Genesis 11

11 ¹ Now the whole earth had one language and a common speech. ² And as they migrated eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ They said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. ⁴ Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over the face of the whole earth."

⁵ But our Father came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building. ^a a v5 Our Father, who is everywhere, is described as “coming down” — human language for his drawing near to act.

⁶ And our Father said, "Look, they are one people, and they all have one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Now nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them." ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand each other.

⁸ So our Father scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel, because there our Father confused the language of the whole earth; and from there he scattered them over the face of all the earth. ^b b v9 The name Babel sounds like "confused" — marking the place where our Father confused human language.

Shem's Line

¹⁰ These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was a hundred years old, he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood. ¹¹ Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah. ¹³ Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Shelah, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber. ¹⁵ Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he fathered Eber, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg. ¹⁷ Eber lived four hundred and thirty years after he fathered Peleg, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu. ¹⁹ Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he fathered Reu, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug. ²¹ Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he fathered Serug, and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor. ²³ Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah. ²⁵ Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years after he fathered Terah, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

Terah's Family

²⁷ Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. ²⁸ Haran died while his father Terah was still alive, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor both married. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was unable to conceive; she had no children. ³¹ Terah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³² Terah lived two hundred and five years, and died in Haran.