Genesis 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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Genesis 11

The Tower of Babel

1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in #ch. 10:10; 14:1, 9; Isa. 11:11; Dan. 1:2; Zech. 5:11the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, #ch. 14:10; Ex. 2:3and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower #Deut. 1:28with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And #ch. 18:21the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, #ch. 1:26; [Ps. 2:4]let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So #ch. 10:25, 32; Luke 1:51the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called #ch. 10:10Babel, because there the Lord confused#11:9 Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.

Shem’s Descendants

10 # [ch. 10:22]; For ver. 10-26, see 1 Chr. 1:17-27 These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah. 13And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. 17And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. 19And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. 21And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. 23And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24When #Josh. 24:2Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. 25And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26When #[See ver. 24 above]Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah’s Descendants

27Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was #ch. 17:15 Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, #ch. 22:20Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31Terah #ch. 12:1 took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together #ch. 15:7; Josh. 24:2; Neh. 9:7; Acts 7:2, 4from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.

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