1 At that time the whole world spoke just one language and used words with the same meaning. 2 As they moved east they discovered a plain in the land of Shinar so they settled there.

3 They said to one another, “Come on, let's make some bricks and bake them with fire.” (They used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of cement).* This was because in the Babylonian plain there was no stone to use for buildings. 4 Then they said, “Now let's build a city for ourselves with a tower whose top reaches the heavens. That way we'll gain a great reputation and we won't end up being scattered all over the world.”

5 But the Lord came down to take a look at the city and the tower that the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “Look! These people are united and they all speak one language. If this is what they can do now when they're just getting started, nothing will be impossible for them when they all put their minds to it! 7 We need to go down and mix up their language and make it confused so they won't be able to understand what they're saying to one other.”

8 The Lord sent them away from there and scattered them all over the world, and they gave up building the city. 9 That's why it was called Babel,† Babel sounds like the Hebrew word for “confuse.” because the Lord made the language of the world confused.

10 The following is the genealogy of Shem. When Shem was 100, he had Arphaxad. This was two years after the flood. 11 Shem lived another 500 years after Arphaxad was born and had other sons and daughters.

12 When Arphaxad was 35, he had Shelah. 13 Arphaxad lived another 403 years after Shelah was born and had other sons and daughters.

14 When Shelah was 30, he had Eber. 15 Shelah lived another 403 years after Eber was born and had other sons and daughters.

16 When Eber was 34, he had Peleg. 17 Eber lived another 430 years after Peleg was born and had other sons and daughters.

18 When Peleg was 30, he had Reu. 19 Peleg lived another 209 years after Reu was born and had other sons and daughters.

20 When Reu was 32, he had Serug. 21 Reu lived another 207 years after Serug was born and had other sons and daughters.

22 When Serug was 30, he had Nahor. 23 Serug lived another 200 years after Nahor was born and had other sons and daughters.

24 When Nahor was 29, he had Terah. 25 Nahor lived another 119 years after Terah was born and had other sons and daughters.

26 When Terah was 70, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.‡ Once again (see note on 5:32) these sons are not listed in birth order. Abram is listed first because of his importance.

27 The following is the genealogy of Terah. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. 28 However, Haran died while his father, Terah, was still alive, in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor both got married. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. (She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah). 30 Sarai wasn't able to become pregnant and so had no children.

31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, (who was the son of Haran), his daughter-in-law Sarai, (the wife of his son Abram), and left Ur of the Chaldeans to move to the land of Canaan. They got as far as Haran and settled there. 32 Terah lived for 205 years and died in Haran.