Genesis 11
11
The Tower of Babylon
1At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words. 2As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there. 3They said to one another, “Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard.” So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together. 4They said, “Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”
5Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which those men had built, 6and he said, “Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want! 7Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand one another.” 8So the LORD scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9The city was called Babylon,#11.9 Babylon: This name sounds like the Hebrew for “mixed up”. because there the LORD mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.
The Descendants of Shem
(1 Chr 1.24–27)
10These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad. 11After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children.
12When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah; 13after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
14When Shelah was thirty years old, he had a son, Eber; 15after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
16When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg; 17after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children.
18When Peleg was thirty years old, he had a son, Reu; 19after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.
20When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug; 21after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children.
22When Serug was thirty years old, he had a son, Nahor; 23after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children.
24When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah; 25after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children.
26After Terah was seventy years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Descendants of Terah
27These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot, 28and Haran died in his native city, Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living. 29Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah. 30Sarai was not able to have children.
31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there. 32Terah died there at the age of 205.
Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
Genesis 11
11
1 AND THE whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.
2 And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.
4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And 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 now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.
9 Therefore the name of it was called Babel–because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
10 This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood.
11 And Shem lived after Arpachshad was born 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
13 Arpachshad lived after Shelah was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
15 Shelah lived after Eber was born 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
17 And Eber lived after Peleg was born 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
19 And Peleg lived after Reu was born 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
21 And Reu lived after Serug was born 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.
23 And Serug lived after Nahor was born 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
25 And Nahor lived after Terah was born 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of [at different times], Abram and Nahor and Haran, [his firstborn].
27 Now this is the history of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
28 Haran died before his father Terah [died] in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. 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 and Iscah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together to go from Ur of the Chaldees into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
32 And Terah lived 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
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