11:1
וֽ͏ַיְהִ֥י כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ שָׂפָ֣ה אֶחָ֑ת
And the whole earth
was of a single language (Sumerian),
וּדְבָרִ֖ים אֲחָדִֽים׃
And one vocabulary;
11:2
וֽ͏ַיְהִ֖י בְּנָסְעָ֣ם מִקֶּ֑דֶם
And so it was,
when travelling away from the east,
וֽ͏ַיִּמְצְא֥וּ בִקְעָ֛ה בְּאֶ֥רֶץ שִׁנְעָ֖ר וַיֵּ֥שְׁבוּ שָֽׁם׃
then they found a plain
in the land of Shinar (Mesopotamia)
and they settled there;
11:3
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ אִ֣ישׁ אֶל־רֵעֵ֗הוּ
And they said to one another:
הָ֚בָה נִלְבְּנָ֣ה לְבֵנִ֔ים וְנִשְׂרְפָ֖ה לִשְׂרֵפָ֑ה
“Go to!, let us make bricks,
and let us bake them
through burning;”
וַתְּהִ֨י לָהֶ֤ם הַלְּבֵנָה֙ לְאָ֔בֶן
And for them brick was as stone,
וְהַ֣חֵמָ֔ר הָיָ֥ה לָהֶ֖ם לַחֹֽמֶר׃
and asphalt had been for them as mortar;
11:4
וַיֹּאמְר֞וּ
And they said:
הָ֣בָה ׀ נִבְנֶה־לָּ֣נוּ עִ֗יר
“Go to! Let us build us a city,
וּמִגְדָּל֙ וְרֹאשׁ֣וֹ בַשָּׁמַ֔יִם
and a tower with it’s top in the heavens;
וְנַֽעֲשֶׂה־לָּ֖נוּ שֵׁ֑ם
and let us make a name for ourselves,
פֶּן־נָפ֖וּץ עַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃
lest we scatter over the face of the whole earth”.
11:5
וַיֵּ֣רֶד יְהוָ֔ה לִרְאֹ֥ת אֶת־הָעִ֖יר וְאֶת־הַמִּגְדָּ֑ל
And the LORD came down in order to
give attention to the city and the tower,
אֲשֶׁ֥ר בָּנ֖וּ בְּנֵ֥י הָאָדָֽם׃
That which the sons of Adam had built;
11:6
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהוָ֗ה
And the LORD said:
הֵ֣ן עַ֤ם אֶחָד֙ וְשָׂפָ֤ה אַחַת֙ לְכֻלָּ֔ם
“Behold one people, and one language for them all:
וְזֶ֖ה הַחִלָּ֣ם לַעֲשׂ֑וֹת
This is causing them to act profanely;
וְעַתָּה֙ לֹֽא־יִבָּצֵ֣ר מֵהֶ֔ם
And now, it will not be restrained from them,—
כֹּ֛ל אֲשֶׁ֥ר יָזְמ֖וּ לֽ͏ַעֲשֽׂוֹת׃
All that they plan to do;”
11:7
הָ֚בָה נֽ͏ֵרְדָ֔ה וְנָבְלָ֥ה שָׁ֖ם שְׂפָתָ֑ם
“Come! Let us go down,
and let us mix their language there,
אֲשֶׁר֙ לֹ֣א יִשְׁמְע֔וּ אִ֖ישׁ שְׂפַ֥ת רֵעֵֽהוּ׃
So that they will not hear and respond to
each his fellow-citizen’s speech.”
11:8
וַיָּ֨פֶץ יְהוָ֥ה אֹתָ֛ם מִשָּׁ֖ם
And the LORD made them disperse from there,
עַל־פְּנֵ֣י כָל־הָאָ֑רֶץ
over the face of the whole earth;
וֽ͏ַיַּחְדְּל֖וּ לִבְנֹ֥ת הָעִֽיר׃
And they ceased constructing the tower;
11:9
עַל־כֵּ֞ן קָרָ֤א שְׁמָהּ֙ בָּבֶ֔ל
Therefore,
He gave it (“Ka-dingir” / StarGate / Gate of Heaven / Gate of God)
the name “Babylon” (mixed up / confused),
כִּי־שָׁ֛ם בָּלַ֥ל יְהוָ֖ה שְׂפַ֣ת כָּל־הָאָ֑רֶץ
Because there the LORD had mixed the speech
of the whole earth;
וּמִשָּׁם֙ הֱפִיצָ֣ם יְהוָ֔ה
And from there the LORD
had made them spread
עַל־פְּנֵ֖י כָּל־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ פ
over the face of the whole earth.
Website translation into English by Eddie Van Gent,
together with his wife, Maraea Van Gent (Masters of Humanities in Social Sciences, Majoring in Education)
The Hebrew Masoretic Text is Unicode/XML version 1.3 Leningrad Codex,
Build 26.2 from tanach.us
audio excerpts made made from
Tanakh audio recording by Rabbi Dan Be’eri
11:1-9 Hebrew Audio
