Genesis 11:1-21 ▼

1 Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.

2 And as people journeyed eastward, 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 thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

4 “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

5 Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

6 And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

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

8 So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9 That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

10 This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

11 And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

13 And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.

15 And after he had become the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.

17 And after he had become the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.

19 And after he had become the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.

21 And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.