Genesis 11
11
1At that time the whole world spoke just one language and used words with the same meaning. 2As they moved east they discovered a plain in the land of Shinar so they settled there.
3They said to one another, “Come on, let's make some bricks and bake them with fire.” (They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of cement).#11:3. This was because in the Babylonian plain there was no stone to use for buildings. 4Then they said, “Now let's build a city for ourselves with a tower whose top reaches the heavens. That way we'll gain a great reputation and we won't end up being scattered all over the world.”
5But the Lord came down to take a look at the city and the tower that the people were building. 6The Lord said, “Look! These people are united and they all speak one language. If this is what they can do now when they're just getting started, nothing will be impossible for them when they all put their minds to it! 7We need to go down and mix up their language and make it confused so they won't be able to understand what they're saying to one other.”
8The Lord sent them away from there and scattered them all over the world, and they gave up building the city. 9That's why it was called Babel,#11:9. Babel sounds like the Hebrew word for “confuse.” because the Lord made the language of the world confused.
10The following is the genealogy of Shem. When Shem was 100, he had Arphaxad. This was two years after the flood. 11Shem lived another 500 years after Arphaxad was born and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was 35, he had Shelah. 13Arphaxad lived another 403 years after Shelah was born and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah was 30, he had Eber. 15Shelah lived another 403 years after Eber was born and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber was 34, he had Peleg. 17Eber lived another 430 years after Peleg was born and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg was 30, he had Reu. 19Peleg lived another 209 years after Reu was born and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu was 32, he had Serug. 21Reu lived another 207 years after Serug was born and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug was 30, he had Nahor. 23Serug lived another 200 years after Nahor was born and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor was 29, he had Terah. 25Nahor lived another 119 years after Terah was born and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah was 70, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.#11:26. Once again (see note on 5:32) these sons are not listed in birth order. Abram is listed first because of his importance.
27The following is the genealogy of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28However, Haran died while his father, Terah, was still alive, in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth. 29Abram and Nahor both got 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 wasn't able to become pregnant and so had no children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (who was the son of Haran), his daughter-in-law Sarai (the wife of his son Abram), and left Ur of the Chaldeans to move to the land of Canaan. They got as far as Haran and settled there. 32Terah lived for 205 years and died in Haran.
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com
Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1There was a time when the whole world spoke one language. Everyone used the same words. 2Then people began to move from the East. They found a plain in the land of Babylonia and stayed there to live. 3Then they said to each other, “Let’s make some bricks of clay and bake them in the fire.” Then they used these bricks as stones, and they used tar as mortar.
4Then the people said, “Let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that will reach to the sky. Then we will be famous. This will keep us together so that we will not be scattered all over the earth.”
5Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower. 6The Lord said, “These people all speak the same language. And I see that they are joined together to do this work. This is only the beginning of what they can do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. 7Let’s go down and confuse their language. Then they will not understand each other.”
8So people stopped building the city, and the Lord scattered them all over the earth. 9That is the place where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. That is why it is called Babel.#11:9 Babel Or “Babylon.” This is like a word meaning “confuse.” And it was from there that the Lord caused the people to spread out to all the other places on earth.
The History of Shem’s Family
10This is the history of Shem’s family. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. 11After that Shem lived 500 years. He had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. 13After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
14After Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. 15After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
16After Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. 17After Peleg was born, Eber lived another 430 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
18After Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. 19After Reu was born, Peleg lived another 209 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
20After Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. 21After Serug was born, Reu lived another 207 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
22After Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. 23After Nahor was born, Serug lived another 200 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
24After Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. 25After Terah was born, Nahor lived another 119 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.
26After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.
The History of Terah’s Family
27This is the history of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28Haran died in his hometown, Ur of Babylonia,#11:28 Ur of Babylonia Literally, “Ur of the Chaldeans.” A city in southern Babylonia. Also in verse 31. while his father Terah was still alive. 29Abram and Nahor both married. Abram’s wife was named Sarai. Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. Milcah was the daughter of Haran. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai did not have any children because she was not able to have children.
31Terah took his family and left Ur of Babylonia. They planned to travel to Canaan. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife). They traveled to the city of Haran and decided to stay there. 32Terah lived to be 205 years old. He died in Haran.
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