< Genesis 11 >

1 The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.
And all the earth was one lip, and there was one language to all.
2 It happened, as they traveled from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there.
And it came to pass as they moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Senaar, and they lived there.
3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.
And a man said to his neighbour, Come, let us make bricks and bake them with fire. And the brick was to them for stone, and their mortar was bitumen.
4 They said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth."
And they said, Come, let us build to ourselves a city and tower, whose top shall be to heaven, and let us make to ourselves a name, before we are scattered abroad upon the face of all the earth.
5 And God came down to see the city and the tower, that humankind was building.
And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men built.
6 And God said, "Look, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. So now nothing which they plan to do will be too difficult for them.
And the Lord said, Behold, [there is] one race, and one lip of all, and they have begun to do this, and now nothing shall fail from them of all that they may have undertaken to do.
7 Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."
Come, and having gone down let us there confound their tongue, that they may not understand each the voice of his neighbour.
8 Then God scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth; so they ceased building the city.
And the Lord scattered them thence over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city and the tower.
9 Therefore its name was called Babel, because there God confused the language of all the earth. From there he scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
On this account its name was called Confusion, because there the Lord confounded the languages of all the earth, and thence the Lord scattered them upon the face of all the earth.
10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.
And these [are] the generations of Sem: and Sem was a hundred years old when he begot Arphaxad, the second year after the flood.
11 Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Sem lived, after he had begotten Arphaxad, five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
12 And Arpachshad lived one hundred and thirty-five years and became the father of Kenan.
And Arphaxad lived a hundred and thirty-five years, and begot Cainan.
13 And Arpachshad lived four hundred and thirty years after he became the father of Kenan, and fathered sons and daughters. And Kenan lived one hundred and thirty years and became the father of Shelah. And Kenan lived three hundred and thirty years after he had become the father of Shelah, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Arphaxad lived after he had begotten Cainan, four hundred years, and begot sons and daughters, and died. And Cainan lived a hundred and thirty years and begot Sala; and Canaan lived after he had begotten Sala, three hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
14 Shelah lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of Eber:
And Sala lived an hundred and thirty years, and begot Heber.
15 and Shelah lived four hundred and three years after he became the father of Eber, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Sala lived after he had begotten Heber, three hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
16 Eber lived one hundred and thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.
And Heber lived an hundred and thirty-four years, and begot Phaleg.
17 Eber lived three hundred and seventy years after he became the father of Peleg, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Heber lived after he had begotten Phaleg two hundred and seventy years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
18 Peleg lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of Reu.
And Phaleg lived and hundred and thirty years, and begot Ragau.
19 Peleg lived two hundred and nine years after he became the father of Reu, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Phaleg lived after he had begotten Ragau, two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
20 Reu lived one hundred and thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.
And Ragau lived and hundred and thirty and two years, and begot Seruch.
21 Reu lived two hundred and seven years after he became the father of Serug, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Raau lived after he had begotten Seruch, two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
22 Serug lived one hundred and thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.
And Seruch lived a hundred and thirty years, and begot Nachor.
23 Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Seruch lived after he had begotten Nachor, two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters, and died.
24 Nahor lived seventy-nine years, and became the father of Terah.
And Nachor lived a hundred and seventy-nine years, and begot Tharrha.
25 Nahor lived one hundred and twenty-nine years after he became the father of Terah, and fathered sons and daughters.
And Nachor lived after he had begotten Tharrha, an hundred and twenty-five years, and begot sons and daughters, and he died.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
And Tharrha lived seventy years, and begot Abram, and Nachor, and Arrhan.
27 Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
And these [are] the generations of Tharrha. Tharrha begot Abram and Nachor, and Arrhan; and Arrhan begot Lot.
28 And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim.
And Arrhan died in the presence of Tharrha his father, in the land in which he was born, in the country of the Chaldees.
29 And Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.
And Abram and Nachor took to themselves wives, the name of the wife of Abram was Sara, and the name of the wife of Nachor, Malcha, daughter of Arrhan, and he was the father of Malcha, the father of Jescha.
30 And Sarai was barren. She had no child.
And Sara was barren, and did not bear children.
31 And Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and with them he set out from Ur Kasdim to go into the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there.
And Tharrha took Abram his son, and Lot the son Arrhan, the son of his son, and Sara his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and led them forth out of the land of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Chanaan, and they came as far as Charrhan, and he lived there.
32 And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years. And Terah died in Haran.
And all the days of Tharrha in the land of Charrhan were two hundred and five years, and Tharrha died in Charrhan.

< Genesis 11 >