Genesis 11, side by side

Two versions of the same chapter. Each row is one verse, so you can see how the wording changes.

Modern

1Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech.

Classic

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

Modern

2And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there.

Classic

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.

Modern

3And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar.

Classic

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

Modern

4“Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.”

Classic

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.

Modern

5Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building.

Classic

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

Modern

6And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them.

Classic

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.

Modern

7Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”

Classic

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

Modern

8So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

Classic

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

Modern

9That is why it is called Babel, for there the LORD confused the language of the whole world, and from that place the LORD scattered them over the face of all the earth.

Classic

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.

Modern

10This is the account of Shem. Two years after the flood, when Shem was 100 years old, he became the father of Arphaxad.

Classic

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

Modern

11And after he had become the father of Arphaxad, Shem lived 500 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

12When Arphaxad was 35 years old, he became the father of Shelah.

Classic

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

Modern

13And after he had become the father of Shelah, Arphaxad lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

14When Shelah was 30 years old, he became the father of Eber.

Classic

14And Salah lived thirty years, and begat Eber:

Modern

15And after he had become the father of Eber, Shelah lived 403 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

16When Eber was 34 years old, he became the father of Peleg.

Classic

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

Modern

17And after he had become the father of Peleg, Eber lived 430 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

18When Peleg was 30 years old, he became the father of Reu.

Classic

18And Peleg lived thirty years, and begat Reu:

Modern

19And after he had become the father of Reu, Peleg lived 209 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

20When Reu was 32 years old, he became the father of Serug.

Classic

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

Modern

21And after he had become the father of Serug, Reu lived 207 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

22When Serug was 30 years old, he became the father of Nahor.

Classic

22And Serug lived thirty years, and begat Nahor:

Modern

23And after he had become the father of Nahor, Serug lived 200 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

24When Nahor was 29 years old, he became the father of Terah.

Classic

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

Modern

25And after he had become the father of Terah, Nahor lived 119 years and had other sons and daughters.

Classic

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

Modern

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

Classic

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

Modern

27This is the account of Terah. Terah became the father of Abram, Nahor, and Haran. And Haran became the father of Lot.

Classic

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

Modern

28During his father Terah’s lifetime, Haran died in his native land, in Ur of the Chaldeans.

Classic

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

Modern

29And Abram and Nahor took wives for themselves. Abram’s wife was named Sarai, and Nahor’s wife was named Milcah; she was the daughter of Haran, who was the father of both Milcah and Iscah.

Classic

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.

Modern

30But Sarai was barren; she had no children.

Classic

30But Sarai was barren; she had no child.

Modern

31And Terah took his son Abram, his grandson Lot son of Haran, and his daughter-in-law Sarai the wife of Abram, and they set out from Ur of the Chaldeans for the land of Canaan. But when they arrived in Haran, they settled there.

Classic

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.

Modern

32Terah lived 205 years, and he died in Haran.

Classic

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

Your pair of translations is remembered on this device for other chapters.