Genesis 11

¹Forsothe the lond was of o langage, and of the same speche.

²And whanne thei yeden forth fro the eest, thei fonden a feeld in the lond of Sennaar, and dwelliden ther ynne.

³And oon seide to his neiybore, Come ye, and make we tiel stonys, and bake we tho with fier; and thei hadden tiel for stonus, and pitche for morter;

⁴and seiden, Come ye, and make we to vs a citee and tour, whos hiynesse stretche `til to heuene; and make we solempne oure name bifor that we be departid in to alle londis.

⁵Forsothe the Lord cam down to se the citee and tour, which the sones of Adam bildiden.

⁶And he seide, Lo! the puple is oon, and o langage is to alle, and thei han bigunne to make this, nethir thei schulen ceesse of her thouytis, til thei fillen tho in werk; therfor come ye, go we doun,

⁷and scheende we there the tunge of hem, that ech man here not the voys of his neiybore.

⁸And so the Lord departide hem fro that place in to alle londis; and thei cessiden to bielde a cytee.

⁹And therfor the name therof was clepid Babel, for the langage of al erthe was confoundide there; and fro thennus the Lord scaterede hem on the face of alle cuntrees.

¹⁰These ben the generaciouns of Sem. Sem was of an hundrid yeer whanne he gendride Arfaxath, twey yeer aftir the greet flood.

¹¹And Sem lyuede aftir that he gendride Arfaxath fyue hundrid yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

¹²Forsothe Arfaxath lyuede fyue and thretti yeer, and gendride Sale;

¹³and Arfaxath lyuede aftir that he gendride Sale thre hundride and thre yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

¹⁴Also Sale lyuede thretti yeer, and gendride Heber;

¹⁵and Sale lyuede after that he gendride Heber foure hundrid and thre yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

¹⁶Sotheli Heber lyuede foure and thretti yeer, and gendride Falech;

¹⁷and Heber lyuede aftir that he gendride Falech foure hundrid and thretti yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

¹⁸Also Falech lyuede thretti yeer, and gendride Reu;

¹⁹and Falech lyuede aftir that he gendride Reu two hundrid and nyne yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

²⁰And Reu lyuede two and thretti yeer, and gendride Saruch;

²¹and Reu lyuede aftir that he gendride Saruch two hundrid and seuene yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

²²Sotheli Saruch lyuede thretti yeer, and gendride Nachor;

²³and Saruch lyuede aftir that he gendride Nacor two hundrid yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

²⁴Forsothe Nachor lyuede nyne and twenti yeer, and gendride Thare;

²⁵and Nachor lyuede after that he gendride Thare an hundrid and nynetene yeer, and gendride sones and douytris.

²⁶And Thare lyuede seuenti yeer, and gendride Abram, and Nachor, and Aran.

²⁷Sotheli these ben the generaciouns of Thare. Thare gendride Abram, Nachor, and Aran. Forsothe Aran gendride Loth;

²⁸and Aran diede bifore Thare, his fadir, in the lond of his natiuite, in Vr of Caldeis.

²⁹Forsothe Abram and Nachor weddiden wyues; the name of the wijf of Abram was Saray, and the name of the wiif of Nachor was Melcha, the douyter of Aran, fadir of Melcha and fadir of Jescha.

³⁰Sotheli Saray was bareyn, and hadde no children.

³¹And so Thare took Abram, his sone, and Loth, the sone of Aran his sone, and Saray, his douyter in lawe, the wijf of Abram, his sone, and ledde hem out of Vr of Caldeis, that thei schulen go in to the lond of Chanaan; and thei camen `til to Aran, and dwelliden there.

³²And the daies of Thare weren maad two hundrid yeer and fyue, and he was deed in Aran.

Genesis 11

¹And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

²And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

³And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

⁴And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.

⁵And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

⁶And the Lord said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

⁷Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

⁸So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

⁹Therefore is the name of it called Babel; because the Lord did there confound the language of all the earth: and from thence did the Lord scatter them abroad upon the face of all the earth.

¹⁰These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

¹¹And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹²And Arphaxad lived five and thirty years, and begat Salah:

¹³And Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁴And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

¹⁵And Salah lived after he begat Eber four hundred and three years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁶And Eber lived four and thirty years, and begat Peleg:

¹⁷And Eber lived after he begat Peleg four hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters.

¹⁸And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

¹⁹And Peleg lived after he begat Reu two hundred and nine years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁰And Reu lived two and thirty years, and begat Serug:

²¹And Reu lived after he begat Serug two hundred and seven years, and begat sons and daughters.

²²And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

²³And Serug lived after he begat Nahor two hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁴And Nahor lived nine and twenty years, and begat Terah:

²⁵And Nahor lived after he begat Terah an hundred and nineteen years, and begat sons and daughters.

²⁶And Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran.

²⁷Now these are the generations of Terah: Terah begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; and Haran begat Lot.

²⁸And Haran died before his father Terah in the land of his nativity, in Ur of the Chaldees.

²⁹And Abram and Nahor took them wives: the name of Abram’s wife was Sarai; and the name of Nahor’s wife, Milcah, the daughter of Haran, the father of Milcah, and the father of Iscah.

³⁰But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

³¹And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot the son of Haran his son’s son, and Sarai his daughter in law, his son Abram’s wife; and they went forth with them from Ur of the Chaldees, to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there.

³²And the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran.