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.
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Genesis 11: GNBDC
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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
Universal Language, Babel, Confusion
1Now the whole earth #11:1 Lit was one lip.spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary). 2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there. [Gen 10:10] 3They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar. 4They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].” [Gen 9:1] 5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore the name of the city was #11:9 The word “Babel” is similar to the word “confuse” (Heb balal), but not identical.Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the Lord scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.
Descendants of Shem
10These are the records of the generations of Shem [from whom Abraham descended]. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived five hundred years after Arpachshad was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
12When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah. 13Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after Shelah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber. 15Shelah lived four hundred and three years after Eber was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg. 17And Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after Peleg was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu. 19And Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after Reu was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug. 21And Reu lived two hundred and seven years after Serug was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor. 23And Serug lived two hundred years after Nahor was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah. 25And Nahor lived a hundred and nineteen years after Terah was born, and he had other sons and daughters.
26After Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of #11:26 Abram (Abraham) is mentioned first because of his importance, not his birth order.Abram and Nahor and Haran [his firstborn].
27Now these are the records of the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram (Abraham), Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. 28Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in #11:28 Abram’s home town was Ur of the Chaldeans. As the result of extensive archeological excavations there in 1922-34, a great deal is known about Abram’s background. The house of the average middle-class person had from ten to twenty rooms and measured forty to fifty-two feet; the lower floor was for servants, the upper floor for the family, with five rooms for their use; additionally, there was a guest chamber and a lavatory reserved for visitors, and a private chapel. A school was found and what the students studied was shown by the clay tablets discovered there. In the days of Abram the pupils had reading, writing, and arithmetic as today. They learned the multiplication and division tables and even worked at square and cube roots. A bill of lading of about 2040 b.c. (about the era in which Abram is believed to have lived) showed that the commerce of that time was far-reaching. Even the name “Abraham” has been found on the excavated clay tablets.Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai (later called Sarah), and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30But Sarai was barren; she did not have a child.
31Terah 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 out together to go from Ur of the Chaldeans into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran [about five hundred and fifty miles northwest of Ur], they settled there. 32Terah lived two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
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