Genesis 11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as they migrated from the east,[a] they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.(A) 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone and bitumen for 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; otherwise we shall be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”(B) 5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which mortals had built.(C) 6 And the Lord said, “Look, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.(D) 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”(E) 8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.(F) 9 Therefore it was called Babel,[b] 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.(G)
Descendants of Shem
10 These are the descendants of Shem. When Shem was one hundred years old, he became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood,(H) 11 and Shem lived after the birth of Arpachshad five hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he became the father of Shelah, 13 and Arpachshad lived after the birth of Shelah four hundred three years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah had lived thirty years, he became the father of Eber, 15 and Shelah lived after the birth of Eber four hundred three years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he became the father of Peleg, 17 and Eber lived after the birth of Peleg four hundred thirty years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg had lived thirty years, he became the father of Reu, 19 and Peleg lived after the birth of Reu two hundred nine years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he became the father of Serug, 21 and Reu lived after the birth of Serug two hundred seven years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug had lived thirty years, he became the father of Nahor, 23 and Serug lived after the birth of Nahor two hundred years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he became the father of Terah, 25 and Nahor lived after the birth of Terah one hundred nineteen years and had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah had lived seventy years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Descendants of Terah
27 Now these are the descendants of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran was the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and Nahor took wives; the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30 Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.(I)
31 Terah took his son Abram and his grandson Lot son of Haran and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they went out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.(J) 32 The days of Terah were two hundred five years, and Terah died in Haran.
Genesis 11
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Division of the Earth
11 The whole earth had one language and a single vocabulary. 2 As people traveled in the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they settled there. 3 They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used mud brick instead of stone for building material, and they used tar for mortar. 4 They said, “Come, let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5 The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If this is the first thing they are doing as one people, who all have one language, then nothing that they intend to do will be too difficult for them. 7 Come, let’s go down there and confuse their language, so that they cannot understand one another’s speech.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 It was named Babel,[a] because there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
The Ancestors of Abraham
10 This is the account about the development of the family of Shem.
Shem was 100 years old and became the father of Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived 500 years after he became the father of Arphaxad, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad lived 35 years and became the father of Shelah. 13 Arphaxad lived 403 years after he became the father of Shelah, and he became the father of sons and daughters.[b]
14 Shelah lived 30 years and became the father of Eber. 15 Shelah lived 403 years after he became the father of Eber, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived 34 years and became the father of Peleg. 17 Eber lived 430 years after he became the father of Peleg, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived 30 years and became the father of Reu. 19 Peleg lived 209 years after he became the father of Reu, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived 32 years and became the father of Serug. 21 Reu lived 207 years after he became the father of Serug, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived 30 years and became the father of Nahor. 23 Serug lived 200 years after he became the father of Nahor, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived 29 years and became the father of Terah. 25 Nahor lived 119 years after he became the father of Terah, and he became the father of sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived 70 years and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Development of the Family of Terah
27 Now this is the account about the development[c] of the family of Terah.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot. 28 Haran died before his father Terah. He died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Abram and Nahor took 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 Sarai was barren. She had no child.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, who was the wife of his son Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years. Terah died in Haran.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:9 Babel sounds like the Hebrew word for confusion.
- Genesis 11:13 Some manuscripts of the Greek Old Testament have an extra generation between Arphaxad and Shelah: Cainan (also called Kenan) lived 130 years and became the father of Shelah. Cainan lived 330 years after he had become the father of Shelah, and he became the father of sons and daughters. Cainan occurs in the Greek Old Testament of Genesis 10:24; 11:12-13; and some texts of 1 Chronicles 1:24 (or 18) [sic]. It also occurs in most manuscripts of Luke 3:36. Manuscripts without Cainan include all passages of the Hebrew text (Genesis 10:24; 11:12-13; 1 Chronicles 1:18, 24), the Samaritan Pentateuch, 1 Chronicles 1:24 in the Greek Old Testament [sic], the Targums of Jonathan and Onkelos, the Syriac Peshitta, and the Latin Vulgate. It appears that Cainan was not part of the Hebrew text. (It should be noted that there are numerous discrepancies in the textual commentaries about this issue, especially concerning the Greek Old Testament, as is true of many other textual issues.)
- Genesis 11:27 Or the account of the subsequent history
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.