¹ And all the earth had one language and one tongue.

² And it came about that in their wandering from the east, they came to a stretch of flat country in the land of Shinar, and there they made their living-place.

³ And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks, burning them well. And they had bricks for stone, putting them together with sticky earth.

⁴ And they said, Come, let us make a town, and a tower whose top will go up as high as heaven; and let us make a great name for ourselves, so that we may not be wanderers over the face of the earth.

⁵ And the Lord came down to see the town and the tower which the children of men were building.

⁶ And the Lord said, See, they are all one people and have all one language; and this is only the start of what they may do: and now it will not be possible to keep them from any purpose of theirs.

⁷ Come, let us go down and take away the sense of their language, so that they will not be able to make themselves clear to one another.

⁸ So the Lord God sent them away into every part of the earth: and they gave up building their town.

⁹ So it was named Babel, because there the Lord took away the sense of all languages and from there the Lord sent them away over all the face of the earth.

¹⁰ These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he became the father of Arpachshad, two years after the great flow of waters;

¹¹ And after the birth of Arpachshad, Shem went on living for five hundred years, and had sons and daughters:

¹² And Arpachshad was thirty-five years old when he became the father of Shelah:

¹³ And after the birth of Shelah, Arpachshad went on living for four hundred and three years, and had sons and daughters:

¹⁴ And Shelah was thirty years old when he became the father of Eber:

¹⁵ And after the birth of Eber, Shelah went on living for four hundred and three years, and had sons and daughters:

¹⁶ And Eber was thirty-four years old when he became the father of Peleg:

¹⁷ And after the birth of Peleg, Eber went on living for four hundred and thirty years, and had sons and daughters:

¹⁸ And Peleg was thirty years old when he became the father of Reu:

¹⁹ And after the birth of Reu, Peleg went on living for two hundred and nine years, and had sons and daughters:

²⁰ And Reu was thirty-two years old when he became the father of Serug:

²¹ And after the birth of Serug, Reu went on living for two hundred and seven years, and had sons and daughters:

²² And Serug was thirty years old when he became the father of Nahor:

²³ And after the birth of Nahor, Serug went on living for two hundred years, and had sons and daughters:

²⁴ And Nahor was twenty-nine years old when he became the father of Terah:

²⁵ And after the birth of Terah, Nahor went on living for a hundred and nineteen years, and had sons and daughters:

²⁶ And Terah was seventy years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ These are the generations of Terah: Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.

²⁸ And death came to Haran when he was with his father Terah in the land of his birth, Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹ And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves: the name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah and Iscah.

³⁰ And Sarai had no child.

³¹ And Terah took Abram, his son, and Lot, the son of Haran, and Sarai, his daughter-in-law, the wife of his son Abram and they went out from Ur of the Chaldees, to go to the land of Canaan; and they came to Haran, and were there for some time.

³² And all the years of Terah's life were two hundred and five: and Terah came to his end in Haran.

¹ The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

² It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.

³ They said one to another, "Come, let's make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

⁴ They said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let's make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth."

⁵ Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.

⁶ Yahweh said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.

⁷ Come, let's go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech."

⁸ So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.

⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

¹⁰ This is the history of the generations of Shem. Shem was one hundred years old and became the father of Arpachshad two years after the flood.

¹¹ Shem lived five hundred years after he became the father of Arpachshad, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹² Arpachshad lived thirty-five years and became the father of Shelah.

¹³ Arpachshad lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Shelah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁴ Shelah lived thirty years, and became the father of Eber:

¹⁵ and Shelah lived four hundred three years after he became the father of Eber, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁶ Eber lived thirty-four years, and became the father of Peleg.

¹⁷ Eber lived four hundred thirty years after he became the father of Peleg, and became the father of sons and daughters.

¹⁸ Peleg lived thirty years, and became the father of Reu.

¹⁹ Peleg lived two hundred nine years after he became the father of Reu, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁰ Reu lived thirty-two years, and became the father of Serug.

²¹ Reu lived two hundred seven years after he became the father of Serug, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²² Serug lived thirty years, and became the father of Nahor.

²³ Serug lived two hundred years after he became the father of Nahor, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁴ Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and became the father of Terah.

²⁵ Nahor lived one hundred nineteen years after he became the father of Terah, and became the father of sons and daughters.

²⁶ Terah lived seventy years, and became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ Now this is the history of the generations of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran became the father of Lot.

²⁸ Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹ Abram and Nahor took wives. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran who was also the father of Iscah.

³⁰ Sarai was barren. She had no child.

³¹ Terah took Abram his son, Lot the son of Haran, his son's son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife. They went forth from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan. They came to Haran and lived there.

³² The days of Terah were two hundred five years. Terah died in Haran.