VERSE STUDY • KJV

Genesis 11:1-8

¹ And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. ³ And 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 morter. ⁴ And 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. ⁵ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. ⁶ And 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. ⁷ Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹ And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. ³ And 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 morter. ⁴ And 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. ⁵ And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. ⁶ And 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. ⁷ Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ⁸ So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹ Now the whole world had one language and a common form of speech. ² And as people journeyed eastward, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. ³ And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” So they used brick instead of stone, and tar instead of mortar. ⁴ “Come,” they said, “let us build for ourselves a city with a tower that reaches to the heavens, that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of all the earth.” ⁵ Then the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the sons of men were building. ⁶ And the LORD said, “If they have begun to do this as one people speaking the same language, then nothing they devise will be beyond them. ⁷ Come, let Us go down and confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So the LORD scattered them from there over the face of all the earth, and they stopped building the city.

WEB World English Bible

¹ The whole earth was of one language and of one speech. ² It happened, as they traveled east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there. ³ They said one to another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar. ⁴ They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.” ⁵ Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built. ⁶ Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do. ⁷ Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.” ⁸ So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.

ASV American Standard Version

¹ And the whole earth was of one language and of one speech. ² And it came to pass, as they journeyed east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there. ³ And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for mortar. ⁴ And they said, Come, 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. ⁵ And Jehovah came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded. ⁶ And Jehovah said, Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is what they begin to do: and now nothing will be withholden from them, which they purpose to do. ⁷ Come, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech. ⁸ So Jehovah scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off building the city.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹ And the whole earth is of one pronunciation, and of the same words, ² and it cometh to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar, and dwell there; ³ and they say each one to his neighbour, ‘Give help, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly:’ and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar. ⁴ And they say, ‘Give help, let us build for ourselves a city and tower, and its head in the heavens, and make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of all the earth.’ ⁵ And Jehovah cometh down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men have builded; ⁶ and Jehovah saith, ‘Lo, the people is one, and one pronunciation is to them all, and this it hath dreamed of doing; and now, nothing is restrained from them of that which they have purposed to do. ⁷ Give help, let us go down, and mingle there their pronunciation, so that a man doth not understand the pronunciation of his companion.’ ⁸ And Jehovah doth scatter them from thence over the face of all the earth, and they cease to build the city;

Surrounding context — Genesis 11

1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.

2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.

3 And 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 morter.

4 And 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.

5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6 And 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.

7 Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.

8 So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.

9 Therefore 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.

10 These [are] the generations of Shem: Shem [was] an hundred years old, and begat Arphaxad two years after the flood:

11 And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five hundred years, and begat sons and daughters.

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