The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11

1 Now the whole earth had one language and one 1 speech. 2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land a of Shinar, and they dwelt there. 3 Then they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and 2 bake them thoroughly." They had brick for stone, and they had asphalt for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower b whose top is in the heavens; let us make a c name for ourselves, lest we d be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth." 5 e But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built. 6 And the LORD said, "Indeed f the people are one and they all have g one language, and this is what they begin to do; now nothing that they h propose to do will be withheld from them. 7 "Come, i let Us go down and there j confuse their language, that they may not understand one another's speech." 8 So k the LORD scattered them abroad from there l over the face of all the earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore its name is called 3 Babel, m because there the LORD confused the language of all the earth; and from there the LORD scattered them abroad over the face of all the earth.

  1. Cross References
    Genesis 10:10
    And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, Erech, Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar.
    Genesis 14:1
    And it came to pass in the days of Amraphel king of Shinar, Arioch king of Ellasar, Chedorlaomer king of Elam, and Tidal king of nations.
    Daniel 1:2
    And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god.
  2. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 1:28
    'Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there."'
    Deuteronomy 9:1
    Hear, O Israel: You are to cross over the Jordan today, and go in to dispossess nations greater and mightier than yourself, cities great and fortified up to heaven.
    Psalms 107:26
    They mount up to the heavens, They go down again to the depths; Their soul melts because of trouble.
  3. Cross References
    Genesis 6:4
    There were giants on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.
    2 Samuel 8:13
    And David made himself a name when he returned from killing eighteen thousand Syrians in the Valley of Salt.
  4. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 4:27
    And the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and you will be left few in number among the nations where the LORD will drive you.
  5. Cross References
    Genesis 18:21
    "I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."
    Exodus 3:8
    So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up from that land to a good and large land, to a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites and the Hittites and the Amorites and the Perizzites and the Hivites and the Jebusites.
    Exodus 19:11
    And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the LORD will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.
    Exodus 19:18
    Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly.
    Exodus 19:20
    Then the LORD came down upon Mount Sinai, on the top of the mountain. And the LORD called Moses to the top of the mountain, and Moses went up.
  6. Cross References
    Genesis 9:19
    These three were the sons of Noah, and from these the whole earth was populated.
    Acts 17:26
    And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.
  7. Cross References
    Genesis 11:1
    Now the whole earth had one language and one speech.
  8. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 31:21
    "Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them."
    Psalms 2:1
    Why do the nations rage, And the people plot a vain thing?
  9. Cross References
    Genesis 1:26
    Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.
  10. Cross References
    Genesis 42:23
    But they did not know that Joseph understood them, for he spoke to them through an interpreter.
    Exodus 4:11
    So the LORD said to him, "Who has made man's mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD?
    Deuteronomy 28:49
    The LORD will bring a nation against you from afar, from the end of the earth, as swift as the eagle flies, a nation whose language you will not understand.
    Isaiah 33:19
    You will not see a fierce people, A people of obscure speech, beyond perception, Of a stammering tongue that you cannot understand.
    Jeremiah 5:15
    Behold, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel," says the LORD. "It is a mighty nation, It is an ancient nation, A nation whose language you do not know, Nor can you understand what they say.
  11. Cross References
    Genesis 11:4
    And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top is in the heavens; let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.
    Deuteronomy 32:8
    When the Most High divided their inheritance to the nations, When He separated the sons of Adam, He set the boundaries of the peoples According to the number of the children of Israel.
    Psalms 92:9
    For behold, Your enemies, O LORD, For behold, Your enemies shall perish; All the workers of iniquity shall be scattered.
    Luke 1:51
    He has shown strength with His arm; He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
  12. Cross References
    Genesis 10:25
    To Eber were born two sons: the name of one was Peleg, for in his days the earth was divided; and his brother's name was Joktan.
    Genesis 10:32
    These were the families of the sons of Noah, according to their generations, in their nations; and from these the nations were divided on the earth after the flood.
  13. Cross References
    1 Corinthians 14:23
    Therefore if the whole church comes together in one place, and all speak with tongues, and there come in those who are uninformed or unbelievers, will they not say that you are out of your mind?
New King James Version (NKJV) Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.
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