Now all the earth ¹used the same language and ²the same words. 2 And it came about, as they journeyed ¹east, that they found a plain in the land ^aof Shinar and ²settled there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and ¹fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used ^atar for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top ^awill reach into heaven, and let’s make ^ba name for ourselves; otherwise we ^cwill be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” 5 Now ^athe LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the ¹men had built. 6 And the LORD said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have ^1athe same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be ²impossible for them. 7 Come, ^1alet Us go down and there ^bconfuse their ²language, so that they will not understand one another’s ³speech.” 8 So the LORD ^ascattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it was named ^1aBabel, because there the LORD confused the ²language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

10 ^aThese are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

14 Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; 15 and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; 17 and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

18 Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; 19 and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; 21 and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

22 Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; 23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered ^aTerah; 25 and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.

26 Terah lived seventy years, and ^afathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and ^aHaran fathered ^bLot. 28 Haran died ¹during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in ^aUr of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and ^aNahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was ^bSarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was ^cMilcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah ¹and Iscah. 30 ^aSarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.

31 Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed ¹together from ^aUr of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and ²settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.