Genesis 10:1-11:9

The Table of Nations 1This is the account of Shem, Ham and Japheth, Noah’s sons, who themselves had sons after the flood.

The Japhethites 2The sons Sons may mean descendants or successors or nations; also in verses 3, 4, 6, 7, 20-23, 29 and 31. of Japheth: Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshek and Tiras.

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

4The sons of Javan: Elishah, Tarshish, the Kittites and the Rodanites. Some manuscripts of the Masoretic Text and Samaritan Pentateuch (see also Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:7); most manuscripts of the Masoretic Text Dodanites

5(From these the maritime peoples spread out into their territories by their clans within their nations, each with its own language.)

The Hamites 6The sons of Ham: Cush, Egypt, Put and Canaan.

7The sons of Cush: Seba, Havilah, Sabtah, Raamah and Sabteka. The sons of Raamah: Sheba and Dedan. 8Cush was the father Father may mean ancestor or predecessor or founder; also in verses 13, 15, 24 and 26. of Nimrod, who became a mighty warrior on the earth. 9He was a mighty hunter before the LORD ; that is why it is said, “Like Nimrod, a mighty hunter before the LORD .” 10The first centers of his kingdom were Babylon, Uruk, Akkad and Kalneh, in Or Uruk and Akkad—all of them in Shinar. That is, Babylonia 11From that land he went to Assyria, where he built Nineveh, Rehoboth Ir, Or Nineveh with its city squares Calah

12and Resen, which is between Nineveh and Calah—which is the great city.

13Egypt was the father of the Ludites, Anamites, Lehabites, Naphtuhites,

14Pathrusites, Kasluhites (from whom the Philistines came) and Caphtorites.

15Canaan was the father of Sidon his firstborn, Or of the Sidonians, the foremost and of the Hittites, 16Jebusites, Amorites, Girgashites, 17Hivites, Arkites, Sinites,

18Arvadites, Zemarites and Hamathites. Later the Canaanite clans scattered

19and the borders of Canaan reached from Sidon toward Gerar as far as Gaza, and then toward Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboyim, as far as Lasha.

20These are the sons of Ham by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations.

The Semites 21Sons were also born to Shem, whose older brother was Or Shem, the older brother of Japheth; Shem was the ancestor of all the sons of Eber.

22The sons of Shem: Elam, Ashur, Arphaxad, Lud and Aram.

23The sons of Aram: Uz, Hul, Gether and Meshek. See Septuagint and 1 Chron. 1:17; Hebrew Mash.

24Arphaxad was the father of Hebrew; Septuagint father of Cainan, and Cainan was the father of Shelah, and Shelah the father of Eber.

25Two sons were born to Eber: One was named Peleg, Peleg means division. because in his time the earth was divided; his brother was named Joktan.

26Joktan was the father of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, 27Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, 28Obal, Abimael, Sheba,

29Ophir, Havilah and Jobab. All these were sons of Joktan.

30The region where they lived stretched from Mesha toward Sephar, in the eastern hill country.

31These are the sons of Shem by their clans and languages, in their territories and nations. 32These are the clans of Noah’s sons, according to their lines of descent, within their nations. From these the nations spread out over the earth after the flood.

The Tower of Babel 1Now the whole world had one language and a common speech.

2As people moved eastward, Or from the east; or in the east they found a plain in Shinar That is, Babylonia and settled there. 3They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar.

4Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” 5But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.

7Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.” 8So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

9That is why it was called Babel That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused. —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.