Genesis 11:1-20
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 11
1Now all the earth used the same language and the same words. 2And it came about, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3Then they said to one another, 'Come, let’s make bricks and fire them thoroughly.' And they used brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. 4And they said, 'Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let’s make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.' 5Now the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the men had built. 6And the Lord said, 'Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.' 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9Therefore it was named Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
10These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood;
11and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah;
13and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
14Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber;
15and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
16Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg;
17and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
King James Version
Chapter 11
1And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter. 4And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the LORD scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.
10These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 11
1The whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. 2As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3They said to each other, "Come, let's make oven-fired bricks." (They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.) 4And they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let's make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered throughout the earth."
5Then the Lord came down to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building.
6The Lord said, "If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7Come, let's go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another's speech."
8So from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9Therefore it is called Babylon, for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them throughout the earth.
10These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters.
12Arpachshad lived 35 years and fathered Shelah.
13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.
14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber.
15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters.
16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg.
17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters.
18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu.
19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters.
20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug.
New Living Translation
Chapter 11
1At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words. 2As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
3They began saying to each other, 'Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.' (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.)
4Then they said, 'Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.'
5But the Lord came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.
6Look!' he said. 'The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!
7Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.'
8In that way, the Lord scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.
9That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the Lord confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
10This is the account of Shem’s family. Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
11After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.
13After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
15After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.
17After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
English Standard Version
Chapter 11
1Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. 4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” 5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. 6And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. 7Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” 8So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. 9Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
10These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah.
13And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.
15And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg.
17And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
New International Version
Chapter 11
1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3They said to each other, 'Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly.' They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4Then they said, 'Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.'
5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
6The LORD said, 'If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.'
8So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9That is why it was called Babel --because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
10This is the account of Shem's family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
11And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
13And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
15And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
17And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
New King James Version
Chapter 11
1Now the whole earth had one language and one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”
5But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6And the Lord said, “Indeed the people are one and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they propose to do will be withheld from them.
7Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”
8So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city.
9Therefore its name is called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
10This is the genealogy of Shem: Shem was one hundred years old, and begot Arphaxad two years after the flood.
11After he begot Arphaxad, Shem lived five hundred years, and begot sons and daughters.
12Arphaxad lived thirty-five years, and begot Salah.
13After he begot Salah, Arphaxad lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
14Salah lived thirty years, and begot Eber.
15After he begot Eber, Salah lived four hundred and three years, and begot sons and daughters.
16Eber lived thirty-four years, and begot Peleg.
17After he begot Peleg, Eber lived four hundred and thirty years, and begot sons and daughters.
