Genesis 11

CHAPTER 11

1Forsooth the land was of one language, and of the same speech [or the same words].

2And when they went forth from the east, they found a field in the land of Shinar, and they dwelled therein.

3And one said to his neighbour, Come ye, and make we tilestones, and bake we those [or them] with fire; and they had tile for stones, and pitch, either strong glue, for mortar;

4and they said, Come ye, and make we to us a city and a tower, whose highness stretch till to heaven; and make we solemn our name, before that we be parted into all lands.

5Forsooth the Lord came down to see the city, and the tower, which the sons of Adam builded.

6And he said, Lo! the people is one, and one language is to all, and they have begun to make this; neither they shall cease of their thoughts, till they [ful] fill those [or them] in work;

7therefore come ye, go we down, and shame [or confound] we there the tongue of them, that each man hear not the voice of his neighbour.

8And so the Lord separated them from that place into all lands; and they ceased to build the city.

9And therefore the name thereof was called Babel, for the language of all [the] earth was confounded there; and from thence the Lord scattered them on the face of all countries.

10These be the generations of Shem. Shem was an hundred years when he begat Arphaxad, two years after the great flood.

11And Shem lived after that he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12Forsooth Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah;

13and Arphaxad lived after that he begat Salah three hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber;

15and Salah lived after that he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16Soothly Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg;

17and Eber lived after that he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18Also Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu;

19and Peleg lived after that he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug;

21and Reu lived after that he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22Soothly Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor;

23and Serug lived after that he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24Forsooth Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah;

25and Nahor lived after that he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram#11:26 God would later change Abram’s name to Abraham., Nahor, and Haran.

27Soothly these be the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Forsooth Haran begat Lot;

28and Haran died before Terah, his father, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of Chaldees.

29Forsooth Abram and Nahor wedded wives; the name of the wife of Abram was Sarai, and the name of the wife of Nahor was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, father of Milcah, and father of Iscah.

30Soothly Sarai was barren, and had no children.

31And so Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, his son, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram, his son, and led them out of Ur of Chaldees, that they should go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelled there.

32And the days of Terah were made two hundred years and five, and he was dead in Haran.

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Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

1Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land #Gen. 10:10; 14:1; Dan. 1:2of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower #Deut. 1:28; 9:1; Ps. 107:26whose top is in the heavens; let us make a #Gen. 6:4; 2 Sam. 8:13name for ourselves, lest we #Deut. 4:27be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

5#Gen. 18:21; Ex. 3:8; 19:11, 18, 20But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6And the Lord said, “Indeed #Gen. 9:19; Acts 17:26the people are one and they all have #Gen. 11:1one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they #Deut. 31:21; Ps. 2:1propose to do will be withheld from them. 7Come, #Gen. 1:26let Us go down and there #Gen. 42:23; Ex. 4:11; Deut. 28:49; Is. 33:19; Jer. 5:15confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So #Gen. 11:4; Deut. 32:8; Ps. 92:9; (Luke 1:51)the Lord scattered them abroad from there #Gen. 10:25, 32over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9Therefore its name is called Babel, #1 Cor. 14:23because 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.

Shem’s Descendants

10#Gen. 10:22–25; 1 Chr. 1:17This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

12Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, #Luke 3:35and begot Salah. 13After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

14Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.

16#1 Chr. 1:19Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot #Luke 3:35Peleg. 17After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.

18Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.

20Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot #Luke 3:35Serug. 21After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.

22Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.

24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot #Gen. 11:31; Josh. 24:2; Luke 3:34Terah. 25After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.

26Now Terah lived seventy years, and #Josh. 24:2; 1 Chr. 1:26begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

27This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot #Gen. 11:31; 17:5Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was #Gen. 17:15; 20:12Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, #Gen. 22:20, 23; 24:15Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30But#Gen. 16:1, 2; Luke 1:36 Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31And Terah #Gen. 12:1took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from #Gen. 15:7; Neh. 9:7; Acts 7:4Ur of the Chaldeans to go to #Gen. 10:19the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.

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