25  Far be it from thee to do so, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked—far be it from thee! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? 26  And Jehovah said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sakes. 27  And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes. 28  Perhaps there may want five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five? And he said, If I shall find forty-five there, I will not destroy it. 29  And he continued yet to speak with him, and said, Perhaps there may be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty’s sake. 30  And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there. 31  And he said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak with the Lord. Perhaps there may be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the twenty’s sake. 32  And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, that I speak yet but this time! Perhaps there may be ten found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake. 33  And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Chapter 19

1  And the two angels came to Sodom at even. And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed down, the face toward the ground, 2  and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and lodge, and wash your feet; and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, No; but we will pass the night in the open place. 3  And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house. And he made them a repast, and baked unleavened cakes; and they ate.

4  Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest—all the people from every quarter. 5  And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night? bring them out to us that we may know them. 6  And Lot went out to them to the entrance, and shut the door after him, 7  and said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly! 8  Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: let me now bring them out to you; and do to them as is good in your sight: only, to these men do nothing; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof. 9  And they said, Back there! And they said again, This one came to sojourn, and he must be a judge? Now we will deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed hard on the man—on Lot; and drew near to break the door. 10  And the men stretched out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11  And they smote the men that were at the entrance of the house with blindness, from the smallest to the greatest; and they wearied themselves to find the entrance.

12  And the men said to Lot, Whom hast thou here besides? a son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and all whom thou hast in the city—bring them out of the place. 13  For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before Jehovah, and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it. 14  And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, Up, go out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he was as if he jested, in the sight of his sons-in-law.

15  And as the dawn arose, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are present, lest thou perish in the iniquity of the city. 16  And as he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful to him; and they led him out, and set him without the city. 17  And it came to pass when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for thy life: look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou perish. 18  And Lot said to them, Not so, I pray thee, Lord; 19  behold now, thy servant has found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast magnified thy goodness, which thou hast shewn to me in preserving my soul alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest calamity lay hold on me, that I die. 20  Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small: I pray thee, let me escape thither—is it not small? —and my soul shall live. 21  And he said to him, Behold, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. 22  Haste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar. 23  The sun rose upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24  And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven, 25  and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew upon the ground.

26  And his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27  And Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Jehovah; 28  and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace. 29  And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.