1. AND THE whole earth was of one language and of one accent and mode of expression.
2. And as they journeyed eastward, they found a plain (valley) in the land of Shinar, and they settled and dwelt there.
3. And they said one to another, Come, let us make bricks and burn them thoroughly. So they had brick for stone, and slime (bitumen) for mortar.
4. And they said, Come, let us build us a city and a tower whose top reaches into the sky, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered over the whole earth.
5. And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower which the sons of men had built.
6. And the Lord said, Behold, they are one people and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do, and now nothing they have imagined they can do will be impossible for them.