< Genesis 11 >

1 And the whole earth is of one language, and of the same words,
The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
2 and it comes to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar and dwell there;
As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.
3 and they each say to his neighbor, “Give help, let us make bricks, and burn [them] thoroughly”: and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen has been to them for mortar.
They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
4 And they say, “Give help, let us build for ourselves a city and tower with its head in the heavens, and make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of all the earth.”
They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”
5 And YHWH comes down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have built;
The LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.
6 and YHWH says, “Behold, the people [is] one, and one language [is] to them all, and this it has dreamed of doing; and now, nothing is restrained from them of that which they have purposed to do.
The LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.
7 Give help, let us go down there and confuse their language, so that a man will not understand the language of his companion.”
Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8 And YHWH scatters them from there over the face of all the earth, and they cease to build the city;
So the LORD scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.
9 therefore [one] has called its name Babel, for there YHWH has confused the language of all the earth, and from there YHWH has scattered them over the face of all the earth.
Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. From there, the LORD scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.
10 These [are] the generations of Shem: Shem [is] a son of one hundred years, and begets Arphaxad two years after the flood.
This is the history of the generations of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11 And Shem lives after his begetting Arphaxad five hundred years, and begets sons and daughters.
Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
12 And Arphaxad has lived thirty-five years [[or one hundred and thirty-five years]], and begets Salah.
Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.
13 And Arphaxad lives after his begetting Salah four hundred and three years [[or four hundred and thirty years]], and begets sons and daughters.
Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
14 And Salah has lived thirty years [[or one hundred and thirty years]], and begets Eber.
Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber.
15 And Salah lives after his begetting Eber four hundred and three years [[or three hundred and thirty years]], and begets sons and daughters.
Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
16 And Eber lives thirty-four years [[or one hundred and thirty-four years]], and begets Peleg.
Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
17 And Eber lives after his begetting Peleg four hundred and thirty years [[or three hundred and seventy years]], and begets sons and daughters.
Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
18 And Peleg lives thirty years [[or one hundred and thirty years]], and begets Reu.
Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
19 And Peleg lives after his begetting Reu two hundred and nine years, and begets sons and daughters.
Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
20 And Reu lives thirty-two years [[or one hundred and thirty-two years]], and begets Serug.
Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
21 And Reu lives after his begetting Serug two hundred and seven years, and begets sons and daughters.
Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
22 And Serug lives thirty years [[or one hundred and thirty years]], and begets Nahor.
Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
23 And Serug lives after his begetting Nahor two hundred years, and begets sons and daughters.
Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
24 And Nahor lives twenty-nine years [[or seventy-nine years]], and begets Terah.
Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
25 And Nahor lives after his begetting Terah one hundred and nineteen years [[or one hundred and twenty-nine years]], and begets sons and daughters.
Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of more sons and daughters.
26 And Terah lives seventy years, and begets Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 And these [are] the generations of Terah: Terah has begotten Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran has begotten Lot;
Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.
28 and Haran dies in the presence of Terah his father, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.
Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur-Kasdim, while his father Terah was still alive.
29 And Abram and Nahor take to themselves wives; the name of Abram’s wife [is] Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife [is] Milcah, daughter of Haran, father of Milcah, and father of Iscah.
Abram and Nahor married wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
30 And Sarai is barren—she has no child.
Sarai was barren. She had no child.
31 And Terah takes his son Abram, and Lot, son of Haran, his son’s son, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, wife of his son Abram, and they go out with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go toward the land of Canaan; and they come to Haran, and dwell there.
Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife. They went from Ur-Kasdim, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.
32 And the days of Terah are two hundred and five years, and Terah dies in Haran.
The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.

< Genesis 11 >