The Tower of Babel
Study note
All of humanity speaks one language and settles together in the land of Shinar (Babylon). They decide to build a city with a tower reaching to the heavens to make a name for themselves and avoid being scattered. But this is the very thing God had told them to do — spread out and fill the earth. God comes down, sees what they are building, and confuses their language so they can no longer understand each other. Unable to communicate, they stop building and scatter across the earth. The city is called Babel, which sounds like the Hebrew word for 'confused.'
1 Back then, every person on earth spoke the exact same language and used the same words. And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 As groups of people traveled east, they found a flat plain in the land of Shinar. They decided to settle down there. And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 They said to each other, "Hey, let's make bricks and bake them until they are rock-hard!" So they used bricks for building stones and tar to hold them together. And 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 mortar.
4 Then they said, "Let's build ourselves an impressive city with a tower so tall it reaches up to the sky! That way we'll become famous and won't end up scattered all over the place." And 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.
5 But the Lord came down to take a look at the city and the tower these people were building. And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 The Lord said, "Look at this — they are all one group speaking one language, and this is just the beginning of what they'll try to do. If they keep going, nothing will be impossible for them." And 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.
7 "Let us go down there and mix up their language so they can't understand each other anymore." Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord broke them up and scattered them from that spot to every corner of the earth. They had to stop building the city. So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 That is how the place got the name Babel — because that was where the Lord scrambled up the language of the entire world. And from that spot, the Lord scattered people across the face of the whole earth. Therefore 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.
The Family Line from Shem to Abram
Study note
This genealogy connects Noah's son Shem to Abram, who will soon become the central figure in God's plan to bless the world. The lifespans in this list are gradually getting shorter compared to those before the flood. The line goes from Shem through Arphaxad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, and finally Terah, who is Abram's father. Each generation brings the story closer to God's call of one particular family.
10 Here is the family line of Shem. Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, his son Arphaxad was born. These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:
11 Shem went on to live another 500 years after Arphaxad was born and had more sons and daughters. And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
12 Arphaxad was 35 years old when his son Shelah was born. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:
13 Arphaxad went on to live another 403 years after Shelah was born and had more sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
14 Shelah was 30 years old when his son Eber was born. And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:
15 Shelah went on to live another 403 years after Eber was born and had more sons and daughters. And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.
16 Eber was 34 years old when his son Peleg was born. And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:
17 Eber went on to live another 430 years after Peleg was born and had more sons and daughters. And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.
18 Peleg was 30 years old when his son Reu was born. And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:
19 Peleg went on to live another 209 years after Reu was born and had more sons and daughters. And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.
20 Reu was 32 years old when his son Serug was born. And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:
21 Reu went on to live another 207 years after Serug was born and had more sons and daughters. And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.
22 Serug was 30 years old when his son Nahor was born. And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:
23 Serug went on to live another 200 years after Nahor was born and had more sons and daughters. And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.
24 Nahor was 29 years old when his son Terah was born. And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:
25 Nahor went on to live another 119 years after Terah was born and had more sons and daughters. And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.
26 Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
Terah's Family and the Move to Haran
Study note
Terah has three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran dies young in Ur of the Chaldeans (in modern-day southern Iraq), leaving behind a son named Lot. Abram marries Sarai, and the text notes importantly that Sarai is barren — she has no children. This detail becomes crucial to the rest of the story. Terah takes his family and leaves Ur, heading for Canaan, but they settle in a city called Haran (different from the son) and stay there. Terah dies in Haran at 205 years old.
27 Here is the story of Terah's family. Terah had three sons: Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran had a son named Lot. Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.
28 Haran died before his father Terah, there in his hometown of Ur of the Chaldeans. And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.
29 Both Abram and Nahor got married. Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. Milcah was Haran's daughter — the same Haran who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah. And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.
30 Sarai was not able to have children. She had no baby. But Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's boy), and his daughter-in-law Sarai (Abram's wife). They all left Ur of the Chaldeans together, heading for the land of Canaan. But when they got to the city of Haran, they decided to stay there. And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son's son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram's wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.
32 Terah lived to be 205 years old and died in Haran. And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.