Bible Strands
Genesis 4:7
If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you refuse to do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires you, but you must master it.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — God addresses Cain directly, in the moment between the rejected offering (v. 5) and the murder of Abel (v. 8).
The words — פֶּתַח (pe.tach, "door") carries the verse's central image: sin is not an abstract force but a creature crouched at a threshold. The verb תֵיטִיב (tei.Tiv, "you will do well") frames both the positive and negative conditional, making the whole verse a question about doing well.
The thread — James 1:15 tracks the same progression from desire to sin to death; Romans 2:6 and Isaiah 3:10 echo the reward-for-right-doing logic.
Why it lands — The verse removes any excuse of inevitability: sin desires Cain, but the obligation to master it is his alone. A reader is asked to stop treating sin as something that happens to them and start treating it as something they must actively resist.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Cross-references
- James 1:15 Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
- Romans 2:6 God “will repay each one according to his deeds.”
- Isaiah 3:10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.
- Romans 6:16 Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?
- Hebrews 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a better sacrifice than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God gave approval to his gifts. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead.
- Numbers 32:23 But if you do not do this, you will certainly sin against the LORD—and be assured that your sin will find you out.
- Romans 7:8 But sin, seizing its opportunity through the commandment, produced in me every kind of covetous desire. For apart from the law, sin is dead.
- Romans 12:1 Therefore I urge you, brothers, on account of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.
- Proverbs 21:27 The sacrifice of the wicked is detestable—how much more so when brought with ill intent!
- Malachi 1:13 You also say: ‘Oh, what a nuisance!’ And you turn up your nose at it,” says the LORD of Hosts. “You bring offerings that are stolen, lame, or sick! Should I accept these from your hands?” asks the LORD.