Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1Now all the earth #11:1 Lit was one lipused the same language and #11:1 Or few or one set of wordsthe same words. 2And it came about, as they journeyed #11:2 Or from the easteast, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and #11:2 Lit dweltsettled there. 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and #11:3 I.e., in a kiln to harden themfire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” 5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the #11:5 Lit sons of mankindmen had built. 6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have #11:6 Lit one lipthe same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be #11:6 Lit inaccessible toimpossible for them. 7Come, #11:7 I.e., indicating united action, not a requestlet Us go down and there confuse their #11:7 Lit liplanguage, so that they will not understand one another’s #11:7 Lit lipspeech.” 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore it was named #11:9 Or Babylon; cf. Heb balal, confuseBabel, because there the Lord confused the #11:9 Lit liplanguage of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Descendants of Shem
10These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; 11and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; 13and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
14Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; 15and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
16Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; 17and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
18Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; 19and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
20Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; 21and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
22Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; 23and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
24Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered Terah; 25and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
26Terah lived seventy years, and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died #11:28 Lit before the face ofduring the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah #11:29 Lit and the father ofand Iscah. 30Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
31Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed #11:31 Lit with themtogether from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and #11:31 Lit dweltsettled there. 32The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
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Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babel
1At first everyone spoke the same language, 2but after some of them moved from the east#11.2 from the east: Or “to the east.” and settled in Babylonia,#11.2 Babylonia: See the note at 10.6-20. 3-4they said:
Let's build a city with a tower that reaches to the sky! We'll use hard bricks and tar instead of stone and mortar. We'll become famous, and we won't be scattered all over the world.
5But when the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower, 6he said:
These people are working together because they all speak the same language. This is just the beginning. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. 7Let's go down and confuse them! We'll make them speak different languages, and they won't be able to understand each other.
8-9So the people had to stop building the city, because the Lord confused their language and scattered them all over the earth. That's how the city of Babel#11.8,9 Babel: In Hebrew “Babel” sounds like “confused.” got its name.
The Descendants of Shem
10-11Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100, he had a son named Arpachshad. He had more children and died at the age of 600. This is a list of his descendants:
12When Arpachshad was 35, he had a son named Shelah. 13Arpachshad had more children and died at the age of 438.
14When Shelah was 30, he had a son named Eber. 15Shelah had more children and died at the age of 433.
16When Eber was 34, he had a son named Peleg. 17Eber had more children and died at the age of 464.
18When Peleg was 30, he had a son named Reu. 19Peleg had more children and died at the age of 239.
20When Reu was 32 he had a son named Serug. 21Reu had more children and died at the age of 239.
22When Serug was 30, he had a son named Nahor. 23Serug had more children and died at the age of 230.
24When Nahor was 29, he had a son named Terah. 25Nahor had more children and died at the age of 148.
The Descendants of Terah
26-28After Terah was 70 years old, he had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran, who became the father of Lot. Terah's sons were born in the city of Ur in Chaldea,#11.26-28 Ur in Chaldea: Chaldea was a region at the head of the Persian Gulf. Ur was on the main trade routes from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Sea. and Haran died there before the death of his father. The following is the story of Terah's descendants.
29-30Abram married Sarai, but she was not able to have children. And Nahor married Milcah, who was the daughter of Haran and the sister of Iscah.
31Terah decided to move from Ur to the land of Canaan. He took along Abram and Sarai and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. But when they came to the city of Haran,#11.31 Haran: About 885 kilometers northwest of Ur. they settled there instead. 32Terah lived to be 205 years old and died in Haran.
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