Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in #ch. 10:10; 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; Zech. 5:11the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, #ch. 14:10; Ex. 2:3and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower #Deut. 1:28with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And #ch. 18:21the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And 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 nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, #ch. 1:26; [Ps. 2:4]let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So #ch. 10:25, 32; Luke 1:51the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called #ch. 10:10Babel, because there the Lord confused#11:9 Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
Shem’s Descendants
10 # [ch. 10:22]; For ver. 10-26, see 1 Chr. 1:17-27 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24When #Josh. 24:2Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26When #[See ver. 24 above]Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah’s Descendants
27Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was #ch. 17:15 Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, #ch. 22:20Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31Terah #ch. 12:1 took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together #ch. 15:7; Josh. 24:2; Neh. 9:7; Acts 7:2, 4from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. 2As people moved toward the east,#11:2 Or “from the east.” they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there.
3They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar #11:3 Or “bitumen.” as mortar.
4Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.”
5The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the descendants of Adam were building. 6The Lord said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them. 7Let us go down there and mix up their language so that they won’t understand each other.”
8So the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9This is why it was named Babel, because there the Lord turned the language of the whole earth into babble. From that place the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth.
The Ten Descendants of Shem—Shem to Terah
(1 Chronicles 1:17–23)
10This is the account of Shem and his descendants. Two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad. 11After he became the father of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad was 35 years old when he became the father of Shelah. 13After he became the father of Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14Shelah was 30 years old when he became the father of Eber. 15After he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16Eber was 34 years old when he became the father of Peleg. 17After he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18Peleg was 30 years old when he became the father of Reu. 19After he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20Reu was 32 years old when he became the father of Serug. 21After he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22Serug was 30 years old when he became the father of Nahor. 23After he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24Nahor was 29 years old when he became the father of Terah. 25After he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah Moves to Haran
27This is the account of Terah and his descendants. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, his native land. 29Both Abram and Nahor married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, daughter of Haran. (Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.) 30Sarai was not able to have children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, wife of his son Abram. They set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came as far as Haran, they stayed there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.
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