The Tower of Babel

Long ago the people settled in the land of Shinar, not far from the Euphrates River. They had overcome many hardships to come to this place, and when they arrived, they rejoiced for they all understood one another and spoke in one tongue.

“We are truly a race of great men and women. Let us make a celebrated name for ourselves, so that we will not be scattered over the entire face of the earth.” And so the conversation continued between the people. “Let us build a city for ourselves and a great tower. This tower shall be built as high as the heavens above.”

And so the people began. They made clay bricks and baked them so they became strong; in this way, they made the stone to build their tower. They used tar in the earth as their mortar, and so they built a mighty tower, soon it was near completion.

Yahweh, their one God sighed from the heavens as he looked down upon their labor. “Do they no longer know,” he said to himself, “I commanded them to move about and live all over the earth?” And so Yahweh came down to get a closer look.

When he saw the big tower and he learned of their intentions, Yahweh then said: “Look! They are one people with one language, and this is what they have started to do. Now there is nothing that they may have in mind to do that will be impossible for them. Let us go down there and confuse their language in order that they may not understand one another’s language.”

And all at once, the people could not understand one another. Instead of speaking one language, they now spoke many different languages. They grew confused and could no longer work together. Their city then came to be called Babel, meaning confusion. They gradually stopped building the city. The people began to move away from Babel, because Yahweh scattered them over the entire face of the earth.