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 only one language, and everyone spoke it. 2They moved to the east and found a broad valley in Babylon. There they made their home.

3They said to one another, “Come on! Let’s make bricks and bake them well.” They used bricks instead of stones. They used tar to hold the bricks together. 4Then they said, “Come on! Let’s build a city for ourselves. Let’s build a tower that reaches to the sky. We’ll make a name for ourselves. Then we won’t be scattered over the whole earth.”

5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6He said, “All these people are united and speak the same language. That is why they can do all this. Now they will be able to do anything they plan. 7Come on! Let us go down and mix up their language. Then they will not be able to understand one another.”

8So the Lord scattered them from there over the whole earth. And they stopped building the city. 9There the Lord mixed up the language of the whole world. That’s why the city was called Babel. From there the Lord scattered them over the whole earth.

The Family Line of Shem

10Here is the story of Shem’s family line.

It was two years after the flood. When Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad. 11After Arphaxad was born, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 13After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Family Line of Abram

27Here is the story of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 28Haran died in the city of Ur in Babylonia, the land where he was born. Haran died while his father Terah was still alive. 29Abram and Nahor both got married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai. The name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah, the daughter of Haran. Haran was the father of Milkah and Iscah. 30But Sarai wasn’t able to have children.

31Terah left Ur in Babylon. He took with him his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran. Terah also took his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram. All of them left together to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they made their home there.

32Terah lived for 205 years. And then he died in Harran.

Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®

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