Genesis 11:1-9
King James Version
11 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And 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.
4 And 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.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And 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.
7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
9 Therefore 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.
Read full chapter
Genesis 11:1-9
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
11 And the whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.
2 And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.
4 And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.
5 And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6 And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have [a]all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.
7 Come, let Us go down and there confound (mix up, confuse) their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
8 So the Lord scattered them abroad from that place upon the face of the whole earth, and they gave up building the city.
9 Therefore the name of it was called Babel—because there the Lord confounded the language of all the earth; and from that place the Lord scattered them abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 11:6 Some noted philologists have declared that a common origin of all languages cannot be denied. One, Max Mueller (The Science of Language), said “We have examined all possible forms which language can assume, and now we ask, can we reconcile with these three distinct forms, the radical, the terminational, the inflectional, the admission of one common origin of human speech? I answer decidedly, ‘Yes’.” The New Bible Commentary says, “The original unity of human language, though still far from demonstrable, becomes increasingly probable.”
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
