Genesis 11

1 Now the whole earth had one speech, and there was one language for everyone. 2 As people moved from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them hard in the fire.” Brick served them for stone, and bitumen was their mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach to heaven. Let us make a name for ourselves, before we are scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Look — they are one race, and there is one speech for them all. They have begun to do this, and now nothing they undertake to do will be beyond them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their tongue there, so that no one will understand the voice of his neighbor.” 8 So the Lord scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city and the tower. † 9 That is why its name was called Confusion, because there the Lord confused the languages of all the earth, and from there the Lord God scattered them over the face of the whole earth. [a]

10 These are the generations of Shem. Shem was 100 years old when he fathered Arphaxad, in the second year after the flood. 11 After Arphaxad was born, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 12 Arphaxad lived 135 years, and he fathered Cainan. 13 After Cainan was born, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After Shelah was born, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. [b] 14 Shelah lived 130 years, and he fathered Eber. 15 After Eber was born, Shelah lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 16 Eber lived 134 years, and he fathered Peleg. 17 After Peleg was born, Eber lived 370 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 18 Peleg lived 130 years, and he fathered Reu. 19 After Reu was born, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 20 Reu lived 132 years, and he fathered Serug. 21 After Serug was born, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 22 Serug lived 130 years, and he fathered Nahor. 23 After Nahor was born, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 24 Nahor lived 79 years, and he fathered Terah. 25 After Terah was born, Nahor lived 129 years and had other sons and daughters, and he died. 26 Terah lived 70 years, and he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 These are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. 28 Haran died in the presence of his father Terah, in the land where he was born, in the country of the Chaldeans. [c] 29 Abram and Nahor took 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 Milcah and the father of Iscah. 30 And Sarai was barren; she bore no children. 31 Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran — his son’s son — and Sarai his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram, and led them out of the country of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. He came as far as Haran and settled there. 32 All the days of Terah in the land of Haran came to 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.