Genesis 11:1-9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
The Tower of Babylon
11 At one time the whole earth had the same language and vocabulary.[a] 2 As people[b] migrated from the east,[c] they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.(A) 3 They said to each other, “Come, let us make oven-fired bricks.” They used brick for stone and asphalt for mortar.(B) 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the sky.(C) Let us make a name for ourselves; otherwise, we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 Then the Lord came down(D) to look over the city and the tower that the men were building. 6 The Lord said, “If they have begun to do this as one people all having the same language, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let Us go down there and confuse[d] their language[e] so that they will not understand one another’s speech.”[f] 8 So from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth,(E) and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called Babylon,[g](F) for there the Lord confused the language of the whole earth, and from there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Genesis 11:1 Lit one lip and the same words
- Genesis 11:2 Lit they
- Genesis 11:2 Or migrated eastward
- Genesis 11:7 Or confound
- Genesis 11:7 Lit lip
- Genesis 11:7 Lit understand each man the lip of his companion
- Genesis 11:9 In Hb, the name Babylon sounds like the word “confuse.”
Genesis 11:1-9
New International Version
The Tower of Babel
11 Now the whole world had one language(A) and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b](B) and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks(C) and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone,(D) and tar(E) for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens,(F) so that we may make a name(G) for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered(H) over the face of the whole earth.”(I)
5 But the Lord came down(J) to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language(K) they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us(L) go down(M) and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”(N)
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth,(O) and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c](P)—because there the Lord confused the language(Q) of the whole world.(R) From there the Lord scattered(S) them over the face of the whole earth.
Footnotes
- Genesis 11:2 Or from the east; or in the east
- Genesis 11:2 That is, Babylonia
- Genesis 11:9 That is, Babylon; Babel sounds like the Hebrew for confused.
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.
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