, he did not look with favor on Cain and his gifts. And Cain was vehemently angry, and his countenance fell.
6 And the Lord said to him: "Why are you angry? And why is your face fallen?
7 If you behave well, will you not receive? But if you behave badly, will not sin at once be present at the door? And so its desire will be within you, and you will be dominated by it."
8 And Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let us go outside." And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel, and he put him to death.
9 And the Lord said to Cain, "Where is your brother Abel?" And he responded: "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"
10 And he said to him: "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to me from the land.
11 Now, therefore, you will be cursed upon the land, which opened its mouth and received the blood of your brother at your hand.
12 When you work it, it will not give you its fruit; a vagrant and a fugitive shall you be upon the land."
13 And Cain said to the Lord: "My iniquity is too great to deserve kindness.
14 Behold, you have cast me out this day before the face of the earth, and from your face I will be hidden; and I will be a vagrant and a fugitive on the earth. Therefore, anyone who finds me will kill me."
15 And the Lord said to him: "By no means will it be so; rather, whoever would kill Cain, will be punished sevenfold." And the Lord placed a seal upon Cain, so that anyone who found him would not put him to death.
16 And so Cain, departing from the face of the Lord, lived as a fugitive on the earth, toward the eastern region of Eden.
17 Then Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch. And he built a city, and he called its name by the name of his son, Enoch.
18 Thereafter, Enoch conceived Irad, and Irad conceived Mahujael, and Mahujael conceived Mathusael, and Mathusael conceived Lamech.
19 Lamech took two wives: the name of one was Adah, and the name of the other was Zillah.
20 And Adah conceived Jabel, who was the father of those who live in tents and are shepherds.
21 And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of those who sing to the harp and the organ.
25 Adam also knew his wife again, and she gave birth to a son, and she called his name Seth, saying, "God has given me another offspring, in place of Abel, whom Cain killed."