Good News Translation GNT
English Standard Version ESV
1 At first, the people of the whole world had only one language and used the same words.
1
Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 As they wandered about in the East, they came to a plain in Babylonia and settled there.
2
And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.
3 They said to one another, "Come on! Let's make bricks and bake them hard." So they had bricks to build with and tar to hold them together.
3
And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly." And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar.
4 They said, "Now let's build a city with a tower that reaches the sky, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth."
4
Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth."
5 Then the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which they had built,
5
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 and he said, "Now then, these are all one people and they speak one language; this is just the beginning of what they are going to do. Soon they will be able to do anything they want!
6
And the LORD said, "Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
7 Let us go down and mix up their language so that they will not understand each other."
7
Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
8 So the Lord scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city.
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So the LORD dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city.
9 The city was called Babylon, because there the Lord mixed up the language of all the people, and from there he scattered them all over the earth.
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Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth. And from there the LORD dispersed them over the face of all the earth.
10 These are the descendants of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he had a son, Arpachshad.
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These are the generations of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood.
11 After that, he lived another 500 years and had other children.
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And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arpachshad was 35 years old, he had a son, Shelah;
12
When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah.
13 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
13
And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was 30 years old, he had a son, Eber;
14
When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.
15 after that, he lived another 403 years and had other children.
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And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was 34 years old, he had a son, Peleg;
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When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg.
17 after that, he lived another 430 years and had other children.
17
And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was 30 years old, he had a son, Reu;
18
When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu.
19 after that, he lived another 209 years and had other children.
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And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was 32 years old, he had a son, Serug;
20
When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug.
21 after that, he lived another 207 years and had other children.
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And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was 30 years old, he had a son, Nahor;
22
When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor.
23 after that, he lived another 200 years and had other children.
23
And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was 29 years old, he had a son, Terah;
24
When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah.
25 after that, he lived another 119 years and had other children.
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And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
26
When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 These are the descendants of Terah, who was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot,
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Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28 and Haran died in his hometown of Ur in Babylonia, while his father was still living.
28
Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Abram married Sarai, and Nahor married Milcah, the daughter of Haran, who was also the father of Iscah.
29
And 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 the father of Milcah and Iscah.
30 Sarai was not able to have children.
30
Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot, who was the son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, Abram's wife, and with them he left the city of Ur in Babylonia to go to the land of Canaan. They went as far as Haran and settled there.
31
Terah took Abram his son and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram's wife, and they went forth together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go into the land of Canaan, but when they came to Haran, they settled there.
32 Terah died there at the age of 205.
32
The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Scripture taken from the Good News Translation - Second Edition, Copyright 1992 by American Bible Society. Used by Permission.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.