The Tower of Babel
1The whole earth had one language and a common vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, so that we are not scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5But Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower the people were building, 6and Yahweh said, “Look — they are one people, and they all have one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do; now nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. 7Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” 8So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9That is why it is called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
From Shem to Terah
10This is the account of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood. 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived five hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 12When Arpachshad had lived thirty-five years, he fathered Shelah. 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived four hundred and three years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 14When Shelah had lived thirty years, he fathered Eber. 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived four hundred and three years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 16When Eber had lived thirty-four years, he fathered Peleg. 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 18When Peleg had lived thirty years, he fathered Reu. 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived two hundred and nine years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 20When Reu had lived thirty-two years, he fathered Serug. 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived two hundred and seven years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 22When Serug had lived thirty years, he fathered Nahor. 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived two hundred years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 24When Nahor had lived twenty-nine years, he fathered Terah. 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived one hundred and nineteen years, and he fathered other sons and daughters. 26When Terah had lived seventy years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah’s Family Sets Out
27This is the account of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28Haran died in the presence of his father Terah, in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans. 29Abram and Nahor both took wives. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah. 30Sarai was barren; she had no child. 31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. 32Terah lived two hundred and five years, and he died in Haran.
