- Genesis
- <
- 11
- >

11
People tried to build a tall building
1 You know, at first everyone talked the same language. 2 And as people moved from place to place in the east, they got to some flat country in Babylonia, and they stayed there. 3-4 Then they said to each other, “Look, we can make bricks here. So come on, let’s do that. We will bake them properly so that they are good strong bricks, and we will use them to build a city here. So come on, let’s build a big tall building in that city. It will be so tall that it will go right up into the sky.” You see, they had bricks and tar instead of stones and cement. And they said, “If we do that, everyone will think we are smart. Then we will not go and live all over the earth, but we will stay together right here.”
God made people talk in different languages
5 So the people started to build a city and a really tall building, and God came down to look at those things. 6 He said, “These people can all talk to each other in the same language, so they can do anything they want. If they keep on going this way, nothing will stop them from doing anything. 7 Come on, let’s go down to these people, and we will make them talk in different languages. Then they will not understand each other, and they will be all mixed up. They will not work things out with each other, so they will not keep on building this city.”
8 So God made all the people talk in different languages. None of them could understand anything the other people were saying. So they stopped building their big city. 9 They all left that city and went to live in lots of different places, all over the world. That’s how God got people to be in different tribes all over the world. And they called that city Babel. That means mixed up. They gave it that name because God mixed up their languages at that time.
The story of Shem’s family
10 This is the story about Shem’s family.*Genesis 10:21; Luke 3:35-36
Shem was 100 years old when he had a son called Arfaxad. That was 2 years after the big flood. 11 Shem lived for 500 years after he had Arfaxad, and he had more sons and daughters.
12 Arfaxad was 35 years old when he had a son called Shelah. 13 Arfaxad lived for 403 years after he had Shelah, and he had more sons and daughters.
14 Shelah was 30 years old when he had a son called Eber. 15 Shelah lived for 403 years after he had Eber, and he had more sons and daughters.
16 Eber was 34 years old when he had a son called Peleg. 17 Eber lived for 430 years after he had Peleg, and he had more sons and daughters.
18 Peleg was 30 years old when he had a son called Reyu. 19 Peleg lived for 209 years after he had Reyu, and he had more sons and daughters.
20 Reyu was 32 years old when he had a son called Serug. 21 Reyu lived for 207 years after he had Serug, and he had more sons and daughters.
22 Serug was 30 years old when he had a son called Nahor. 23 Serug lived for 200 years after he had Nahor, and he had more sons and daughters.
24 Nahor was 29 years old when he had a son called Terah. 25 Nahor lived for 119 years after he had Terah, and he had more sons and daughters.
26 Terah had 3 sons after he was 70 years old. Their names were Abram, Nahor and Haran.
The story of Terah’s family
27 This is the story about Terah’s family. Terah had 3 sons, called Abram, and Nahor, and Haran.
Haran had a son called Lot. 28-29 And he also had 2 daughters called Milcah and Iscah. After that, Haran died, while his father Terah was still alive. He died in the town called Ur, in Chaldia country, the place where he was born.
Nahor, Haran’s brother, married Milcah. And Abram married a woman called Sarai, 30 but Abram and Sarai didn’t have any kids. Sarai just couldn’t have a baby.
31 Then Terah went away from Ur, in Chaldia country, and he took some of his family with him. They were his son Abram, and Abram’s wife Sarai, and his grand-son Lot. They all left Ur, and they started to go to the country called Canaan. But they stopped half-way, at a town called Haran, and they stayed there.
32 Terah lived until he was 205 years old. Then he died there in Haran.

- Genesis
- <
- 11
- >

*11:10 Genesis 10:21; Luke 3:35-36

© 2026 Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia