Genesis 11:1-9

Complete Jewish Bible

11 (S: vii) The whole earth used the same language, the same words. ² It came about that as they traveled from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shin‘ar and lived there. ³ They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them in the fire.” So they had bricks for building-stone and clay for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city with a tower that has its top reaching up into heaven, so that we can make a name for ourselves and not be scattered all over the earth.”

⁵ Adonai came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ Adonai said, “Look, the people are united, they all have a single language, and see what they’re starting to do! At this rate, nothing they set out to accomplish will be impossible for them! ⁷ Come, let’s go down and confuse their language, so that they won’t understand each other’s speech.” ⁸ So from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ For this reason it is called Bavel [confusion] — because there Adonai confused the language of the whole earth, and from there Adonai scattered them all over the earth.