The Tower of Babel

1. And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

2. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east,
that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there.

3. And they said to one another,
“Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly.”
And they had brick for stone, and bitumen they had for mortar.

4. And they said,
“Come, let us build for ourselves a city and a tower,
whose top may reach to heaven;
and let us make a name for ourselves,
lest we be scattered upon the face of the whole earth.”

5. And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower
which the sons of men built.

6. And Jehovah said,
“Behold, they are one people, and all of one language,
and this is what they begin to do;
and now nothing they propose to do shall be withheld from them.

7. Come, let Us go down and confuse their language there,
that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

8. And Jehovah scattered them from there upon the face of all the earth,
and they stopped building the city.

9. Therefore its name was called Babel,
because there Jehovah confused the language of all the earth;
and from there Jehovah scattered them upon the face of all the earth.

Genealogy from Shem to Abram

10. These are the generations of Shem:
Shem was one hundred years old, and he fathered Arphaxad two years after the flood.

11. And Shem lived after he fathered Arphaxad five hundred years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

12. And Arphaxad lived thirty-five years,
and he fathered Shelah.

13. And Arphaxad lived after he fathered Shelah four hundred and three years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

14. And Shelah lived thirty years,
and he fathered Eber.

15. And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber four hundred and three years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

16. And Eber lived thirty-four years,
and he fathered Peleg.

17. And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg four hundred and thirty years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

18. And Peleg lived thirty years,
and he fathered Reu.

19. And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu two hundred and nine years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

20. And Reu lived thirty-two years,
and he fathered Serug.

21. And Reu lived after he fathered Serug two hundred and seven years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

22. And Serug lived thirty years,
and he fathered Nahor.

23. And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor two hundred years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

24. And Nahor lived twenty-nine years,
and he fathered Terah.

25. And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah one hundred and nineteen years,
and he fathered sons and daughters.

26. And Terah lived seventy years,
and he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27. Now these are the generations of Terah:
Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran;
and Haran fathered Lot.

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

29. And Abram and Nahor took wives:
the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,
and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and the father of Iscah.

30. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Wasted Years At Haran

31. And Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife,
and they went out with them from Ur of the Chaldeans, to go into the land of Canaan;
and they came to Haran and dwelt there.

32. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years, and Terah died in Haran.