The Message Bible MSG
New Living Translation NLT
1 At one time, the whole Earth spoke the same language.
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At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used 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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As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia 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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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.)
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’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.”
5 God came down to look over the city and the tower those people had built.
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But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.
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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“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!
7 Come, we'll go down and garble their speech so they won't understand each other."
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Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”
8 Then God scattered them from there all over the world. And they had to quit building the city.
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In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped 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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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.
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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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.
11 After he had Arphaxad, he lived 600 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad was thirty-five years old, he had Shelah.
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When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.
13 After Arphaxad had Shelah, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
14 When Shelah was thirty years old, he had Eber.
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When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.
15 After Shelah had Eber, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 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 was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.
17 After Eber had Peleg, he lived 403 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg was thirty years old, he had Reu.
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When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.
19 After he had Reu, he lived 209 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 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 was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.
21 After Reu had Serug, he lived 207 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug was thirty years old, he had Nahor.
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When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.
23 After Serug had Nahor, he lived 200 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 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 was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.
25 After Nahor had Terah, he lived 119 more years and had other sons and daughters.
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After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 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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After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 This is the story of Terah. Terah had Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
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This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.
28 Haran died before his father, Terah, in the country of his family, Ur of the Chaldees.
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But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living.
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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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.)
30 Sarai was barren; she had no children.
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But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.
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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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.
32 Terah lived 205 years. He died in Haran.
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Terah lived for 205 years and died while still 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.
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.