Genesis 11:3-9
New American Standard Bible
3 Then they said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and [a]fire them thoroughly.” And they used brick for stone, and they used (A)tar for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top (B)will reach into heaven, and let’s make (C)a name for ourselves; otherwise we (D)will be scattered abroad over the face of all the earth.” 5 Now (E)the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the [b]men had built. 6 And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have [c](F)the same language. And this is what they have started to do, and now nothing which they plan to do will be [d]impossible for them. 7 Come, [e](G)let Us go down and there (H)confuse their [f]language, so that they will not understand one another’s [g]speech.” 8 So the Lord (I)scattered them abroad from there over the face of all the earth; and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore it was named [h](J)Babel, because there the Lord confused the [i]language of all the earth; and from there the Lord scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 11:3 I.e., in a kiln to harden them
- Genesis 11:5 Lit sons of mankind
- Genesis 11:6 Lit one lip
- Genesis 11:6 Lit inaccessible to
- Genesis 11:7 I.e., indicating united action, not a request
- Genesis 11:7 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:7 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:9 Or Babylon; cf. Heb balal, confuse
- Genesis 11:9 Lit lip
Genesis 11:3-9
New International Version
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks(A) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,(B) and tar(C) for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,(D) so that we may make a name(E) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered(F) over the face of the whole earth.”(G)
5 But the Lord came down(H) to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language(I) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us(J) go down(K) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(L)
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(M) and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[a](N)—because there the Lord confused the language(O) of the whole world.(P) From there the Lord scattered(Q) them over the face of the whole earth.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
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