Bible story · Genesis 11:1–9

The Tower of Babel

Proud people build a tower to heaven, and God mixes up their words. A 2-minute animated story, told simply for children and families, with each verse from the King James Version.

Start the story For parents

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Long ago, after the great flood, everyone in the world spoke the same language and used the same words.

And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
Genesis 11:1 KJV

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The people settled on a wide plain. “Come on,” they said to each other, “let’s make bricks and bake them hard.”

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.
Genesis 11:3 KJV

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“Let’s build a city, with a tower that reaches up to heaven,” they said, “so that we can make a great name for ourselves.”

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.
Genesis 11:4 KJV

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The tower grew higher and higher. The people were proud, and they wanted to be great without God.

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.
Genesis 11:6 KJV

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So the LORD came down and mixed up their language, so that they could not understand one another.

Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
Genesis 11:7 KJV

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Nobody could understand the builders around them, so they stopped building. And the LORD scattered the people all over the earth.

So the LORD scattered them abroad from thence upon the face of all the earth: and they left off to build the city.
Genesis 11:8 KJV

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That is why the city was called Babel, because there the LORD mixed up the language of the whole world.

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.
Genesis 11:9 KJV

The end

Next story: Abraham and God’s Promise

What does this story teach?

Pride can make us forget God.
True greatness comes from God, not from what we build.
God is in charge of the whole world.
The many languages of the world are part of God’s story.

Questions to talk about

Use these with your children after the story, at bedtime, at the table or in a class.

Why did the people want to build such a tall tower?
What did God do to stop them?
How do you think the builders felt when they couldn’t understand each other?
What is the difference between doing your best and being proud?

Read the story in the Bible

This retelling uses simple words for young readers. Read the full account in Genesis 11:1–9, one verse per screen:

Frequently asked questions

Where is the Tower of Babel in the Bible?

The story is in Genesis 11:1–9, in the Old Testament, between the story of Noah and the story of Abraham.

Why did God stop the Tower of Babel?

The builders wanted to “make us a name” (Genesis 11:4), seeking their own glory instead of honoring God. By mixing up their language, God humbled their pride and spread people across the earth.

What does Babel mean?

Genesis 11:9 links the name Babel to a Hebrew word meaning to confuse or mix up, “because the LORD did there confound the language of all the earth.” It is also the Hebrew name for Babylon.

What is the lesson of the Tower of Babel?

Pride separates us from God and from each other. Later, at Pentecost in Acts 2, God’s Spirit helped people of many languages understand the good news about Jesus.

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