Genesis 10:1–11:9

Nations Descended from Noah

10Now this is the genealogy of the sons of Noah: Shem, Ham, and Japheth. ^aAnd sons were born to them after the flood.

^2bThe sons of Japheth were Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras. ³The sons of Gomer were Ashkenaz, ¹Riphath, and Togarmah. ⁴The sons of Javan were Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and ²Dodanim. ⁵From these ^cthe coastland peoples of the Gentiles were separated into their lands, everyone according to his language, according to their families, into their nations.

^6dThe sons of Ham were Cush, Mizraim, ³Put, and Canaan. ⁷The sons of Cush were Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah, and Sabtechah; and the sons of Raamah were Sheba and Dedan.

⁸Cush begot ^eNimrod; he began to be a mighty one on the earth. ⁹He was a mighty ^fhunter ^gbefore the Lord; therefore it is said, “Like Nimrod the mighty hunter before the Lord.” ^10hAnd the beginning of his kingdom was ⁱBabel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar. ¹¹From that land he went ^jto Assyria and built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Calah, ¹²and Resen between Nineveh and Calah (that is the principal city).

¹³Mizraim begot Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹⁴Pathrusim, and Casluhim ^k(from whom came the Philistines and Caphtorim).

¹⁵Canaan begot Sidon his firstborn, and ^lHeth; ^16mthe Jebusite, the Amorite, and the Girgashite; ¹⁷the Hivite, the Arkite, and the Sinite; ¹⁸the Arvadite, the Zemarite, and the Hamathite. Afterward the families of the Canaanites were dispersed. ¹⁹ⁿAnd the border of the Canaanites was from Sidon as you go toward Gerar, as far as Gaza; then as you go toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, as far as Lasha. ²⁰These were the sons of Ham, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands and in their nations.

²¹And children were born also to Shem, the father of all the children of Eber, ⁴the brother of Japheth the elder. ²²The ^osons of Shem were Elam, Asshur, ^pArphaxad, Lud, and Aram. ²³The sons of Aram were Uz, Hul, Gether, and ⁵Mash. ²⁴⁶Arphaxad begot ^qSalah, and Salah begot Eber. ^25rTo Eber were born two sons: the name of one was ⁷Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother’s name was Joktan. ²⁶Joktan begot Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, ²⁷Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, ²⁸⁸Obal, Abimael, Sheba, ²⁹Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. All these were the sons of Joktan. ³⁰And their dwelling place was from Mesha as you go toward Sephar, the mountain of the east. ³¹These were the sons of Shem, according to their families, according to their languages, in their lands, according to their nations.

^32sThese were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; ^tand from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel

11Now the whole earth had one language and one ¹speech. ²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land ^aof Shinar, and they dwelt there. ³Then they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and ²bake them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower ^bwhose top is in the heavens; let us make a ^cname for ourselves, lest we ^dbe scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

^5eBut the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. ⁶And the Lord said, “Indeed ^fthe people are one and they all have ^gone language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they ^hpropose to do will be withheld from them. ⁷Come, ⁱlet Us go down and there ^jconfuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸So ^kthe Lord scattered them abroad from there ^lover the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. ⁹Therefore its name is called ³Babel, ^mbecause there the Lord confused the language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.