Classic

Genesis 11

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1And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

2And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar.

4And they said, Come, let us build us a city, and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven, and let us make us a name; lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

5And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do.

7Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.

9Therefore was the name of it called Babel; because Jehovah did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did Jehovah scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

10These are the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old, and begat Arpachshad two years after the flood:

11and Shem lived after he begat Arpachshad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

12And Arpachshad lived five and thirty years, and begat Shelah:

13and Arpachshad lived after he begat Shelah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

14And Shelah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

15and Shelah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

16And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

17and Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

19and Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

20And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

21and Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

23and Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

24And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

25and Nahor lived after he begat Terah a hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

26And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

27Now these are the generations of Terah. Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

28And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

29And Abram and Nahor took them 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 the father of Iscah.

30And Sarai was barren; she had no child.

31And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran, his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter-in-law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

32And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.

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Parallel translations · Genesis 11:1

WEB · World English Bible (2000)

And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

KJV · King James Version (1611)

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

ASV · American Standard Version (1901)

And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

BBE · Bible in Basic English (1949)

And all the earth had one language and one tongue.

YLT · Young's Literal Translation (1862)

And the whole earth is of one pronunciation, and of the same words,

DRA · Douay-Rheims (Challoner) (1752)

And the earth was of one tongue, and of the same speech.

DBY · Darby Bible (1890)

And the whole earth had one language, and the same words.

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Key cross-references

From the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — verses that illuminate Genesis 11:1.

  • Zephaniah 3:9

    For then will I turn to the peoples of a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of Jehovah, to serve him with one consent.

  • Isaiah 19:18

    In that day there shall be five cities in the land of Egypt that speak the language of Canaan, and swear to Jehovah of hosts; one shall be called The city of destruction.

  • Acts 2:6

    And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speaking in his own language.

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Genesis 12

"Now Jehovah said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto the land that I will show thee:"