The Tower of Babel

11 Now all the earth ^[a]used the same language and ^[b]the same words. ² And it came about, as they journeyed ^[c]east, that they found a plain in the land ^(A)of Shinar and ^[d]settled there. ³ Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ^[e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used ^(B)tar for mortar. ⁴ And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^(C)will reach into heaven, and let’s make ^(D)a name for ourselves; otherwise we ^(E)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Now ^(F)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the ^[f]men had built. ⁶ And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^[g](G)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ^[h]impossible for them. ⁷ Come, ^[i](H)let Us go down and there ^(I)confuse their ^[j]language, so that they will not understand one another’s ^[k]speech.” ⁸ So the Lord ^(J)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore it was named ^[l](K)Babel, because there the Lord confused the ^[m]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

^10 (L)These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; ¹¹ and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; ¹³ and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; ¹⁵ and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; ¹⁷ and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; ¹⁹ and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; ²¹ and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; ²³ and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered ^(M)Terah; ²⁵ and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and ^(N)fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and ^(O)Haran fathered ^(P)Lot. ²⁸ Haran died ^[n]during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ^(Q)Ur of the Chaldeans. ²⁹ Abram and ^(R)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was ^(S)Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was ^(T)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah ^[o]and Iscah. ^30 (U)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

³¹ Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed ^[p]together from ^(V)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and ^[q]settled there. ³² The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.

Thanksgiving for God’s Justice.

For the music director; on ^[a]Muth-labben. A Psalm of David.

The Preaching of John the Baptist

3 Now ^(A)in those days ^(B)John the Baptist *^[a]came, ^[b]preaching in the ^(C)wilderness of Judea, saying, ² “^(D)Repent, for ^(E)the kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.” ³ For this is the ^(F)one referred to ^[d]by Isaiah the prophet when he said,

⁴ Now John himself had ^[g](I)a garment of camel’s hair and a leather belt around his waist; and his food was ^(J)locusts and wild honey. ⁵ At that time Jerusalem ^(K)was going out to him, and all Judea and all ^(L)the region around the Jordan; ⁶ and they were being ^(M)baptized by him in the Jordan River, as they confessed their sins.