Genesis 11
11
1Then the whole earth was of one language and one speache. 2And as they went from the East, they found a plaine in the land of Shinar, and there they abode. 3And they said one to another, Come, let vs make bricke, and burne it in the fire. So they had bricke for stone, and slime had they in steade of morter. 4Also they said, Goe to, let vs builde vs a citie and a towre, whose top may reache vnto the heauen, that we may get vs a name, lest we be scattered vpon the whole earth. 5But the Lord came downe, to see the citie and towre, which the sonnes of men builded. 6And the Lord said, Beholde, the people is one, and they all haue one language, and this they begin to doe, neither can they now be stopped from whatsoeuer they haue imagined to do. 7Come on, let vs goe downe, and there confound their language, that euery one perceiue not anothers speache. 8So ye Lord scattered them from thence vpon all the earth, and they left off to build the citie. 9Therefore the name of it was called Babel, because the Lord did there confounde the language of all the earth: from thence then did the Lord scatter them vpon all the earth. 10These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundreth yeere olde, and begate Arpachshad two yeere after the flood. 11And Shem liued, after he begate Arpachshad, fiue hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 12Also Arpachshad liued fiue and thirtie yeeres, and begate Shelah. 13And Arpachshad liued, after he begate Shelah, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 14And Shelah liued thirtie yeeres, and begat Eber. 15So Shelah liued, after he begat Eber, foure hundreth and three yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters. 16Likewise Eber liued foure and thirtie yeres, and begate Peleg. 17So Eber liued, after he begate Peleg, foure hundreth and thirtie yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters 18And Peleg liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Reu. 19And Peleg liued, after he begate Reu, two hundreth and nine yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 20Also Reu liued two and thirtie yeeres, and begate Serug. 21So Reu liued, after he begate Serug, two hundreth and seuen yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 22Moreouer Serug liued thirtie yeeres, and begate Nahor. 23And Serug liued, after he begate Nahor, two hundreth yeeres, and begate sonnes and daughters. 24And Nahor liued nine and twentie yeeres, and begate Terah. 25So Nahor liued, after he begate Terah, an hundreth and nineteene yeeres, and begat sonnes and daughters. 26So Terah liued seuentie yeeres, and begate Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 27Nowe these are the generations of Terah: Terah begate Abram, Nahor, and Haran: and Haran begate Lot. 28Then Haran died before Terah his father in the land of his natiuitie, in Vr of the Caldees. 29So Abram and Nahor tooke them wiues. The name of Abrams wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahors wife Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren, and had no childe. 31Then Terah tooke Abram his sonne, and Lot the sonne of Haran, his sonnes sonne, and Sarai his daughter in lawe, his sonne Abrams wife: and they departed together from Vr of the Caldees, to goe into the land of Canaan, and they came to Haran, and dwelt there. 32So the dayes of Terah were two hundreth and fiue yeeres, and Terah died in Haran.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 11
11
“God Turned Their Language into ‘Babble’”
1-2At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language. It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
3They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and fire them well.” They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
4Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let’s make ourselves famous so we won’t be scattered here and there across the Earth.”
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
6-9 God took one look and said, “One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they’ll come up with next—they’ll stop at nothing! Come, we’ll go down and garble their speech so they won’t understand each other.” Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city. That’s how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into “babble.” From there God scattered them all over the world.
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10-11This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood. After he had Arphaxad, he lived 500 more years and had other sons and daughters.
12-13When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah. After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
14-15When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber. After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
16-17When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg. After Eber had Peleg, he lived 430 more years and had other sons and daughters.
18-19When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu. After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
20-21When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had Serug. After Reu had Serug, he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
22-23When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor. After Serug had Nahor, he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
24-25When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had Terah. After Nahor had Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
26When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Family Tree of Terah
27-28This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Haran had Lot. Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.
29Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram’s wife was Sarai; Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.
30Sarai was barren; she had no children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram’s wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
32Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.