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 Languages Confused

1At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words. 2As people moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

3They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and bake them to make them hard.” So they used bricks instead of stones, and tar instead of mortar. 4Then they said to each other, “Let’s build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into the sky. We will become famous. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth.”

5The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. 6The Lord said, “Now, these people are united, all speaking the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. They will be able to do anything they want. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not be able to understand each other.”

8So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9The place is called Babel since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.

The Story of Shem’s Family

10This is the family history of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. 11After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. 13After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. 15After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. 17After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. 19After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. 21After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. 23After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. 25After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

The Story of Terah’s Family

27This is the family history of Terah. 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 in Babylonia, where he was born. 29Abram and Nahor both married. 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. 30Sarai was not able to have children.

31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife) and moved out of Ur of Babylonia. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there.

32Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran.

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Genesis 11

Genesis 11