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The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as they migrated from the east,[a] they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.(A) And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”(B) The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.(C) And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.(D) Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”(E) So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.(F) Therefore it was called Babel,[b] because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth, and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.(G)

Descendants of Shem

10 These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood,(H) 11 and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah, 13 and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber, 15 and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg, 17 and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu, 19 and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug, 21 and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor, 23 and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah, 25 and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years and had other sons and daughters.

26 When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Descendants of Terah

27 Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.(I)

31 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.(J) 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years, and Terah died in Haran.

Footnotes

  1. 11.2 Or migrated eastward
  2. 11.9 In Heb Babel is a play on the verb meaning to confuse

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language(A) and a common speech. As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b](B) and settled there.

They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,(D) and tar(E) for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,(F) so that we may make a name(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered(H) over the face of the whole earth.”(I)

But the Lord came down(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us(L) go down(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(N)

So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(O) and they stopped building the city. That is why it was called Babel[c](P)—because there the Lord confused the language(Q) of the whole world.(R) From there the Lord scattered(S) them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram(T)

10 This is the account(U) of Shem’s family line.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father[d] of Arphaxad.(V) 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.(W) 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[e]

14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.(X) 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.(Y) 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.(Z) 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.(AA) 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.(AB) 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.(AC) 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,(AD) Nahor(AE) and Haran.(AF)

Abram’s Family

27 This is the account(AG) of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor(AH) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.(AI) 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,(AJ) in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor(AK) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,(AL) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;(AM) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.(AN)

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot(AO) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law(AP) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans(AQ) to go to Canaan.(AR) But when they came to Harran,(AS) they settled there.

32 Terah(AT) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

Footnotes

  1. Genesis 11:2 Or from the east; or in the east
  2. Genesis 11:2 That is, Babylonia
  3. Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
  4. Genesis 11:10 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 11-25.
  5. Genesis 11:13 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also Luke 3:35, 36 and note at Gen. 10:24) 35 years, he became the father of Cainan. 13 And after he became the father of Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters