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Genesis 11:1-9

One Tongue, One Tower

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One Tongue, One Tower

Genesis 11:1-9

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One Tongue, One Tower

Genesis 11:1-9

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About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Genesis collection. 8 recordings are available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Genesis
Collection
Genesis
[Hook - clipped] One tongue. One plain. One city. One name. Brick upon brick, Higher and higher; Man built a heaven And kindled his pride. [Verse 1] They journeyed eastward and settled the land, Burned their own stone and strengthened their hand. "Let us make us a name," was the word they agreed, Lest they be scattered like wind-driven seed. No altar of thanks, no humble refrain, Only a tower to master the plain. [Call and Response] Who gave the breath? (The Lord above.) Who made the nations? (The God of love.) Who saw the tower? (The Lord came down.) Who broke the speech? (The pride of the town.) [Verse 2] Neighbor heard neighbor, but meaning was gone; Orders were spoken and answered all wrong. Hands lost rhythm, the building grew still, Dust crossed the bricks on the unfinished hill. Scattered abroad, they abandoned the frame; Babel remembered the fracture of name. [Final Hook] Many tongues. Many roads. One proud city Could not bear the load. Brick upon brick, Silence and sand; Heaven was never The work of man's hand.

Named in this songBabel

About the passage

Genesis 11: A name to be built and a family unable to continue

Genesis 11 begins with humanity trying to resist dispersion through shared language, coordinated technology, a city, a tower, and a name. The project’s scale receives a dry correction when the LORD must “come down” to see what is meant to reach heaven. Language is then confounded, and the very scattering the builders feared becomes the result of their attempt to prevent it. The account immediately narrows from nations back to one genealogical line, tracing Shem through Eber to Terah. The repeated births move steadily until the family itself begins to stall. Haran dies, Terah’s journey toward Canaan stops in Haran, and Sarai is introduced with the doubled statement that she is barren and has no child. The chapter therefore ends with two interrupted futures beside each other: a migration that has not reached its destination and a marriage with no heir. Genesis 12 will answer both with a call and a promise.

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