| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1There was a time when the entire earth spoke a common language with an identical vocabulary. | 1At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary. |
| 2As people migrated westward, they came across a plain in the region of Shinar and settled there. | 2As people migrated from the east, they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. |
| 3They told each other, "Come on! Let's burn bricks thoroughly." They used bricks for stone and tar for mortar. | 3They said to each other, "Come, let us make oven-fired bricks." They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar. |
| 4Then they said, "Come on! Let's build ourselves a city and a tower, with its summit in the heavens, and let's make a name for ourselves so we won't be scattered over the surface of the whole earth." | 4And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky. Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth." |
| 5However, the LORD descended to look over the city and the tower that the humans were building. | 5Then the LORD came down to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. |
| 6The LORD said, "Look! They are one people with the same language for all of them, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. Nothing that they have a mind to do will be impossible for them! | 6The LORD said, "If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. |
| 7Come on! Let's go down there and confuse their language, so that they won't understand each other's speech." | 7Come, let Us go down there and confuse their language so that they will not understand one another's speech." |
| 8So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the whole earth, so that they had to stop building the city. | 8So from there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. |
| 9Therefore it was called Babylon, because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the surface of the entire earth. | 9Therefore its name is called Babylon, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. |
| 10These are the family records of Shem. When Shem had lived 100 years, he fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. | 10These are the family records of Shem. Shem lived 100 years and fathered Arpachshad two years after the flood. |
| 11Shem lived 500 years after he fathered Arpachshad and had other sons and daughters. | 11After he fathered Arpachshad, Shem lived 500 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 12When Arpachshad had lived 35 years, he fathered Cainan. | 12Arpachshad lived 35 years and fathered Shelah. |
| 13After he fathered Cainan, Arpachshad lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters, and then died. Cainan lived 130 years and fathered Shelah. After he fathered Shelah, Cainan lived 330 years and had other sons and daughters, and then died. | 13After he fathered Shelah, Arpachshad lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 14When Shelah had lived 30 years, he fathered Eber. | 14Shelah lived 30 years and fathered Eber. |
| 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters. | 15After he fathered Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 16When Eber had lived 34 years, he fathered Peleg. | 16Eber lived 34 years and fathered Peleg. |
| 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters. | 17After he fathered Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 18When Peleg had lived 30 years, he fathered Reu. | 18Peleg lived 30 years and fathered Reu. |
| 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters. | 19After he fathered Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 20When Reu had lived 32 years, he fathered Serug. | 20Reu lived 32 years and fathered Serug. |
| 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters. | 21After he fathered Serug, Reu lived 207 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 22When Serug had lived 30 years, he fathered Nahor. | 22Serug lived 30 years and fathered Nahor. |
| 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters. | 23After he fathered Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 24When Nahor had lived 29 years, he fathered Terah. | 24Nahor lived 29 years and fathered Terah. |
| 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters. | 25After he fathered Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and fathered other sons and daughters. |
| 26When Terah had lived 70 years, he fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. | 26Terah lived 70 years and fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran. |
| 27Now these are the family records of Terah: Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran fathered Lot. | 27These are the family records of Terah. Terah fathered Abram, Nahor, and Haran, and Haran fathered Lot. |
| 28Haran died during his father's lifetime in the land of his birth, that is, in Ur of the Chaldeans. | 28Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans, during his father Terah's lifetime. |
| 29Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. The name of Abram's wife was Sarai, and the name of Nahor's wife was Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of Milcah and Iscah. | 29Abram and Nahor took wives: Abram's wife was named Sarai, and Nahor's wife was named Milcah. She was the daughter of Haran, the father of both Milcah and Iscah. |
| 30Sarai was barren, so she had not borne children. | 30Sarai was unable to conceive; she did not have a child. |
| 31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they journeyed together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they had gone as far as Haran, they settled there, | 31Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot (Haran's son), and his daughter-in-law Sarai, his son Abram's wife, and they set out together from Ur of the Chaldeans to go to the land of Canaan. But when they came to Haran, they settled there. |
| 32where Terah died at the age of 205 years. | 32Terah lived 205 years and died in Haran. |
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