Single lesson

The Tower of Babel

Genesis 11:1–9

This lesson helps children follow the Tower of Babel passage in order, notice the people’s stated plan, and see Yahweh’s response. Children will discuss what the people say in Genesis 11:4 and what happens in Genesis 11:5–9.

6–10 years30 minutes

Before you teach

Genesis 11:1–9 begins with the whole earth having one language and one speech. People settle on a plain in Shinar, make bricks and tar, and plan to build a city and a tower. The passage then shows Yahweh seeing their work, confusing their language, and scattering them over the earth.

Learning aim

Students will be able to retell the events of Genesis 11:1–9 in order and identify one choice and one outcome named in the passage.

Welcome: One language, one speech

5 min

Introduce Genesis 11:1–9 and explain that the story opens with the whole earth using one language and one speech. Then the people travel east, find a plain in Shinar, and live there. Ask children to listen for what the people decide to say and do together.

Genesis 11:1, Genesis 11:2

Read and explain: What the people planned

7 min

Read Genesis 11:3–4 aloud. Show that the people make bricks and burn them thoroughly, using tar for mortar. Then notice their own stated plan: build a city and a tower, make a name for ourselves, and avoid being scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.

Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:4

Discuss: Yahweh sees the city and tower

6 min

Read Genesis 11:5–7. Help children notice that Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower. He speaks about the people being one people with one language and says this is what they begin to do. Then he says their language will be confused so they cannot understand each other’s speech.

Genesis 11:5, Genesis 11:6, Genesis 11:7

Make and respond: Sequence the account

8 min

Children create simple sequence cards or quick drawings for the main steps in the passage: one language, settling in Shinar, making bricks, building plans, Yahweh coming down, confused language, and scattering. As they place them in order, ask them to connect each card to the verses that describe it.

Genesis 11:1, Genesis 11:2, Genesis 11:3, Genesis 11:4, Genesis 11:5, Genesis 11:7, Genesis 11:8, Genesis 11:9

Closing: Babel and the outcomes

4 min

Finish by reading Genesis 11:8–9 again. Emphasise the outcomes named in the passage: they stopped building the city, the place was called Babel, Yahweh confused the language of all the earth, and Yahweh scattered them abroad. Invite each child to name one event in the correct order.

Genesis 11:8, Genesis 11:9

Questions to explore

What do the people say they want to do in Genesis 11:4?

Look for their own words in the verse and list the plan they speak aloud.

Genesis 11:4

What does Yahweh do after he comes down to see the city and tower?

Follow the order in Genesis 11:5–8, including what he says and what happens next.

Genesis 11:5, Genesis 11:7, Genesis 11:8

Why is the place called Babel in this passage?

Genesis 11:9 gives the reason directly, so answer using that verse.

Genesis 11:9

Make, think or respond

Tower of Babel Sequence Cards

What you’ll need

plain paper or card
pencils or textas
scissors
Bible

Try it together

Draw seven simple pictures for the story: one language, plain in Shinar, bricks and tar, city and tower, Yahweh seeing, confused speech, and scattered people.
Cut the pictures into separate cards.
Read Genesis 11:1–9 and place the cards in order as a group.
Invite children to retell the account by pointing to each card and naming what happens next.

The cards help children follow the order, choices, and outcomes stated in Genesis 11:1–9.

Adapt for your group

For younger children, prepare the cards in advance and let them choose between two options for what comes next in the story.
For older children, ask them to write a short caption on each card using words from the passage such as ‘make a name for ourselves’ or ‘they stopped building’.

An optional closing prayer

Dear God, thank you for your word. Please help us listen carefully to what this passage says about people and about you. Help us speak truthfully and learn from your word. Amen.

Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic

Genesis 11

¹ The whole earth was of one language and of one speech.

² As they traveled east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar, and they lived there.

³ They said to one another, “Come, let’s make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” They had brick for stone, and they used tar for mortar.

⁴ They said, “Come, let’s build ourselves a city, and a tower whose top reaches to the sky, and let’s make a name for ourselves, lest we be scattered abroad on the surface of the whole earth.”

⁵ Yahweh came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men built.

⁶ Yahweh said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they begin to do. Now nothing will be withheld from them, which they intend to do.

⁷ Come, let’s go down, and there confuse their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.”

⁸ So Yahweh scattered them abroad from there on the surface of all the earth. They stopped building the city.

⁹ Therefore its name was called Babel, because there Yahweh confused the language of all the earth. From there, Yahweh scattered them abroad on the surface of all the earth.

World English Bible Classic. Public domain.