Genesis 10–12

10TH CHAPTER

The 14 Descendants of Japheth—1 Chronicles 1:4–7

¹This is the account of Noah’s sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their descendants. Shem, Ham and Japheth had children after the flood. 

²Japheth’s descendants were 

Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. 

³Gomer’s descendants were 

Ashkenaz, Riphath, and Togarmah. 

⁴Javan’s descendants were 

the people from Elishah, Tarshish, Cyprus, and Rhodes.^a

⁵From these descendants the people of the coastlands spread into their own countries. Each nation had its own language and families. 

The 30 Descendants of Ham—1 Chronicles 1:8–16

⁶Ham’s descendants were 

Cush, Egypt, Put, and Canaan. 

⁷Cush’s descendants were 

Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabteca. 

Raamah’s descendants were 

Sheba and Dedan. 

⁸Cush was the father of Nimrod, the first mighty warrior on the earth. ⁹He was a mighty hunter whom the Lord blessed. That’s why people used to say, “⸤He’s⸥ like Nimrod, a mighty hunter whom the Lord blessed.” ¹⁰The first ⸤cities⸥ in his kingdom were Babylon, Erech, Accad, and Calneh in Shinar ^[Babylonia^[. ¹¹He went from that land to Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹²and Resen, the great city between Nineveh and Calah. 

¹³Egypt was the ancestor of 

the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites, ¹⁴Pathrusites, Casluhites (from whom the Philistines came), and the Caphtorites. 

¹⁵Canaan was the father of 

Sidon his firstborn, then Heth, ¹⁶also the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, ¹⁷the Hivites, the Arkites, the Sinites, ¹⁸the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. 

Later the Canaanite families scattered. ¹⁹The border of the Canaanites extended from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim as far as Lasha. 

²⁰These were Ham’s descendants by families and languages within their countries and nations. 

The 26 Descendants of Shem—1 Chronicles 1:17–23

²¹Shem, Japheth’s older brother, also had children. ⸤Shem was⸥ the ancestor of all the sons of Eber. 

²²Shem’s descendants were 

Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, and Aram. 

²³Aram’s descendants were 

Uz, Hul, Gether, and Mash. 

²⁴Arpachshad was the father of Shelah, 

and Shelah was the father of Eber. 

²⁵Two sons were born to Eber. 

The name of the one was Peleg ^[Division^[, because in his day the earth was divided. 

His brother’s name was Joktan. 

²⁶Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. These were Joktan’s sons. ³⁰The region where they lived extended from Mesha toward Sephar in the eastern mountains. 

³¹These were Shem’s descendants by families and languages within their countries according to their nations. 

³²These were the families of Noah’s sons listed by their genealogies, nation by nation. From these ⸤descendants⸥ the nations spread over the earth after the flood. 

11TH CHAPTER

The Tower of Babel

¹The whole world had one language with a common vocabulary. ²As people moved toward the east,^athey found a plain in Shinar ^[Babylonia^[ and settled there. 

³They said to one another, “Let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used bricks as stones and tar^bas mortar. 

⁴Then they said, “Let’s build a city for ourselves and a tower with its top in the sky. Let’s make a name for ourselves so that we won’t become scattered all over the face of the earth.” 

⁵The Lord came down to see the city and the tower that the descendants of Adam were building. ⁶The Lord said, “They are one people with one language. This is only the beginning of what they will do! Now nothing they plan to do will be too difficult for them. ⁷Let us go down there and mix up their language so that they won’t understand each other.” 

⁸So the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹This is why it was named Babel, because there the Lord turned the language of the whole earth into babble. From that place the Lord scattered them all over the face of the earth. 

The Ten Descendants of Shem—Shem to Terah—1 Chronicles 1:17–23

¹⁰This is the account of Shem and his descendants. Two years after the flood when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arpachshad. ¹¹After he became the father of Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters. 

¹²Arpachshad was 35 years old when he became the father of Shelah. ¹³After he became the father of Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 

¹⁴Shelah was 30 years old when he became the father of Eber. ¹⁵After he became the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. 

¹⁶Eber was 34 years old when he became the father of Peleg. ¹⁷After he became the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. 

¹⁸Peleg was 30 years old when he became the father of Reu. ¹⁹After he became the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. 

²⁰Reu was 32 years old when he became the father of Serug. ²¹After he became the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. 

²²Serug was 30 years old when he became the father of Nahor. ²³After he became the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. 

²⁴Nahor was 29 years old when he became the father of Terah. ²⁵After he became the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. 

²⁶Terah was 70 years old when he became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. 

Terah Moves to Haran

²⁷This is the account of Terah and his descendants. Terah was the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. Haran was the father of Lot. ²⁸While his father Terah was still alive, Haran died in Ur of the Chaldeans, his native land. ²⁹Both Abram and Nahor married. The name of Abram’s wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor’s wife was Milcah, daughter of Haran. (Haran was the father of Milcah and Iscah.) ³⁰Sarai was not able to have children. 

³¹Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (son of Haran), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, wife of his son Abram. They set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to Canaan. When they came as far as Haran, they stayed there. ³²Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran. 

12TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s First Promise to Abram

¹The Lord said to Abram, 

“Leave your land, 

your relatives, 

and your father’s home. 

Go to the land that I will show you. 

²I will make you a great nation, 

I will bless you. 

I will make your name great, 

and you will be a blessing. 

³I will bless those who bless you, 

and whoever curses you, I will curse. 

Through you every family on earth will be blessed.” 

The Lord’s Second Promise to Abram

⁴So Abram left, as the Lord had told him, and Lot went with him. Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran. ⁵Abram set out for Canaan. He took along his wife Sarai, his nephew Lot, and all the possessions they had accumulated and the servants they had acquired in Haran. 

⁶They arrived in Canaan,and Abram traveled through the land to the oak tree belonging to Moreh at Shechem. At that time the Canaanites were in the land. ⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “I’m going to give this land to your descendants.” So he built an altar there to the Lord, who had appeared to him. 

⁸He moved on to the hills east of Bethel, and he put up his tent—with Bethel on the west and Ai on the east. He also built an altar to the Lord there and worshiped the Lord. ⁹Abram kept moving toward the Negev. 

Abram Deceives Pharaoh

¹⁰There was a famine in the land. Abram went to Egypt to stay awhile because the famine was severe. ¹¹When he was about to enter Egypt, Abram said to his wife Sarai, “I know that you’re a beautiful woman. ¹²When the Egyptians see you, they’ll say, ‘This is his wife!’ Then they’ll kill me but let you live. ¹³Please say that you’re my sister. Then everything will be alright for me, and because of you I will live.” 

¹⁴When Abram arrived in Egypt, the Egyptians saw how very beautiful his wife was. ¹⁵When Pharaoh’s officials saw her, they raved about her to Pharaoh, so Sarai was taken to Pharaoh’s palace. ¹⁶Everything went well for Abram because of her, and he was given sheep, cattle, donkeys, male and female slaves, and camels. 

¹⁷However, the Lord struck Pharaoh and his household with terrible plagues because of Sarai, Abram’s wife. ¹⁸Then Pharaoh called for Abram. “What have you done to me?” he asked. “Why didn’t you tell me that she’s your wife? ¹⁹Why did you say, ‘She’s my sister’ and allow me to take her for my wife? Here’s your wife! Take her and go!” ²⁰Pharaoh gave his men orders concerning Abram. They sent Abram away with his wife and everything that he had.