| International Standard Version | NET Bible |
| 1There was a time when the entire earth spoke a common language with an identical vocabulary. | 1The whole earth had a common language and a common vocabulary. |
| 2As people migrated westward, they came across a plain in the region of Shinar and settled there. | 2When the people moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. |
| 3They told each other, "Come on! Let's burn bricks thoroughly." They used bricks for stone and tar for mortar. | 3Then they said to one another, "Come, let's make bricks and bake them thoroughly." (They had brick instead of stone and tar instead of mortar.) |
| 4Then they said, "Come on! Let's build ourselves a city and a tower, with its summit in the heavens, and let's make a name for ourselves so we won't be scattered over the surface of the whole earth." | 4Then they said, "Come, let's build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens so that we may make a name for ourselves. Otherwise we will be scattered across the face of the entire earth." |
| 5However, the LORD descended to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. | 5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the people had started building. |
| 6The LORD said, "Look! They are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they have a mind to do will be impossible for them! | 6And the LORD said, "If as one people all sharing a common language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be beyond them. |
| 7Come on! Let's go down there and confuse their language, so that they won't understand each other's speech." | 7Come, let's go down and confuse their language so they won't be able to understand each other." |
| 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the whole earth, so that they had to stop building the city. | 8So the LORD scattered them from there across the face of the entire earth, and they stopped building the city. |
| 9Therefore it was called Babylon, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the surface of the entire earth. | 9That is why its name was called Babel--because there the LORD confused the language of the entire world, and from there the LORD scattered them across the face of the entire earth. |
| 10These are the family records of Shem. When Shem had lived 100 years, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. | 10This is the account of Shem. Shem was 100 old when he became the father of Arphaxad, two years after the flood. |
| 11Shem lived 500 years after he fathered Arpachshad and had other sons and daughters. | 11And after becoming the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Cainan. | 12When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah. |
| 13After he fathered Cainan, Arpachshad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After he fathered Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then died. | 13And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. | 14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber. |
| 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. | 15And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. | 16When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg. |
| 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. | 17And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. | 18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu. |
| 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. | 19And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 20When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. | 20When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug. |
| 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. | 21And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 22When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. | 22When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor. |
| 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. | 23And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. | 24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah. |
| 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. | 25And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. |
| 26When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. | 26When Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. |
| 27Now these are the family records of Terah: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. | 27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot. |
| 28Haran died during his father's lifetime in the land of his birth, that is, in Ur of the Chaldeans. | 28Haran died in the land of his birth, in Ur of the Chaldeans, while his father Terah was still alive. |
| 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of Milcah and Iscah. | 29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. |
| 30Sarai was barren, so she had not borne children. | 30But Sarai was barren; she had no children. |
| 31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they journeyed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they had gone as far as Haran, they settled there, | 31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (the son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and with them he set out from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came to Haran, they settled there. |
| 32where Terah died at the age of 205 years. | 32The lifetime of Terah was 205 years, and he died in Haran. |
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