GEN479 Repentance is rooted in the optimistic idea that people can recognize sin, repent, and curtail or minimize their bad behavior. This is the message God conveys to Cain [this verse]. God’s assurance that we can overcome evil means that we can learn to resist it, even if we have not done so before.  … The Hebrew Bible acknowledges that all people will sin (for example, I Kings 8:46, “for there is no man who does not sin”), but that God does not want to punish them for this: “As I live, says God, it is not my desire that the wicked shall die, but that the wicked shall turn from his evil ways and live” Ezekiel 33:11, 18:32.  Furthermore, “The evil of the wicked man shall not trip him up on the day he turns from his wicked ways” Ezekiel 33:12.  Therefore, if you have done wrong, don’t despair. The awareness that you can change your behavior and find your way back to God should fill you with a sense of resolve and hope: “Better one hour of repentance and good deeds in this world than the entire life of the World-to-Come” Avot 4:17.   TELVOL I:152