Previous Chapter Full Page Full Page Next Chapter

Genesis 11 :: New Living Translation (NLT)

The Tower of Babel

Gen 11:1

Gen 11:1At one time all the people of the world spoke the same language and used the same words.

Gen 11:2

Gen 11:2As the people migrated to the east, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia[fn] and settled there.

Gen 11:3

Gen 11:3They 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.)

Gen 11:4

Gen 11:4Then 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.”

Gen 11:5

Gen 11:5But the LORD came down to look at the city and the tower the people were building.

Gen 11:6

Gen 11:6“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!

Gen 11:7

Gen 11:7Come, let’s go down and confuse the people with different languages. Then they won’t be able to understand each other.”

Gen 11:8

Gen 11:8In that way, the LORD scattered them all over the world, and they stopped building the city.

Gen 11:9

Gen 11:9That is why the city was called Babel,[fn] because that is where the LORD confused the people with different languages. In this way he scattered them all over the world.
The Line of Descent from Shem to Abram
(1Ch 1:17–27; Luk 3:34–36 )

Gen 11:10

Gen 11:10This is the account of Shem’s family. Two years after the great flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of[fn] Arphaxad.

Gen 11:11

Gen 11:11After the birth of[fn] Arphaxad, Shem lived another 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:12

Gen 11:12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

Gen 11:13

Gen 11:13After the birth of Shelah, Arphaxad lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[fn]

Gen 11:14

Gen 11:14When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.

Gen 11:15

Gen 11:15After the birth of Eber, Shelah lived another 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:16

Gen 11:16When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.

Gen 11:17

Gen 11:17After the birth of Peleg, Eber lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:18

Gen 11:18When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.

Gen 11:19

Gen 11:19After the birth of Reu, Peleg lived another 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:20

Gen 11:20When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.

Gen 11:21

Gen 11:21After the birth of Serug, Reu lived another 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:22

Gen 11:22When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.

Gen 11:23

Gen 11:23After the birth of Nahor, Serug lived another 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:24

Gen 11:24When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.

Gen 11:25

Gen 11:25After the birth of Terah, Nahor lived another 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

Gen 11:26

Gen 11:26After Terah was 70 years old, he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
The Family of Terah

Gen 11:27

Gen 11:27This is the account of Terah’s family. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran was the father of Lot.

Gen 11:28

Gen 11:28But Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, the land of his birth, while his father, Terah, was still living.

Gen 11:29

Gen 11:29Meanwhile, 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.)

Gen 11:30

Gen 11:30But Sarai was unable to become pregnant and had no children.

Gen 11:31

Gen 11:31One 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.

Gen 11:32

Gen 11:32Terah lived for 205 years[fn] and died while still in Haran.
See the NLT Preface (Especially for Parenthesis, Brackets, & Asterisks).
NLT Footnotes
Hebrew Shinar.
Or Babylon. Babel sounds like a Hebrew term that means “confusion.”
Or the ancestor of; also in 11:12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 24.
Or the birth of this ancestor of; also in 11:13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25.
Greek version reads 12 When Arphaxad was 135 years old, he became the father of Cainan. 13 After the birth of Cainan, Arphaxad lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan was 130 years old, he became the father of Shelah. After the birth of Shelah, Cainan lived another 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. Compare Luke 3:35-36.
Greek version reads 12 When Arphaxad was 135 years old, he became the father of Cainan. 13 After the birth of Cainan, Arphaxad lived another 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan was 130 years old, he became the father of Shelah. After the birth of Shelah, Cainan lived another 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. Compare Luke 3:35-36.
Some ancient versions read 145 years; compare 11:26 and 12:4.
Translation Copyright Logo

Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Full copyright information is provided here. Visit the New Living Translation website.

For more information on this translation, see the NLT Preface.

Genesis Chapter 11 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New International Version English Standard Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras