Bereshis 11
Orthodox Jewish Bible
11 And the kol HaAretz was of one language and of devarim achadim (common words).
2 And it came to pass, as they migrated from the east, that they found a plain in Eretz Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and bake them thoroughly. And they had brick for even (stone), and bitumen had they for mortar.
4 And they said, Come, let us build us an Ir and a Migdal, whose rosh (top) may reach unto Shomayim; and let us make us a shem, otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of kol HaAretz.
5 And Hashem came down to see the Ir and the Migdal, which Bnei HaAdam built.
6 And Hashem said, See, the Am is echad and they have all one language; and this they begin to do; and now nothing will be impossible for them, which they have proposed to do.
7 Come, let Us go down, and there confuse their sefat, that they may not understand one another’s language.
8 So Hashem scattered them abroad from there upon the face of kol Ha’Aretz; and they left off building the Ir.
9 Therefore is the shem of it called Babel; because Hashem did there confuse the language of kol Ha’Aretz; and from there did Hashem scatter them abroad upon the face of kol Ha’Aretz.
10 These are the toldot of Shem: Shem was a hundred years old, and fathered Arpachshad two years after the mabbul;
11 And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad five hundred shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
12 And Arpachshad lived five and thirty shanah, and fathered Salah;
13 And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelach four hundred and three shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
14 And Shelach lived thirty shanah, and fathered Ever;
15 And Shelach lived after he fathered Ever four hundred and three shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
16 And Ever lived four and thirty shanah, and fathered Peleg;
17 And Ever lived after he fathered Peleg four hundred and thirty shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
18 And Peleg lived thirty shanah, and fathered Reu;
19 And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu two hundred and nine shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
20 And Reu lived two and thirty shanah, and fathered Serug;
21 And Reu lived after he fathered Serug two hundred and seven shanim, and fathered banim and banot.
22 And Serug lived thirty shanah, and fathered Nachor;
23 And Serug lived after he fathered Nachor two hundred shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
24 And Nachor lived nine and twenty shanah, and fathered Terach;
25 And Nachor lived after he fathered Terach a hundred and nineteen shanah, and fathered banim and banot.
26 And Terach lived seventy shanah, and fathered Avram, Nachor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the toldot Terach: Terach fathered Avram, Nachor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28 And Haran died before his av Terach in the land of his birth, in Ur Kasdim.
29 And Avram and Nachor took them nashim: the shem eshet Avram was Sarai; and the shem eshet Nachor was Milcah, the bat Haran Avi Milcah, and Avi Yiskah.
30 But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terach took Avram bno, and ben bno Lot ben Haran, and Sarai his kallah, eshet Avram bno; and they went forth with them from Ur Kasdim, to go into Eretz Kena’an; and they came unto Charan (Haran), and dwelt there.
32 And the days of Terach were two hundred and five shanim; and Terach died in Charan (Haran).
Genesis 11
New King James Version
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole earth had one language and one [a]speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land (A)of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and [b]bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower (B)whose top is in the heavens; let us make a (C)name for ourselves, lest we (D)be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 (E)But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Indeed (F)the people are one and they all have (G)one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they (H)propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 Come, (I)let Us go down and there (J)confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8 So (K)the Lord scattered them abroad from there (L)over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called [c]Babel, (M)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.
Shem’s Descendants(N)
10 (O)This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, (P)and begot Salah. 13 After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
14 Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber. 15 After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16 (Q)Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot (R)Peleg. 17 After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and begot Reu. 19 After he begot Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and begot sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and begot (S)Serug. 21 After he begot Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and begot sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and begot Nahor. 23 After he begot Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and begot (T)Terah. 25 After he begot Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and begot sons and daughters.
26 Now Terah lived seventy years, and (U)begot [d]Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah’s Descendants
27 This is the genealogy of Terah: Terah begot (V)Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran begot Lot. 28 And Haran died before his father Terah in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Then Abram and Nahor took wives: the name of Abram’s wife was (W)Sarai,[e] and the name of Nahor’s wife, (X)Milcah, the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 But (Y)Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 And Terah (Z)took his son Abram and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out with them from (AA)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to (AB)the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran and dwelt there. 32 So the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:1 Lit. lip
- Genesis 11:3 Lit. burn
- Genesis 11:9 Lit. Confusion, Babylon
- Genesis 11:26 Abraham, Gen. 17:5
- Genesis 11:29 Sarah, Gen. 17:15
Genesis 11
Expanded Bible
The Languages Confused
11 At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words. 2 As people ·moved [migrated] ·from the east [or eastward; 2:8; 4:16], they found a plain in the land of ·Babylonia [L Shinar] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and ·bake [burn; fire] them ·to make them hard [thoroughly; C in ancient times builders used mudbrick].” So they used bricks instead of stones, and ·tar [bitumen] instead of mortar. 4 Then they said to each other, “Let’s build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into ·the sky [heaven; C a ziggurat or stepped pyramid at whose top was a temple thought to be in heaven]. We will ·become famous [L make for ourselves a reputation/name]. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the ·people [L sons of man] had built. 6 The Lord said, “Now, these people are ·united [L one], all speaking ·the same [L one] language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. ·They will be able to do anything they want [L Nothing they want to do will be impossible for them]. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language [L there] so they will not be able to understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they ·stopped [ceased] building the city. 9 The place is called Babel [C sounds like the Hebrew word for “confused”] since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.
The Story of Shem’s Family
10 This is the ·family history [L book of the generations; 2:4] of Shem [9:18; 10:21–31]. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad [10:22] was born. 11 After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah [10:24] was born. 13 After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber [10:21, 24] was born. 15 After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg [10:25] was born. 17 After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. 19 After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. 21 After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. 23 After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. 25 After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.
The Story of Terah’s Family
27 ·This is the family history [L These are the generations; 2:4] of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28 While his father, Terah, was still alive, Haran died in Ur [C a major city in southern Mesopotamia] ·in Babylonia [L of the Chaldeans; C Chaldea was another name for Babylon], where he was born. 29 Abram and Nahor both ·married [L took wives]. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 30 Sarai ·was not able to have children [was barren; had no children].
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife) and moved out of Ur of ·Babylonia [L the Chaldeans; 11:28]. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran [C a city in northern Syria], they settled there.
32 Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran.
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.