Genesis 18:1–19:20
18 Then the Lord appeared to him by 1the aterebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2 bSo he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; cand when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3 and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4 Please let da little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 And eI will bring a morsel of bread, that fyou may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, ginasmuch as you have come to your servant.”
They said, “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8 So hhe took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
9 Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
So he said, “Here, iin the tent.”
10 And He said, “I will certainly return to you jaccording to the time of life, and behold, kSarah your wife shall have a son.”
(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11 Now lAbraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and 2Sarah mhad passed the age of childbearing. 12 Therefore Sarah nlaughed within herself, saying, o“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my plord being old also?”
13 And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 qIs anything too hard for the Lord? rAt the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
16 Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them sto send them on the way. 17 And the Lord said, t“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18 since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ublessed in him? 19 For I have known him, in order vthat he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20 And the Lord said, “Because wthe outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their xsin is very grave, 21 yI will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, zI will know.”
22 Then the men turned away from there aand went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23 And Abraham bcame near and said, c“Would You also ddestroy the erighteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so fthat the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! gShall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26 So the Lord said, h“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
27 Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ibut dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
30 Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
32 Then he said, j“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”
kAnd He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33 So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
19 Now athe two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and bLot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please cturn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and dwash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.”
And they said, e“No, but we will spend the night in the open square.”
3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. fThen he made them a feast, and baked gunleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 hAnd they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? iBring them out to us that we jmay know them carnally.”
6 So kLot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 lSee now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, msince this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one ncame in to 1stay here, oand he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they pstruck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—qtake them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the routcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and sthe Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, twho had married his daughters, and said, u“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” vBut to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, w“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men xtook hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the yLord being merciful to him, zand they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that 2he said, a“Escape for your life! bDo not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape cto the mountains, lest you be 3destroyed.”
18 Then Lot said to them, “Please, dno, my lords! 19 Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. 20 See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.”