The Message Bible MSG
English Standard Version ESV
1 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language.
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Now the whole earth had one language and the same words.
2 It so happened that as they moved out of the east, they came upon a plain in the land of Shinar and settled down.
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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, let's make bricks and fire them well." They used brick for stone and tar for mortar.
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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 Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower that reaches Heaven. Let's make ourselves famous so we won't be scattered here and there across the Earth."
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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 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
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And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
6 God took one look and said, "One people, one language; why, this is only a first step. No telling what they'll come up with next - they'll stop at nothing!
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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 Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other."
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Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech."
8 Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit 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 That's how it came to be called Babel, because there God turned their language into "babble." From there God scattered them all over the world.
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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 This is the story of Shem. When Shem was 100 years old, he had Arphaxad. It was two years after the flood.
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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 he had Arphaxad, he lived 600 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Shem lived after he fathered Arpachshad 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah.
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When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Shelah.
13 After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Arpachshad lived after he fathered Shelah 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber.
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When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber.
15 After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Shelah lived after he fathered Eber 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber was thirty-four years old, he had Peleg.
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When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg.
17 After Eber had Peleg, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Eber lived after he fathered Peleg 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu.
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When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu.
19 After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Peleg lived after he fathered Reu 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu was thirty-two years old, he had Serug.
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When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug.
21 After Reu had Serug, he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Reu lived after he fathered Serug 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor.
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When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor.
23 After Serug had Nahor, he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Serug lived after he fathered Nahor 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor was twenty-nine years old, he had Terah.
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When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah.
25 After Nahor had Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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And Nahor lived after he fathered Terah 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 When Terah was seventy years old, he had Abram, Nahor, and Haran. The Family Tree of Terah
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When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot.
28 Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.
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Haran died in the presence of his father Terah in the land of his kindred, in Ur of the Chaldeans.
29 Abram and Nahor each got married. Abram's wife was Sarai; Nahor's wife was Milcah, the daughter of his brother Haran. Haran had two daughters, Milcah and Iscah.
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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 barren; she had no children.
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Now Sarai was barren; she had no child.
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and Sarai his daughter-in-law (his son Abram's wife) and set out with them from Ur of the Chaldees for the land of Canaan. But when they got as far as Haran, they settled down there.
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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 lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
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The days of Terah were 205 years, and Terah died in Haran.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.