Genesis 10-12

Living Bible

10 These are the families of Shem, Ham, and Japheth, who were the three sons of Noah; for sons were born to them after the flood.

² The sons^[a] of Japheth were: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, Tiras.

³ The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, Togarmah.

⁴ The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, Dodanim.

⁵ Their descendants became the maritime nations in various lands, each with a separate language.

⁶ The sons of Ham were: Cush, Mizraim, Put, Canaan.

⁷ The sons of Cush were: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, Sabteca.

The sons of Raamah were: Sheba, Dedan.

⁸ One of the descendants^[b] of Cush was Nimrod, who became the first of the kings. ⁹ He was a mighty hunter, blessed of God,^[c] and his name became proverbial. People would speak of someone as being “like Nimrod—a mighty hunter, blessed of God.” ¹⁰ The heart of his empire included Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in the land of Shinar. ^11-12 From there he extended his reign to Assyria. He built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and Resen (which is located between Nineveh and Calah), the main city of the empire.

^13-14 Mizraim was the ancestor^[d] of the people inhabiting these areas: Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom came the Philistines), and Caphtorim.

^15-19 Canaan’s oldest son was Sidon, and he was also the father of Heth; from Canaan descended these nations: Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, Hivites, Arkites, Sinites, Arvadites, Zemarites, Hamathites. Eventually the descendants of Canaan spread from Sidon all the way to Gerar, in the Gaza strip; and to Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, near Lasha.

²⁰ These, then, were the descendants of Ham, spread abroad in many lands and nations, with many languages.

²¹ Eber descended from Shem, the oldest brother of Japheth. ²² Here is a list of Shem’s other descendants: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram.

²³ Aram’s sons^[e] were: Uz, Hul, Gether, Mash.

²⁴ Arpachshad’s son was Shelah, and Shelah’s son was Eber.

²⁵ Two sons were born to Eber: Peleg (meaning “Division,” for during his lifetime the people of the world were separated and dispersed), and Joktan (Peleg’s brother).

^26-30 Joktan was the father^[f] of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Obal, Abima-el, Sheba, Ophir, Havi-lah, Jobab.

These descendants of Joktan lived all the way from Mesha to the eastern hills of Sephar.

³¹ These, then, were the descendants of Shem, classified according to their political groupings, languages, and geographical locations.

³² All of the men listed above descended from Noah, through many generations, living in the various nations that developed after the flood.

11 At that time all mankind spoke a single language. ² As the population grew and spread eastward, a plain was discovered in the land of Babylon and was soon thickly populated. ^3-4 The people who lived there began to talk about building a great city, with a temple-tower reaching to the skies—a proud, eternal monument to themselves.

“This will weld us together,” they said, “and keep us from scattering all over the world.” So they made great piles of hard-burned brick, and collected bitumen to use as mortar.

⁵ But when God came down to see the city and the tower mankind was making, ⁶ he said, “Look! If they are able to accomplish all this when they have just begun to exploit their linguistic and political unity, just think of what they will do later! Nothing will be unattainable for them!^{[g] 7} Come, let us go down and give them different languages, so that they won’t understand each other’s words!”

⁸ So, in that way, God scattered them all over the earth; and that ended the building of the city. ⁹ That is why the city was called Babel (meaning “confusion”), because it was there that Jehovah confused them by giving them many languages, thus widely scattering them across the face of the earth.

^10-11 Shem’s line of descendants included Arpachshad, born two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old; after that he lived another 500 years and had many sons and daughters.

^12-13 When Arpachshad was thirty-five years old, his son Shelah was born,^[h] and after that he lived another 403 years and had many sons and daughters.

^14-15 Shelah was thirty years old when his son Eber was born, living 403 years after that, and had many sons and daughters.

^16-17 Eber was thirty-four years old when his son Peleg was born. He lived another 430 years afterwards and had many sons and daughters.

^18-19 Peleg was thirty years old when his son Reu was born. He lived another 209 years afterwards and had many sons and daughters.

^20-21 Reu was thirty-two years old when Serug was born. He lived 207 years after that, with many sons and daughters.

^22-23 Serug was thirty years old when his son Nahor was born. He lived 200 years afterwards, with many sons and daughters.

^24-25 Nahor was twenty-nine years old at the birth of his son Terah. He lived 119 years afterwards and had sons and daughters.

²⁶ By the time Terah was seventy years old, he had three sons, Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷ And Haran had a son named Lot. ²⁸ But Haran died young, in the land where he was born (in Ur of the Chaldeans), and was survived by his father.

²⁹ Meanwhile, Abram married his half sister^[i] Sarai, while his brother Nahor married their orphaned niece, Milcah, who was the daughter of their brother Haran; and she had a sister named Iscah. ³⁰ But Sarai was barren; she had no children. ³¹ Then Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (his son Haran’s child), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, and left Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan; but they stopped instead at the city of Haran and settled there. ³² And there Terah died at the age of 205.^[j]

12 God had told Abram, “Leave your own country behind you, and your own people, and go to the land I will guide you to. ² If you do, I will cause you to become the father of a great nation; I will bless you and make your name famous, and you will be a blessing to many others.^{[k] 3} I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you; and the entire world will be blessed because of you.”^[l]

⁴ So Abram departed as the Lord had instructed him, and Lot went too; Abram was seventy-five years old at that time. ⁵ He took his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all his wealth—the cattle and slaves he had gotten in Haran—and finally arrived in Canaan. ⁶ Traveling through Canaan, they came to a place near Shechem, and set up camp beside the oak at Moreh. (This area was inhabited by Canaanites at that time.)

⁷ Then Jehovah appeared to Abram and said, “I am going to give this land to your descendants.” And Abram built an altar there to commemorate Jehovah’s visit. ⁸ Afterwards Abram left that place and traveled southward^[m] to the hilly country between Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. There he made camp, and made an altar to the Lord and prayed to him. ⁹ Thus he continued slowly southward to the Negeb, pausing frequently.

¹⁰ There was at that time a terrible famine in the land: and so Abram went on down to Egypt to live. ^11-13 But as he was approaching the borders of Egypt, he asked Sarai his wife to tell everyone that she was his sister! “You are very beautiful,” he told her, “and when the Egyptians see you they will say, ‘This is his wife. Let’s kill him and then we can have her!’ But if you say you are my sister, then the Egyptians will treat me well because of you, and spare my life!” ¹⁴ And sure enough, when they arrived in Egypt everyone spoke of her beauty. ¹⁵ When the palace aides saw her, they praised her to their king, the Pharaoh, and she was taken into his harem.^{[n] 16} Then Pharaoh gave Abram many gifts because of her—sheep, oxen, donkeys, men and women slaves, and camels.

¹⁷ But the Lord sent a terrible plague upon Pharaoh’s household on account of her being there. ¹⁸ Then Pharaoh called Abram before him and accused him sharply. “What is this you have done to me?” he demanded. “Why didn’t you tell me she was your wife? ¹⁹ Why were you willing to let me marry her, saying she was your sister? Here, take her and be gone!” ²⁰ And Pharaoh sent them out of the country under armed escort—Abram, his wife, and all his household and possessions.