The Tower of Babel

11 Nowa the whole earth had one language and the same words. 2 And as people migratedb from the east they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said ⌊to each other⌋,c “Come, let us make bricks and ⌊burn them thoroughly⌋.”d And they had brick for stone and they had tar for mortar. 4 And they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower whose top reaches to the heavens. And let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

5 Thene Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower that ⌊humankind⌋f was building. 6 And Yahweh said, “Behold, ⌊they are one people with one language⌋,g and ⌊this is only the beginning of what they will do⌋.h Soi now nothing that they intend to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language there, so that they will not understand ⌊each other’s language⌋.”j 8 So Yahweh scattered them from there over the face of the whole earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 Therefore its name was called Babel, for there Yahweh confused the language of the whole earth, and there Yahweh scattered them over the face of the whole earth.