Genesis 11
11
1 Now the earth was of one language and of the same speech.
2 And when they were advancing from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt in it.
3 And each one said to his neighbor, "Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire." And they had bricks instead of stones, and pitch instead of mortar.
4 And they said: "Come, let us make a city and a tower, so that its height may reach to heaven. And let us make our name famous before we are divided into all the lands."
5 Then the Lord descended to see the city and the tower, which the sons of Adam were building.
6 And he said: "Behold, the people are united, and all have one tongue. And since they have begun to do this, they will not desist from their plans, until they have completed their work.
7 Therefore, come, let us descend, and in that place confound their tongue, so that they may not listen, each one to the voice of his neighbor."
8 And so the Lord divided them from that place into all the lands, and they ceased to build the city.
9 And for this reason, its name was called 'Babel,' because in that place the language of the whole earth became confused. And from then on, the Lord scattered them across the face of every region.
10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old when he conceived Arphaxad, two years after the great flood.
11 And after he conceived Arphaxad, Shem lived for five hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
12 Next, Arphaxad lived for thirty-five years, and then he conceived Shelah.
13 And after he conceived Shelah, Arphaxad lived for three hundred and three years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
14 Likewise, Shelah lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Eber.
15 And after he conceived Eber, Shelah lived for four hundred and three years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
16 Then Eber lived for thirty-four years, and he conceived Peleg.
17 And after he conceived Peleg, Eber lived for four hundred and thirty years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
18 Likewise, Peleg lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Reu.
19 And after he conceived Reu, Peleg lived for two hundred and nine years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
20 Then Reu lived for thirty-two years, and then he conceived Serug.
21 Likewise, after he conceived Serug, Reu lived for two hundred and seven years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
22 In truth, Serug lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Nahor.
23 And after he conceived Nahor, Serug lived for two hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
24 And so Nahor lived for twenty-nine years, and then he conceived Terah.
25 And after he conceived Terah, Nahor lived for one hundred and nineteen years, and he conceived sons and daughters.
26 And Terah lived for seventy years, and then he conceived Abram, and Nahor, and Haran.
27 And these are the generations of Terah. Terah conceived Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Next Haran conceived Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Then 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 the father of Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren and had no children.
31 And so Terah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and he led them away from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan. And they approached as far as Haran, and they dwelt there.
32 And the days of Terah that passed were two hundred and five years, and then he died in Haran.
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Genesis 11
11
“God Turned Their Language into ‘Babble’”
1-2At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
4Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.”
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
6-9 God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.
* * *
10-11This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood. After he had Arphaxad, he lived 500 more years and had other sons and daughters.
12-13When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah. After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
14-15When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber. After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
16-17When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg. After Eber had Peleg, he lived 430 more years and had other sons and daughters.
18-19When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
20-21When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had Serug. After Reu had Serug, he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
22-23When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor. After Serug had Nahor, he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
24-25When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had Terah. After Nahor had Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Family Tree of Terah
27-28This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.
29Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram’s wife was Sarai; Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.
30Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
32Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.