Genesis 11

¹Now the whole earth had one language and few words. ²And as men migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. ⁴Then 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, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” ⁵And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; and nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷Come, let us go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

¹⁰These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was a hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachʹshad two years after the flood; ¹¹and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachʹshad five hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹²When Arpachʹshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah; ¹³and Arpachʹshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber; ¹⁵and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred and three years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg; ¹⁷and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reʹu; ¹⁹and Peleg lived after the birth of Reʹu two hundred and nine years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰When Reʹu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug; ²¹and Reʹu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred and seven years, and had other sons and daughters.

²²When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor; ²³and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years, and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah; ²⁵and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and had other sons and daughters.

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

²⁷Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chalʹdeans. ²⁹And Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarʹai, and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰Now Sarʹai was barren; she had no child.

³¹Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarʹai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chalʹdeans to go into the land of Canaan; but when they came to Haran, they settled there. ³²The days of Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran.