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 Languages Confused

1At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words. 2As people moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.

3They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and bake them to make them hard.” So they used bricks instead of stones, and tar instead of mortar. 4Then they said to each other, “Let’s build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into the sky. We will become famous. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth.”

5The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. 6The Lord said, “Now, these people are united, all speaking the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. They will be able to do anything they want. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not be able to understand each other.”

8So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9The place is called Babel since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.

The Story of Shem’s Family

10This is the family history of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. 11After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. 13After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. 15After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. 17After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. 19After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. 21After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. 23After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. 25After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

The Story of Terah’s Family

27This is the family history of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28While his father, Terah, was still alive, Haran died in Ur in Babylonia, where he was born. 29Abram and Nahor both 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 was not able to have children.

31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife) and moved out of Ur of Babylonia. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there.

32Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran.

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