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.

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Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

1Now#Or “And” the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated#Or “set out” from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to each other,#Literally “each to his companion” “Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.”#Literally “burn to burning” And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5Then#Or “And” Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that humankind#Literally “sons of Adam” or “sons of humankind” was building. 6And Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people with one language,#Literally “one people and one language to all of them” and this is only the beginning of what they will do.#Literally “and this they begin to do” So#Or “And” now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other’s language.”#Literally “each the language of his companion” 8So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

The Descendants of Shem

10These are the generations#Or “family records” of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old,#Literally “the son of one hundred years” he fathered Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arphaxad, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 12When Arphaxad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah. 13And Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 14When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber. 15And Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 16When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg. 17And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 18When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu. 19And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 20When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug. 21And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 22When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor. 23And Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 24When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah. 25And Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 26When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Descendants of Terah

27Now#Or “And” these are the generations#Or “family records” of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28And Haran died in the presence of Terah his father in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of the wife of Abram was Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30And Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his grandson,#Literally “the son of his son” and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. And they went to Haran, and they settled there. 32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

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Genesis 11

Genesis 11