Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Universal Language, Babel, Confusion

11 Now the whole earth ^[a]spoke one language and used the same words (vocabulary). ² And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and they settled there.^{(A) 3} They said one to another, “Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly [in a kiln, to harden and strengthen them].” So they used brick for stone [as building material], and they used tar (bitumen, asphalt) for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let us build a city for ourselves, and a tower whose top will reach into the heavens, and let us make a [famous] name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered [into separate groups] and be dispersed over the surface of the entire earth [as the Lord instructed].”^{(B) 5} Now 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 [unified] people, and they all have the same language. This is only the beginning of what they will do [in rebellion against Me], and now no evil thing they imagine they can do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let Us (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) go down and there confuse and mix up their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the Lord scattered them abroad from there over the surface of the entire earth; and they stopped building the city. ⁹ Therefore the name of the city was ^[b]Babel—because there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth; and from that place the Lord scattered and dispersed them over the surface of all the earth.

¹² For just as the body is one and yet has many parts, and all the parts, though many, form [only] one body, so ^[a]it is with Christ. ¹³ For by one [Holy] Spirit we were all baptized into one body, [spiritually transformed—united together] whether Jews or Greeks (Gentiles), slaves or free, and we were all made to drink of one [Holy] Spirit [since the same Holy Spirit fills each life].^(A)

¹⁴ For the [human] body does not consist of one part, but of many [limbs and organs]. ¹⁵ If the foot says, “Because I am not a hand, I am not a part of the body,” is it not on the contrary still a part of the body? ¹⁶ If the ear says, “Because I am not an eye, I am not a part of the body,” is it not on the contrary still a part of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would the hearing be? If the whole [body] were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? ¹⁸ But now [as things really are], God has placed and arranged the parts in the body, each one of them, just as He willed and saw fit [with the best balance of function]. ¹⁹ If they all were a single organ, where would [the rest of] the body be? ²⁰ But now [as things really are] there are many parts [different limbs and organs], but a single body. ²¹ The eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you,” nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² But quite the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are [absolutely] necessary; ²³ and as for those parts of the body which we consider less honorable, these we treat with greater honor; and our less presentable parts are treated with greater modesty, ²⁴ while our more presentable parts do not require it. But God has combined the [whole] body, giving greater honor to that part which lacks it, ²⁵ so that there would be no division or discord in the body [that is, lack of adaptation of the parts to each other], but that the parts may have the same concern for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the parts share the suffering; if one member is honored, all rejoice with it.

²⁷ Now you [collectively] are Christ’s body, and individually [you are] members of it [each with his own special purpose and function].