11:1 The¹ whole earth² had a common language and a common vocabulary.³ 11:2 When the people⁴ moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar⁵ and they settled there. 11:3 Then they said to each other,⁶ “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.”⁷ They⁸ had brick instead of stone and bitumin instead of mortar. 11:4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a city for ourselves, and a tower with its top in the heavens,⁹ so that¹⁰ we may make a name for ourselves, lest¹¹ we should be scattered¹² across the face of the earth.

11:5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the humans¹³ had begun¹⁴ to build. 11:6 And the LORD said, “If as one people all sharing a common language¹⁵ they have begun to do this, then¹⁶ nothing they plan to do will be withheld from them.¹⁷ 11:7 Come, let’s go down and let’s confuse¹⁸ there their language, so that they will not understand each other’s language.¹⁹

11:8 So the LORD scattered them from there across the face of all the earth; and they left off building²⁰ the city. 11:9 That is why its name was called²¹ Babel²²—because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from there the LORD scattered them across the face of the whole earth.

11:10 This is the account of Shem.

Shem was 100 years old when he became the father of²³ Arphaxad two years after the flood. 11:11 And after he became the father of²⁴ Arphaxad Shem lived 500 years and had²⁵ sons and daughters.

11:12 When Arphaxad lived 35 years he became the father of²⁶ Shelah. 11:13 And after he became the father of²⁷ Shelah Arphaxad lived 403 years and had²⁸ sons and daughters.

11:14 When Shelah lived 30 years he became the father of²⁹ of Eber. 11:15 And after he became the father of³⁰ Eber Shelah lived 403 years and had³¹ sons and daughters.

11:16 When Eber lived 34 years he became the father of³² of Peleg. 11:17 And after he became the father of³³ Peleg Eber lived 430 years and had³⁴ sons and daughters.

11:18 When Peleg lived 30 years he became the father of³⁵ Reu. 11:19 And after he became the father of³⁶ Reu Peleg lived 209 years and had³⁷ sons and daughters.

11:20 When Reu lived 32 years he became the father of³⁸ Serug. 11:21 And after he became the father of³⁹ Serug Reu lived 207 years and had⁴⁰ sons and daughters.

11:22 When Serug lived 30 years he became the father of⁴¹ Nahor. 11:23 And after he became the father of⁴² Nahor Serug lived 200 years and had⁴³ sons and daughters.

11:24 When Nahor lived 29 years he became the father of⁴⁴ Terah. 11:25 And after he became the father of⁴⁵ Terah Nahor lived 119 years and had⁴⁶ sons and daughters.

11:26 When Terah lived 70 years he became the father of⁴⁷ Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

11:27 This is the account of Terah.

Terah became the father of⁴⁸ Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of⁴⁹ Lot. 11:28 While Terah his father was alive,⁵⁰ Haran died⁵¹ in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans.⁵² 11:29 And Abram and Nahor took for themselves wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai.⁵³ And the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah;⁵⁴ she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. 11:30 ⁵⁵Sarai was barren; she had no children.

11:31 Terah took⁵⁶ Abram his son, and Lot his grandson, the son of Haran, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of Abram his son, and with them he went out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. 11:32 And the lifetime⁵⁷ of Terah was 205 years; and he⁵⁸ died in Haran.