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

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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Genesis 11

Genesis 11