Genesis 11:1-91And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. 2And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. 3And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. 4And 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. 5And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. 6And 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. 7Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another's speech. 8So the Lord scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city. 9Therefore 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. (Genesis 11:1‑9)
After the flood the whole earth spoke one language, and they all dwelt together in a plain called Shinar.
We read about men like Nimrod who became a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the Lord.
Men began to build great cities. They were very proud and thought to make a great name for themselves. So they said one to another, Let us make brick, and let us build a city and a tower whose top may reach to heaven. God wanted the people to spread themselves over the earth, but they said, Let us not be scattered over the earth. Let us live together in our city.
But God came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
And God 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.”
So God confounded, or mixed up, their language so that they could not understand one another’s speech. And God scattered them abroad from there all over the earth: and they left off building the city.
Therefore, the name of it is called Babel; because there God confounded the language of all the earth.
ML-01/09/1977