New Living Translation NLT
New International Version NIV
1 At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words.
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Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.
2 As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there.
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As people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there.
3 They began saying to each other, “Let’s make bricks and harden them with fire.” (In this region bricks were used instead of stone, and tar was used for mortar.)
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They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.
4 Then they said, “Come, let’s build a great city for ourselves with a tower that reaches into the sky. This will make us famous and keep us from being scattered all over the world.”
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Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.
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But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
6 “Look!” he said. “The people are united, and they all speak the same language. After this, nothing they set out to do will be impossible for them!
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The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
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Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.
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So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.
9 That is why the city was called Babel, because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
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That is why it was called Babel —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
10 This is the account of Shem’s family. Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
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This is the account of Shem’s family line. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.
11 After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became 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.
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When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.
13 After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became 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.
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When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.
15 After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became 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.
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When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.
17 After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became 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.
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When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.
19 After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became 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.
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When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.
21 After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.
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When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.
23 After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.
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When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.
25 After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
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And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran.
27 This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
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This is the account of Terah’s family line. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.
28 But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living.
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While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, in the land of his birth.
29 Meanwhile, Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah. (Milcah and her sister Iscah were daughters of Nahor’s brother Haran.)
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Abram and Nahor both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah.
30 But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.
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Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.
31 One day Terah took his son Abram, his daughter-in-law Sarai (his son Abram’s wife), and his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child) and moved away from Ur of the Chaldeans. He was headed for the land of Canaan, but they stopped at Haran and settled there.
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Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. But when they came to Harran, they settled there.
32 Terah lived for 205 years and died while still in Haran.
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Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.
Holy Bible. New Living Translation copyright© 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013 by
Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.