The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language^(A) and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward,^[a] they found a plain in Shinar^[b](B) and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks^(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,^(D) and tar^(E) for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,^(F) so that we may make a name^(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered^(H) over the face of the whole earth.”^(I)

⁵ But the Lord came down^(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language^(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us^(L) go down^(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”^(N)

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,^(O) and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel^[c](P)—because there the Lord confused the language^(Q) of the whole world.^(R) From there the Lord scattered^(S) them over the face of the whole earth.

From Shem to Abram^(T)

¹⁰ This is the account^(U) of Shem’s family line.

Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father^[d] of Arphaxad.^{(V) 11} And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.^{(W) 13} And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.^[e]

¹⁴ When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.^{(X) 15} And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.^{(Y) 17} And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.^{(Z) 19} And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.^{(AA) 21} And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.^{(AB) 23} And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.^{(AC) 25} And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,^(AD) Nahor^(AE) and Haran.^(AF)

Abram’s Family

²⁷ This is the account^(AG) of Terah’s family line.

Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor^(AH) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.^{(AI) 28} While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,^(AJ) in the land of his birth. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor^(AK) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,^(AL) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;^(AM) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. ³⁰ Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.^(AN)

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot^(AO) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law^(AP) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans^(AQ) to go to Canaan.^(AR) But when they came to Harran,^(AS) they settled there.

³² Terah^(AT) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.

7 The Lord then said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and your whole family,^(A) because I have found you righteous^(B) in this generation. ² Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean^(C) animal, a male and its mate, and one pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate, ³ and also seven pairs of every kind of bird, male and female, to keep their various kinds alive^(D) throughout the earth. ⁴ Seven days from now I will send rain^(E) on the earth^(F) for forty days^(G) and forty nights,^(H) and I will wipe from the face of the earth every living creature I have made.^(I)”

⁵ And Noah did all that the Lord commanded him.^(J)

⁶ Noah was six hundred years old^(K) when the floodwaters came on the earth. ⁷ And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark^(L) to escape the waters of the flood. ⁸ Pairs of clean and unclean^(M) animals, of birds and of all creatures that move along the ground, ⁹ male and female, came to Noah and entered the ark, as God had commanded Noah.^{(N) 10} And after the seven days^(O) the floodwaters came on the earth.

¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life,^(P) on the seventeenth day of the second month^(Q)—on that day all the springs of the great deep^(R) burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens^(S) were opened. ¹² And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights.^(T)

¹³ On that very day Noah and his sons,^(U) Shem, Ham and Japheth, together with his wife and the wives of his three sons, entered the ark.^{(V) 14} They had with them every wild animal according to its kind, all livestock according to their kinds, every creature that moves along the ground according to its kind and every bird according to its kind,^(W) everything with wings. ¹⁵ Pairs of all creatures that have the breath of life in them came to Noah and entered the ark.^{(X) 16} The animals going in were male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah.^(Y) Then the Lord shut him in.

¹⁷ For forty days^(Z) the flood kept coming on the earth, and as the waters increased they lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ The waters rose and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the water. ¹⁹ They rose greatly on the earth, and all the high mountains under the entire heavens were covered.^{(AA) 20} The waters rose and covered the mountains to a depth of more than fifteen cubits.^{[a][b] (AB) 21} Every living thing that moved on land perished—birds, livestock, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all mankind.^{(AC) 22} Everything on dry land that had the breath of life^(AD) in its nostrils died. ²³ Every living thing on the face of the earth was wiped out; people and animals and the creatures that move along the ground and the birds were wiped from the earth.^(AE) Only Noah was left, and those with him in the ark.^(AF)

²⁴ The waters flooded the earth for a hundred and fifty days.^(AG)