Font Size
Genesis 11-12
New American Standard Bible
Genesis 11-12
New American Standard Bible
The Tower of Babel
11 Now all the earth [a]used the same language and [b]the same words. 2 And it came about, as they journeyed [c]east, that they found a plain in the land (A)of Shinar and [d]settled there. 3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and [e]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used (B)tar for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top (C)will reach into heaven, and let’s make (D)a name for ourselves; otherwise we (E)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” 5 Now (F)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the [f]men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have [g](G)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be [h]impossible for them. 7 Come, [i](H)let Us go down and there (I)confuse their [j]language, so that they will not understand one another’s [k]speech.” 8 So the Lord (J)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it was named [l](K)Babel, because there the Lord confused the [m]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Descendants of Shem
10 (L)These are the records of the generations of Shem. Shem was a hundred years old when he fathered Arpachshad, two years after the flood; 11 and Shem lived five hundred years after he fathered Arpachshad, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
12 Arpachshad lived thirty-five years, and fathered Shelah; 13 and Arpachshad lived 403 years after he fathered Shelah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
14 Shelah lived thirty years, and fathered Eber; 15 and Shelah lived 403 years after he fathered Eber, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
16 Eber lived thirty-four years, and fathered Peleg; 17 and Eber lived 430 years after he fathered Peleg, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
18 Peleg lived thirty years, and fathered Reu; 19 and Peleg lived 209 years after he fathered Reu, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
20 Reu lived thirty-two years, and fathered Serug; 21 and Reu lived 207 years after he fathered Serug, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
22 Serug lived thirty years, and fathered Nahor; 23 and Serug lived two hundred years after he fathered Nahor, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
24 Nahor lived twenty-nine years, and fathered (M)Terah; 25 and Nahor lived 119 years after he fathered Terah, and he fathered other sons and daughters.
26 Terah lived seventy years, and (N)fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran.
27 Now these are the records of the generations of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and (O)Haran fathered (P)Lot. 28 Haran died [n]during the lifetime of his father Terah in the land of his birth, in (Q)Ur of the Chaldeans. 29 Abram and (R)Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram’s wife was (S)Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was (T)Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah [o]and Iscah. 30 (U)Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child.
31 Now Terah took his son Abram, and Lot the son of Haran, his grandson, and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram’s wife, and they departed [p]together from (V)Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; and they went as far as Haran and [q]settled there. 32 The days of Terah were 205 years; and Terah died in Haran.
Abram Journeys to Egypt
12 Now (W)the Lord said to Abram,
“Go from your country,
And from your relatives
And from your father’s house,
To the land which I will show you;
2 And (X)I will make you into a great nation,
And (Y)I will bless you,
And make your name great;
And you shall (Z)be a blessing;
3 And (AA)I will bless those who bless you,
And the one who [r]curses you I will [s]curse.
(AB)And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
4 So Abram went away as the Lord had spoken to him; and (AC)Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran. 5 Abram took his wife Sarai and his nephew Lot, and all their (AD)possessions which they had accumulated, and (AE)the [t]people which they had acquired in Haran, and they [u]set out for the land of Canaan; (AF)so they came to the land of Canaan. 6 Abram passed through the land as far as the site of (AG)Shechem, to the [v]oak of Moreh. Now the Canaanites were in the land at that time. 7 And the Lord (AH)appeared to Abram and said, “(AI)To your [w]descendants I will give this land.” So he built (AJ)an altar there to the Lord who had appeared to him. 8 Then he proceeded from there to the mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent with (AK)Bethel on the west and Ai on the east; and there he built an altar to the Lord and (AL)called upon the name of the Lord. 9 Then Abram journeyed on, continuing toward (AM)the [x]Negev.
10 Now there was (AN)a famine in the land; so Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a time, because the famine was (AO)severe in the land. 11 It came about, when he [y]was approaching Egypt, that he said to his wife Sarai, “See now, I know that you are a [z](AP)beautiful woman; 12 (AQ)and when the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife’; and they will kill me, but they will let you live. 13 Please say that you are (AR)my sister so that it may go well for me because of you, and that [aa](AS)I may live on account of you.” 14 Now it came about, when Abram entered Egypt, that the Egyptians [ab]saw that the woman was very beautiful. 15 Pharaoh’s officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and (AT)the woman was taken into Pharaoh’s house. 16 Therefore (AU)he treated Abram well for her sake; and [ac](AV)he gave him sheep, oxen, male donkeys, male servants and female servants, female donkeys, and camels.
17 But the Lord (AW)struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. 18 Then Pharaoh called Abram and said, “(AX)What is this that you have done to me? Why did you not tell me that she was your wife? 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’ so that I took her for myself as a wife? Now then, [ad]here is your wife, take her and go!” 20 And Pharaoh commanded his men concerning him; and they [ae]escorted him away, with his wife and all that belonged to him.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:1 Lit was one lip
- Genesis 11:1 Or few or one set of words
- Genesis 11:2 Or from the east
- Genesis 11:2 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 11:3 I.e., in a kiln to harden them
- Genesis 11:5 Lit sons of mankind
- Genesis 11:6 Lit one lip
- Genesis 11:6 Lit inaccessible to
- Genesis 11:7 I.e., indicating united action, not a request
- Genesis 11:7 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:7 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:9 Or Babylon; cf. Heb balal, confuse
- Genesis 11:9 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:28 Lit before the face of
- Genesis 11:29 Lit and the father of
- Genesis 11:31 Lit with them
- Genesis 11:31 Lit dwelt
- Genesis 12:3 Or reviles
- Genesis 12:3 Or bind under a curse
- Genesis 12:5 Lit souls
- Genesis 12:5 Lit went forth to go to
- Genesis 12:6 Or terebinth
- Genesis 12:7 Lit seed
- Genesis 12:9 I.e., South country
- Genesis 12:11 Lit came near to enter
- Genesis 12:11 Lit woman of beautiful appearance
- Genesis 12:13 Lit my soul
- Genesis 12:14 Lit saw the woman that she was
- Genesis 12:16 Lit there was to him
- Genesis 12:19 Or behold
- Genesis 12:20 Lit sent
Genesis 11-12
New International Version
Genesis 11-12
New International Version
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language(A) and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b](B) and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,(D) and tar(E) for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,(F) so that we may make a name(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered(H) over the face of the whole earth.”(I)
5 But the Lord came down(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us(L) go down(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(N)
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(O) and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c](P)—because there the Lord confused the language(Q) of the whole world.(R) From there the Lord scattered(S) them over the face of the whole earth.
From Shem to Abram(T)
10 This is the account(U) of Shem’s family line.
Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father[d] of Arphaxad.(V) 11 And after he became the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.
12 When Arphaxad had lived 35 years, he became the father of Shelah.(W) 13 And after he became the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.[e]
14 When Shelah had lived 30 years, he became the father of Eber.(X) 15 And after he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.
16 When Eber had lived 34 years, he became the father of Peleg.(Y) 17 And after he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.
18 When Peleg had lived 30 years, he became the father of Reu.(Z) 19 And after he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.
20 When Reu had lived 32 years, he became the father of Serug.(AA) 21 And after he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.
22 When Serug had lived 30 years, he became the father of Nahor.(AB) 23 And after he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.
24 When Nahor had lived 29 years, he became the father of Terah.(AC) 25 And after he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.
26 After Terah had lived 70 years, he became the father of Abram,(AD) Nahor(AE) and Haran.(AF)
Abram’s Family
27 This is the account(AG) of Terah’s family line.
Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor(AH) and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.(AI) 28 While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans,(AJ) in the land of his birth. 29 Abram and Nahor(AK) both married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai,(AL) and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milkah;(AM) she was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milkah and Iskah. 30 Now Sarai was childless because she was not able to conceive.(AN)
31 Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot(AO) son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law(AP) Sarai, the wife of his son Abram, and together they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans(AQ) to go to Canaan.(AR) But when they came to Harran,(AS) they settled there.
32 Terah(AT) lived 205 years, and he died in Harran.
The Call of Abram
12 The Lord had said to Abram, “Go from your country, your people and your father’s household(AU) to the land(AV) I will show you.(AW)
2 “I will make you into a great nation,(AX)
and I will bless you;(AY)
I will make your name great,
and you will be a blessing.[f](AZ)
3 I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;(BA)
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.(BB)”[g]
4 So Abram went, as the Lord had told him; and Lot(BC) went with him. Abram was seventy-five years old(BD) when he set out from Harran.(BE) 5 He took his wife Sarai,(BF) his nephew Lot, all the possessions they had accumulated(BG) and the people(BH) they had acquired in Harran, and they set out for the land of Canaan,(BI) and they arrived there.
6 Abram traveled through the land(BJ) as far as the site of the great tree of Moreh(BK) at Shechem.(BL) At that time the Canaanites(BM) were in the land. 7 The Lord appeared to Abram(BN) and said, “To your offspring[h] I will give this land.(BO)”(BP) So he built an altar there to the Lord,(BQ) who had appeared to him.
8 From there he went on toward the hills east of Bethel(BR) and pitched his tent,(BS) with Bethel on the west and Ai(BT) on the east. There he built an altar to the Lord and called on the name of the Lord.(BU)
9 Then Abram set out and continued toward the Negev.(BV)
Abram in Egypt(BW)
10 Now there was a famine in the land,(BX) and Abram went down to Egypt to live there for a while because the famine was severe.(BY) 11 As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai,(BZ) “I know what a beautiful woman(CA) you are. 12 When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. 13 Say you are my sister,(CB) so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.”
14 When Abram came to Egypt, the Egyptians saw that Sarai was a very beautiful woman.(CC) 15 And when Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they praised her to Pharaoh, and she was taken into his palace. 16 He treated Abram well for her sake, and Abram acquired sheep and cattle, male and female donkeys, male and female servants, and camels.(CD)
17 But the Lord inflicted(CE) serious diseases on Pharaoh and his household(CF) because of Abram’s wife Sarai. 18 So Pharaoh summoned Abram. “What have you done to me?”(CG) he said. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife?(CH) 19 Why did you say, ‘She is my sister,’(CI) so that I took her to be my wife? Now then, here is your wife. Take her and go!” 20 Then Pharaoh gave orders about Abram to his men, and they sent him on his way, with his wife and everything he had.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:2 Or from the east; or in the east
- Genesis 11:2 That is, Babylonia
- Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
- Genesis 11:10 Father may mean ancestor; also in verses 11-25.
- Genesis 11:13 Hebrew; Septuagint (see also Luke 3:35, 36 and note at Gen. 10:24) 35 years, he became the father of Cainan. 13 And after he became the father of Cainan, Arphaxad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then he died. When Cainan had lived 130 years, he became the father of Shelah. And after he became the father of Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters
- Genesis 12:2 Or be seen as blessed
- Genesis 12:3 Or earth / will use your name in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 12:7 Or seed
New American Standard Bible (NASB) 
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.