Genesis 11

¹Now the earth was of one language and of the same speech

²And when they were advancing from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt in it

³And each one said to his neighbor, “Come, let us make bricks, and bake them with fire.” And they had bricks instead of stones, and pitch instead of mortar

⁴And they said: “Come, let us make a city and a tower, so that its height may reach to heaven. And let us make our name famous before we are divided into all the lands.

⁵Then the Lord descended to see the city and the tower, which the sons of Adam were building

⁶And he said: “Behold, the people are united, and all have one tongue. And since they have begun to do this, they will not desist from their plans, until they have completed their work

⁷Therefore, come, let us descend, and in that place confound their tongue, so that they may not listen, each one to the voice of his neighbor.

⁸And so the Lord divided them from that place into all the lands, and they ceased to build the city

⁹And for this reason, its name was called ‘Babel,’ because in that place the language of the whole earth became confused. And from then on, the Lord scattered them across the face of every region

¹⁰These are the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old when he conceived Arphaxad, two years after the great flood

¹¹And after he conceived Arphaxad, Shem lived for five hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters

¹²Next, Arphaxad lived for thirty-five years, and then he conceived Shelah

¹³And after he conceived Shelah, Arphaxad lived for three hundred and three years, and he conceived sons and daughters

¹⁴Likewise, Shelah lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Eber

¹⁵And after he conceived Eber, Shelah lived for four hundred and three years, and he conceived sons and daughters

¹⁶Then Eber lived for thirty-four years, and he conceived Peleg

¹⁷And after he conceived Peleg, Eber lived for four hundred and thirty years, and he conceived sons and daughters

¹⁸Likewise, Peleg lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Reu

¹⁹And after he conceived Reu, Peleg lived for two hundred and nine years, and he conceived sons and daughters

²⁰Then Reu lived for thirty-two years, and then he conceived Serug

²¹Likewise, after he conceived Serug, Reu lived for two hundred and seven years, and he conceived sons and daughters

²²In truth, Serug lived for thirty years, and then he conceived Nahor

²³And after he conceived Nahor, Serug lived for two hundred years, and he conceived sons and daughters

²⁴And so Nahor lived for twenty-nine years, and then he conceived Terah

²⁵And after he conceived Terah, Nahor lived for one hundred and nineteen years, and he conceived sons and daughters

²⁶And Terah lived for seventy years, and then he conceived Abram, and Nahor, and Haran

²⁷And these are the generations of Terah. Terah conceived Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Next Haran conceived Lot

²⁸And Haran died before his father Terah, in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldeans

²⁹Then 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, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah

³⁰But Sarai was barren and had no children

³¹And so Terah took his son Abram, and his grandson Lot, the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and he led them away from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan. And they approached as far as Haran, and they dwelt there

³²And the days of Terah that passed were two hundred and five years, and then he died in Haran