The Languages Confused

11 At this time the whole world spoke one language, and everyone used the same words. ² As people ·moved [migrated] ·from the east [or eastward; 2:8; 4:16], they found a plain in the land of ·Babylonia [^LShinar] and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Let’s make bricks and ·bake [burn; fire] them ·to make them hard [thoroughly; ^Cin ancient times builders used mudbrick].” So they used bricks instead of stones, and ·tar [bitumen] instead of mortar. ⁴ Then they said to each other, “Let’s build a city and a tower for ourselves, whose top will reach high into ·the sky [heaven; ^Ca ziggurat or stepped pyramid at whose top was a temple thought to be in heaven]. We will ·become famous [^Lmake for ourselves a reputation/name]. Then we will not be scattered over all the earth.”

⁵ The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the ·people [^Lsons of man] had built. ⁶ The Lord said, “Now, these people are ·united [^Lone], all speaking ·the same [^Lone] language. This is only the beginning of what they will do. ·They will be able to do anything they want [^LNothing they want to do will be impossible for them]. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language [^Lthere] so they will not be able to understand each other.”

⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they ·stopped [ceased] building the city. ⁹ The place is called Babel [^Csounds like the Hebrew word for “confused”] since that is where the Lord confused the language of the whole world. So the Lord caused them to spread out from there over the whole world.

The Story of Shem’s Family

¹⁰ This is the ·family history [^Lbook of the generations; 2:4] of Shem [9:18; 10:21–31]. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad [10:22] was born. ¹¹ After that, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹² When Arphaxad was 35 years old, his son Shelah [10:24] was born. ¹³ After that, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ When Shelah was 30 years old, his son Eber [10:21, 24] was born. ¹⁵ After that, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ When Eber was 34 years old, his son Peleg [10:25] was born. ¹⁷ After that, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ When Peleg was 30 years old, his son Reu was born. ¹⁹ After that, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁰ When Reu was 32 years old, his son Serug was born. ²¹ After that, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

²² When Serug was 30 years old, his son Nahor was born. ²³ After that, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁴ When Nahor was 29 years old, his son Terah was born. ²⁵ After that, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

²⁶ After Terah was 70 years old, his sons Abram, Nahor, and Haran were born.

The Story of Terah’s Family

²⁷ ·This is the family history [^LThese are the generations; 2:4] of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸ While his father, Terah, was still alive, Haran died in Ur [^Ca major city in southern Mesopotamia] ·in Babylonia [^Lof the Chaldeans; ^CChaldea was another name for Babylon], where he was born. ²⁹ Abram and Nahor both ·married [^Ltook wives]. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. ³⁰ Sarai ·was not able to have children [was barren; had no children].

³¹ Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran’s son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram’s wife) and moved out of Ur of ·Babylonia [^Lthe Chaldeans; 11:28]. They had planned to go to the land of Canaan, but when they reached the city of Haran [^Ca city in northern Syria], they settled there.

³² Terah lived to be 205 years old, and then he died in Haran.