Genesis 11
11
1And the whole earth had one language, and the same words. 2And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.
5And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. 6And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing. 7Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth. And they left off building the city. 9Therefore was its name called Babel; because Jehovah there confounded the language of the whole earth. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth.
10These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11And Shem lived after he had begotten Arphaxad five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 12And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Shelah. 13And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Shelah four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 14And Shelah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15And Shelah lived after he had begotten Eber four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters. 16And Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg. 17And Eber lived after he had begotten Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters. 18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19And Peleg lived after he had begotten Reu two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters. 20And Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot Serug. 21And Reu lived after he had begotten Serug two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters. 22And Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23And Serug lived after he had begotten Nahor two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters. 24And Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot Terah. 25And Nahor lived after he had begotten Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters. 26And Terah lived seventy years, and begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27And these are the generations of Terah: Terah begot Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begot Lot. 28And Haran died before the face of his father Terah in the land of his nativity at Ur of the Chaldeans. 29And Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, a daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30And Sarai was barren: she had no child. 31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth together out of Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan, and came as far as Haran, and dwelt there. 32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.
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.