Genesis 10:1–11:9

Nations Descended from Noah

10These are the generations of the sons of Noah, Shem, Ham, and Japheth. Sons were born to them after the flood.

^2kThe sons of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer: Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴The sons of Javan: Elishah, ^lTarshish, ^mKittim, and Dodanim. ⁵From these ⁿthe coastland peoples spread in their lands, each with his own language, by their clans, in their nations.

^6oThe sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. ⁸Cush fathered Nimrod; he was the first on earth to be a mighty man.^{1 9}He was a mighty hunter before the Lord. Therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod a mighty hunter before the Lord.” ¹⁰The beginning of his kingdom was ^pBabel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in ^qthe land of Shinar. ¹¹From that land he went into Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth-Ir, Calah, and ¹²Resen between Nineveh and Calah; that is the great city. ^13rEgypt fathered Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, Casluhim (from whom² the Philistines came), and ^sCaphtorim.

^15tCanaan fathered Sidon his firstborn and Heth, ¹⁶and the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. Afterward the clans of the Canaanites dispersed. ¹⁹And the territory of the Canaanites extended from Sidon in the direction of Gerar as far as Gaza, and in the direction of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰These are the sons of Ham, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

²¹To Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the elder brother of Japheth,³ children were born. ²²The ^usons of Shem: Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. ²⁴Arpachshad fathered ^vShelah; and Shelah fathered Eber. ^25wTo Eber were born two sons: the name of the one was Peleg,⁴ for in his days the earth was divided, and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan fathered Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ^29xOphir, Havilah, and Jobab; all these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰The territory in which they lived extended from Mesha in the direction of Sephar to the hill country of the east. ³¹These are the sons of Shem, by their clans, their languages, their lands, and their nations.

³²These are the clans of the sons of Noah, according to their genealogies, in their nations, ^yand from these the nations spread abroad on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. ²And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in ^zthe land of Shinar and settled there. ³And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, ^aand bitumen for mortar. ⁴Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower ^bwith its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” ⁵And ^cthe Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. ⁷Come, ^dlet us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So ^ethe Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore its name was called ^fBabel, because there the Lord confused¹ the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.