Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

(Deuteronomy 32:8; Acts 2:1–13)

1Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech. 2And as people journeyed eastward,#11:2 Or from the east or in the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar #11:2 That is, Babylonia and settled there.

3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

5Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. 6And the Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. 7Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

8So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it is called Babel,#11:9 Or Babylon; the Hebrew word for Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused. for there the Lord confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the Lord scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Genealogy from Shem to Abram

(1 Chronicles 1:17–27)

10This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah. 13And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.#11:13 Hebrew; LXX (see also Luke 3:35–36) 12 When Arphaxad was 135 years old, he became the father of Cainan. 13 And after he had become the father of Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he had become the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters. Note that LXX also adds 100 years to the ages of Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, and Nahor in this genealogy.

14When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber. 15And after he had become the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg. 17And after he had become the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu. 19And after he had become the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug. 21And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor. 23And after he had become the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah. 25And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26When Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

31And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Genesis 11

1 AND THE whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.

2 And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.

3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.

4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.

6 And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.

7 Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.

8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.

9 Therefore the name of it was called Babel–because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

10 This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.

11 And Shem lived after Arpachshad was born 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.

13 Arpachshad lived after Shelah was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.

15 Shelah lived after Eber was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.

17 And Eber lived after Peleg was born 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.

19 And Peleg lived after Reu was born 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.

21 And Reu lived after Serug was born 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.

23 And Serug lived after Nahor was born 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.

25 And Nahor lived after Terah was born 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of [at different times], Abram and Nahor and Haran, [his firstborn].

27 Now this is the history of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.

28 Haran died before his father Terah [died] in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah.

30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31 And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together to go from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.

32 And Terah lived 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

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Genesis 11

Genesis 11