THE STRANGE TOWER AT BABEL

Little children sometimes play with blocks. And sometimes they stack them high, like a tower. They try to see how high they can build their block-towers.

A long time ago some men began to build a tower with bricks. They planned to build it so high that its top would reach into the clouds. They planned to build a great city around the tower, and live there always. They planned to disobey God.

God was not pleased when he saw what the men were doing. He knew they were forgetting all about him. He knew they would soon have many more sorrows if they should finish their plans. So he caused something strange to happen to the men.

Until this time all the people spoke the same language. But now God caused them to speak different languages. The men who worked side by side could no longer understand each other's words. They could not work together as they had done before. So they left the tower and the city unfinished. Many of them moved away from that place.

The name of that place was called Babel, which means 'confused', because there God had given different languages to the people of the earth. -Genesis 11:1-9.