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 Babylon
1At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. # Lit one lip and the same words 2As people # Lit they migrated from the east, # Or migrated eastward they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. # Gn 10:10; 14:1; Dn 1:2 3They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. # Gn 14:10; Ex 2:3 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. # Dt 1:28; 9:1; Ps 107:26 Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5Then the Lord came down # Gn 18:21; Ex 3:8; 19:11,18,20 to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. 6The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let Us go down there and confuse # Or confound their language # Lit lip so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” # Lit understand each man the lip of his companion 8So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth, # Gn 11:4; Ps 92:9; Lk 1:51 and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore its name is called Babylon, # In Hb, the name Babylon sounds like the word “confuse.” # Gn 10:10 for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
From Shem to Abram
10These are the family records # Gn 2:4; 11:27 of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 12Arpachshad lived 35 years # LXX reads years and fathered Cainan. 13 After he fathered Cainan, Arphachshad lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After he fathered Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and fathered other sons and daughters, and he died ; Gn 10:24; Lk 3:35-36 and fathered Shelah. 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah. # Jos 24:2 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah’s lifetime. 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram’s wife was named Sarai, # Gn 17:15; 20:12 and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. # Gn 22:20,23; 24:15 She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was unable to conceive; # Gn 25:21; 29:31; Ex 23:26; Jdg 13:2-3; 1Sm 2:5; Jb 24:21; Is 54:1; Lk 1:36; 23:29; Gl 4:27; Heb 11:11 she did not have a child.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans # Gn 15:7; Neh 9:7; Ac 7:4 to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.
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