Genesis 11

1Then the whole earth was of one language and one speache. 2And as they went from the East, they found a plaine in the land of Shinar, and there they abode. 3And they said one to another, Come, let vs make bricke, and burne it in the fire. So they had bricke for stone, and slime had they in steade of morter. 4Also they said, Goe to, let vs builde vs a citie and a towre, whose top may reache vnto the heauen, that we may get vs a name, lest we be scattered vpon the whole earth. 5But the Lord came downe, to see the citie and towre, which the sonnes of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Beholde, the people is one, and they all haue one language, and this they begin to doe, neither can they now be stopped from whatsoeuer they haue imagined to do. 7Come on, let vs goe downe, and there confound their language, that euery one perceiue not anothers speache. 8So ye Lord scattered them from thence vpon all the earth, and they left off to build the citie. 9Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because the Lord did there confounde the language of all the earth: from thence then did the Lord scatter them vpon all the earth. 10These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundreth yeere olde, and begate Arpachshad two yeere after the flood. 11And Shem liued, after he begate Arpachshad, fiue hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 12Also Arpachshad liued fiue and thirtie yeeres, and begate Shelah. 13And Arpachshad liued, after he begate Shelah, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 14And Shelah liued thirtie yeeres, and begat Eber. 15So Shelah liued, after he begat Eber, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters. 16Likewise Eber liued foure and thirtie yeres, and begate Peleg. 17So Eber liued, after he begate Peleg, foure hundreth and thirtie yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters 18And Peleg liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Reu. 19And Peleg liued, after he begate Reu, two hundreth and nine yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 20Also Reu liued two and thirtie yeeres, and begate Serug. 21So Reu liued, after he begate Serug, two hundreth and seuen yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 22Moreouer Serug liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Nahor. 23And Serug liued, after he begate Nahor, two hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 24And Nahor liued nine and twentie yeeres, and begate Terah. 25So Nahor liued, after he begate Terah, an hundreth and nineteene yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters. 26So Terah liued seuentie yeeres, and begate Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27Nowe these are the generations of Terah: Terah begate Abram, Nahor, and Haran: and Haran begate Lot. 28Then Haran died before Terah his father in the land of his natiuitie, in Vr of the Caldees. 29So Abram and Nahor tooke them wiues. The name of Abrams wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahors wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren, and had no childe. 31Then Terah tooke Abram his sonne, and Lot the sonne of Haran, his sonnes sonne, and Sarai his daughter in lawe, his sonne Abrams wife: and they departed together from Vr of the Caldees, to goe into the land of Canaan, and they came to Haran, and dwelt there. 32So the dayes of Terah were two hundreth and fiue yeeres, and Terah died in Haran.

Genesis 11

The Tower of Babylon

1The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east,#11:2 Or migrated eastward they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.#Gn 10:10; 14:1; Dn 1:2 3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make oven-fired bricks.” (They used brick for stone and asphalt#Gn 14:10; Ex 2:3 for mortar.) 4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky.#Dt 1:28; 9:1; Ps 107:26 Let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth.”

5Then the Lord came down#Gn 18:21; Ex 3:8; 19:11,18,20 to look over the city and the tower that the humans#11:5 Or the descendants of Adam were building. 6The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth,#Gn 11:4; Ps 92:9; Lk 1:51 and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore it is called Babylon,#11:9 Hb Babel#11:9 In Hb, the name for “Babylon,” babel sounds like the word for “confuse,” balal.#Gn 10:10 for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.

From Shem to Abram

10These are the family records#Gn 2:4; 11:27 of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 12Arpachshad lived 35 years#11:12–13 LXX reads years and fathered Cainan. 13 After he fathered Cainan, Arpachshad lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After he fathered Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died; Gn 10:24; Lk 3:35–36 and fathered Shelah. 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah.#Jos 24:2 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai,#Gn 17:15; 20:12 and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah.#Gn 22:20,23; 24:15 She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was unable to conceive;#Gn 25:21; 29:31; Ex 23:26; Jdg 13:2–3; 1Sm 2:5; Jb 24:21; Is 54:1; Lk 1:36; 23:29; Gl 4:27; Heb 11:11 she did not have a child.

31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans#Gn 15:7; Neh 9:7; Ac 7:4 to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.

Choose your language

Genesis 11

Genesis 11