Genesis 11

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50

The World Divided

11 <1> There was a time when the whole world spoke one language. Everyone used the same words. <2> The people moved from the East and found a plain in the country of Shinar and stayed there to live. <3> Then they said to each other, "Let's make some bricks of clay and bake them in the fire." Then they used these bricks as stones, and they used tar[64] as mortar.

<4> Then the people said, "Let's build ourselves a city and a tower that will reach to the sky. Then we will be famous. This will keep us together so that we will not be scattered all over the earth."

<5> Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower. <6> The Lord said, "These people all speak the same language. And I see that they are joined together to do this work. This is only the beginning of what they can do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want. <7> Let's go down and confuse their language. Then they will not understand each other."

<8> So people stopped building the city, and the Lord scattered them all over the earth. <9> That is the place where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. That is why it is called Babel.[65] And it was from there that the Lord caused the people to spread out to all the other places on earth.

The History of Shem's Family

<10> This is the history of Shem's family. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. <11> After that Shem lived 500 years. He had other sons and daughters.

<12> When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah was born. <13> After Shelah was born, Arphaxad lived 403 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<14> After Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber was born. <15> After Eber was born, Shelah lived 403 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<16> After Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg was born. <17> After Peleg was born, Eber lived another 430 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<18> After Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. <19> After Reu was born, Peleg lived another 209 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<20> After Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. <21> After Serug was born, Reu lived another 207 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<22> After Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. <23> After Nahor was born, Serug lived another 200 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<24> After Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. <25> After Terah was born, Nahor lived another 119 years. During that time he had other sons and daughters.

<26> After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

The History of Terah's Family

<27> This is the history of Terah's family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. <28> Haran died in his hometown, Ur of Babylonia,[66] while his father Terah was still alive. <29> Abram and Nahor both married. Abram's wife was named Sarai. Nahor's wife was named Milcah. Milcah was the daughter of Haran. Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah. <30> Sarai did not have any children because she was not able to have children.

<31> Terah took his family and left Ur of Babylonia. They planned to travel to Canaan. Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram's wife). They traveled to the city of Haran and decided to stay there. <32> Terah lived to be 205 years old. He died in Haran.