Genesis 11
11
The Languages Confused
1At this time the whole world spoke one language. Everyone used the same words. 2As people moved from the East, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia. They settled there to live.
3They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and bake them to make them hard.” So they used bricks instead of stones, and tar instead of mortar. 4Then they said to each other, “Let’s build for ourselves a city and a tower. And let’s make the top of the tower reach high into the sky. We will become famous. If we do this, we will not be scattered over all the earth.”
5The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people had built. 6The Lord said, “Now, these people are united. They all speak the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. They will be able to do anything they want. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language. Then they will not be able to understand each other.”
8So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth. And they stopped building the city. 9That is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the place is called Babel.# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused.” So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over all the whole world.
The Story of Shem’s Family
10This is the family history of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. 11After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. 13After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. 15After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. 17After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. 19After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. 21After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. 23After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. 25After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor and Haran were born.
The Story of Terah’s Family
27This is the family history of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28Haran died while his father, Terah, was still alive. This happened in Ur in Babylonia, where he was born. 29Abram and Nahor both married. Abram’s wife was named Sarai. Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the 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 (Haran’s son) and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife). They moved out of Ur of Babylonia. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan. But when they reached the city of Haran, they settled there.
32Terah lived to be 205 years old. Then he died in Haran.
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