Genesis 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

The Tower of Babel

1The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. 2As people moved toward the east,#11:2 Or “from the east.” they found a plain in Shinar [Babylonia] and settled there.

3They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar #11:3 Or “bitumen.” as mortar.

4Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.”

5The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the descendants of Adam were building. 6The Lord said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them. 7Let us go down there and mix up their language so that they won’t understand each other.”

8So the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9This is why it was named Babel, because there the Lord turned the language of the whole earth into babble. From that place the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth.

The Ten Descendants of Shem—Shem to Terah

(1 Chronicles 1:17–23)

10This is the account of Shem and his descendants. Two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad. 11After he became the father of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12Arpachshad was 35 years old when he became the father of Shelah. 13After he became the father of Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14Shelah was 30 years old when he became the father of Eber. 15After he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16Eber was 34 years old when he became the father of Peleg. 17After he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18Peleg was 30 years old when he became the father of Reu. 19After he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20Reu was 32 years old when he became the father of Serug. 21After he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

22Serug was 30 years old when he became the father of Nahor. 23After he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

24Nahor was 29 years old when he became the father of Terah. 25After he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

26Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah Moves to Haran

27This is the account of Terah and his descendants. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, his native land. 29Both Abram and Nahor married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, daughter of Haran. (Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.) 30Sarai was not able to have children.

31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, wife of his son Abram. They set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came as far as Haran, they stayed there. 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran.

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