B'resheet (Gen) 11

1(S: vii) The whole earth used the same language, the same words. 2It came about that as they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shin‘ar and lived there. 3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them in the fire.” So they had bricks for building-stone and clay for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city with a tower that has its top reaching up into heaven, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”

5Adonai came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6Adonai said, “Look, the people are united, they all have a single language, and see what they’re starting to do! At this rate, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them! 7Come, let’s go down and confuse their language, so that they won’t understand each other’s speech.” 8So from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9For this reason it is called Bavel [confusion] — because there Adonai confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth.

10Here is the genealogy of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arpakhshad two years after the flood. 11After Arpakhshad was born, Shem lived another 500 years and had sons and daughters.

12Arpakhshad lived thirty-five years and fathered Shelach. 13After Shelach was born, Arpakhshad lived another 403 years and had sons and daughters.

14Shelach lived thirty years and fathered ‘Ever. 15After ‘Ever was born, Shelach lived another 403 years and had sons and daughters.

16‘Ever lived thirty-four years and fathered Peleg. 17After Peleg was born, ‘Ever lived another 430 years and had sons and daughters.

18Peleg lived thirty years and fathered Re‘u. 19After Re‘u was born, Peleg lived another 209 years and had sons and daughters.

20Re‘u lived thirty-two years and fathered S’rug. 21After S’rug was born, Re‘u lived another 207 years and had sons and daughters.

22S’rug lived thirty years and fathered Nachor. 23After Nachor was born, S’rug lived another 200 years and had sons and daughters.

24Nachor lived twenty-nine years and fathered Terach. 25After Terach was born, Nachor lived another 119 years and had sons and daughters.

26Terach lived seventy years and fathered Avram, Nachor and Haran. 27Here is the genealogy of Terach. Terach fathered Avram, Nachor and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died before his father Terach in the land where he was born, in Ur of the Kasdim.

(Maftir) 29Then Avram and Nachor took wives for themselves. The name of Avram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nachor’s wife was Milkah the daughter of Haran. He was the father of Milkah and of Yiskah. 30Sarai was barren — she had no child. 31Terach took his son Avram, his son Haran’s son Lot, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Avram’s wife; and they left Ur of the Kasdim to go to the land of Kena‘an. But when they came to Haran, they stayed there. 32Terach lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Haftarah Noach: Yesha‘yahu (Isaiah) 54:1–55:5 (A); 54:1–10 (S)

[Messianic adaptation: commence the reading at 52:13]

B’rit Hadashah suggested readings for Parashah Noach: Mattityahu (Matthew) 24:36–44; Luke 17:26–37; Acts 2:1–16; 1 Kefa (1 Peter) 3:18–22; 2 Kefa (2 Peter) 2:5

For more information and to purchase a hard copy of the Complete Jewish Bible,

Learn More About Complete Jewish Bible

Genesis 11

People tried to build a tall building called Babel

1You know, at first everyone talked the same language. 2And as people moved from place to place in the east, they got to some flat country in Babylonia, and they stayed there. 3-4Then they said to each other, “Look, we can make bricks here. So come on, let’s do that. We will bake them properly so that they are good strong bricks, and we will use them to build a city here. So come on, let’s build a big tall building in that city. It will be so tall that it will go right up into the sky.” You see, they had bricks and tar instead of stones and cement. And they said, “If we do that, everyone will think we are smart. Then we will not go and live all over the earth, but we will stay together right here.”

God made people talk in different languages

5So the people started to build a city and a really tall building, and God came down to look at those things. 6He said, “These people can all talk to each other in the same language, so they can do anything they want. If they keep on going this way, nothing will stop them from doing anything. 7Come on, let’s go down to these people, and we will make them talk in different languages. Then they will not understand each other, and they will be all mixed up. They will not work things out with each other, so they will not keep on building this city.”

8So God made all the people talk in different languages. None of them could understand anything the other people were saying. So they stopped building their big city. 9They all left that city and went to live in lots of different places, all over the world. That’s how God got people to be in different tribes all over the world. And they called that city Babel. That means mixed up. They gave it that name because God mixed up their languages at that time.

The story of Shem’s family

10This is the story about Shem’s family.

Shem was 100 years old when he had a son called Arfaxad. That was 2 years after the big flood. 11Shem lived for 500 years after he had Arfaxad, and he had more sons and daughters.

12Arfaxad was 35 years old when he had a son called Shelah. 13Arfaxad lived for 403 years after he had Shelah, and he had more sons and daughters.#Genesis 10:24; Luke 3:35-36

14Shelah was 30 years old when he had a son called Eber. 15Shelah lived for 403 years after he had Eber, and he had more sons and daughters.

16Eber was 34 years old when he had a son called Peleg. 17Eber lived for 430 years after he had Peleg, and he had more sons and daughters.

18Peleg was 30 years old when he had a son called Reyu. 19Peleg lived for 209 years after he had Reyu, and he had more sons and daughters.

20Reyu was 32 years old when he had a son called Serug. 21Reyu lived for 207 years after he had Serug, and he had more sons and daughters.

22Serug was 30 years old when he had a son called Nahor. 23Serug lived for 200 years after he had Nahor, and he had more sons and daughters.

24Nahor was 29 years old when he had a son called Terah. 25Nahor lived for 119 years after he had Terah, and he had more sons and daughters.

26Terah had 3 sons after he was 70 years old. Their names were Abram, Nahor and Haran.

The story of Terah’s family

27This is the story about Terah’s family. Terah had 3 sons, called Abram, and Nahor, and Haran.

Haran had a son called Lot. 28-29And he also had 2 daughters called Milcah and Iscah. After that, Haran died, while his father, Terah, was still alive. He died in Ur, in Chaldia country, the place where he was born.

Nahor, Haran’s brother, married Milcah. And Abram married a woman called Sarai, 30but Abram and Sarai didn’t have any kids. Sarai just couldn’t have a baby.

31Then Terah went away from Ur, in Chaldia country, and he took some of his family with him. They were his son Abram, and Abram’s wife Sarai, and his grand-son Lot. They all left Ur, and they started to go to the country called Canaan. But they stopped half-way, at a place called Haran, and they stayed there.

32Terah lived until he was 205 years old. Then he died there in Haran.

Learn More About Plain English Version