Genesis 11:1–9

¹And the whole earth had one language, and the same words. ²And it came to pass as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and dwelt there. ³And they said one to another, Come on, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. ⁴And they said, Come on, let us build ourselves a city and a tower, the top of which may reach to the heavens; and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.

⁵And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower which the children of men built. ⁶And Jehovah said, Behold, the people is one, and have all one language; and this have they begun to do. And now will they be hindered in nothing that they meditate doing. ⁷Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ⁸And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth. And they left off building the city. ⁹Therefore was its name called Babel; because Jehovah there confounded the language of the whole earth. And Jehovah scattered them thence over the face of the whole earth.