Genesis 11
11
1And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.
2And when they removed from the east, they found a plain in the land of Sennaar, and dwelt in it.
3And each one said to his neighbour: Come, let us make brick, and bake them with fire. And they had brick instead of stones, and slime instead of mortar.
4And they said: Come, let us make a city and a tower, the top whereof may reach to heaven: and let us make our name famous, before we be scattered abroad into all lands.
5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of Adam were building.
6And he said: Behold, it is one people, and all have one tongue: and they have begun to do this, neither will they leave off from their designs, till they accomplish them in deed.
7Come ye, therefore, let us go down, and there confound their tongue, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8And so the Lord scattered them from that place into all lands, and they ceased to build the city.
9And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, because there the language of the whole earth was confounded: and from thence the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of all countries.
10These are the generations of Sem. Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, two years after the flood.
11And Sem lived after he begot Arphaxad, five hundred years; and begot sons and daughters.
12And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Sale.
13And Arphaxad lived after he begot Sale, three hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.
14Sale also lived thirty years, and begot Heber.
15And Sale lived after he begot Heber, four hundred and three years; and begot sons and daughters.
16And Heber lived thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.
17And Heber lived after he begot Phaleg, four hundred and thirty years; and begot sons and daughters.
18Phaleg also lived thirty years, and begot Reu.
19And Phaleg lived after he begot Reu, two hundred and nine years; and begot sons and daughters.
20And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Sarug.
21And Reu lived after he begot Sarug, two hundred and seven years; and begot sons and daughters.
22And Sarug lived thirty years, and begot Nachor.
23And Sarug lived after he begot Nachor, two hundred years; and begot sons and daughters.
24And Nachor lived nine and twenty years, and begot Thare.
25And Nachor lived after he begot Thare, a hundred and nineteen years; and begot sons and daughters.
26And Thare lived seventy years, and begot Abra, and Nachor, and Aran.
27And these are the generations of Thare: Thare begot Abram, Nachor, and Aran. And Aran begot Lot.
28And Aran died before Thare his father, in the land of his nativity in Ur of the Chaldees.
29And Abram and Nachor married wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai: and the name of Nachor's wife, Melcha, the daughter of Aran, father of Melcha, and father of Jescha.
30And Sarai was barren, and had no children.
31And Thare took Abram, his son, and Lot the son of Aran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son; and brought them out of Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan. And they came as far as Haran, and dwelt there.
32And the days of Thare were two hundred and five years: and he died in Haran.
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Genesis 11: DRC1752
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.