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The Tower of Babel

¹ Now all the earth ^(F1)used the same language and ^(F2)the same words.² And it came about, as they journeyed ^(F1)east, that they found a plain in the land ^(C1)of Shinar and ^(F2)settled there.³ Then they said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and ^(F1)fire them thoroughly." And they used brick for stone, and they used ^(C1)tar for mortar.⁴ And they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^(C1)will reach into heaven, and let's make ^(C2)a name for ourselves; otherwise we ^(C3)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth."⁵ Now ^(C1)the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the ^(F1)men had built.⁶ And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^(F1)(C1)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ^(F2)impossible for them.⁷ "Come, ^(F1)(C1)let Us go down and there ^(C2)confuse their ^(F2)language, so that they will not understand one another's ^(F2)speech."⁸ So the LORD ^(C1)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city.⁹ Therefore it was named ^(F1)(C1)Babel, because there the LORD confused the ^(F2)language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

Descendants of Shem

^10 (C1)These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood;¹¹ and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah;¹³ and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber;¹⁵ and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg;¹⁷ and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu;¹⁹ and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug;²¹ and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor;²³ and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered ^(C1)Terah;²⁵ and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and ^(C1)fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and ^(C1)Haran fathered ^(C2)Lot.²⁸ Haran died ^(F1)during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ^(C1)Ur of the Chaldeans.²⁹ Abram and ^(C1)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was ^(C2)Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was ^(C3)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah ^(F1)and Iscah.^30 (C1)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

³¹ Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they departed ^(F1)together from ^(C1)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and ^(F2)settled there.³² The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.