Genesis 11

The Dispersion of the Nations at Babel

11:1 The whole earth¹ had a common language and a common vocabulary.² 11:2 When the people³ moved eastward,⁴ they found a plain in Shinar⁵ and settled there. 11:3 Then they said to one another,⁶ “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”⁷ (They had brick instead of stone and tar⁸ instead of mortar.)⁹ 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens¹⁰ so that¹¹ we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise¹² we will be scattered¹³ across the face of the entire earth.”

11:5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people¹⁴ had started¹⁵ building. 11:6 And the Lord said, “If as one people all sharing a common language¹⁶ they have begun to do this, then¹⁷ nothing they plan to do will be beyond them.¹⁸ 11:7 Come, let’s go down and confuse¹⁹ their language so they won’t be able to understand each other.”²⁰

11:8 So the Lord scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building²¹ the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called²² Babel²³ – because there the Lord confused the language of the entire world, and from there the Lord scattered them across the face of the entire earth.

The Genealogy of Shem

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. 11:11 And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other²⁴ sons and daughters.

11:12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other²⁵ sons and daughters.²⁶

11:14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other²⁷ sons and daughters.

11:16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

11:26 When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

The Record of Terah

11:27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. 11:28 Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans,²⁸ while his father Terah was still alive.²⁹ 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,³⁰ and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;³¹ she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

11:31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 The lifetime³² of Terah was 205 years, and he³³ died in Haran.

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