Genesis 18–19

18TH CHAPTER

The Lord’s Sixth Promise to Abraham

¹The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oak trees belonging to Mamre as he was sitting at the entrance of his tent during the hottest part of the day. ²Abraham looked up, and suddenly he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran to meet them, and he bowed with his face touching the ground. 

³“Please, sir,” Abraham said, “stop by to visit me for a while. ⁴Why don’t we let someone bring a little water? After you wash your feet, you can stretch out and rest under the tree. ⁵Let me bring some bread so that you can regain your strength. After that you can leave, since this is why you stopped by to visit me.” 

They answered, “That’s fine. Do as you say.” 

⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent to find Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three measures of flour, knead it, and make bread.” 

⁷Then Abraham ran to the herd and took one of his best calves. He gave it to his servant, who prepared it quickly. ⁸Abraham took cheese and milk, as well as the meat, and set these in front of them. Then he stood by them under the tree as they ate. 

⁹They asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” 

He answered, “Over there, in the tent.” 

¹⁰The Lord said, “I promise I’ll come back to you next year at this time, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” 

Sarah happened to be listening at the entrance of the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were old. Sarah was past the age of childbearing. ¹²And so Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “Now that I’ve become old, will I enjoy myself again? What’s more, my husband is old!” 

¹³The Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really have a child now that I’m old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will come back to you next year at this time, and Sarah will have a son.” 

¹⁵Because she was afraid, Sarah denied that she had laughed. 

But the Lord said, “Yes, you did laugh.” 

The Lord Tells Abraham about His Plan

¹⁶Then the men got up to leave. As Abraham was walking with them to see them off, they looked toward Sodom. ¹⁷The Lord said, “I shouldn’t hide what I am going to do from Abraham. ¹⁸After all, Abraham is going to become a great and mighty nation and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁹I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his family after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. In this way I, the Lord, will do what I have promised Abraham.” 

²⁰The Lord also said, “Sodom and Gomorrah have many complaints against them, and their sin is very serious. ²¹I must go down and see whether these complaints are true. If not, I will know it.” 

²²From there the men turned and went on toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing in front of the Lord. ²³Abraham came closer and asked, “Are you really going to sweep away the innocent with the guilty? ²⁴What if there are 50 innocent people in the city? Are you really going to sweep them away? Won’t you spare that place for the sake of the 50 innocent people who are in it? ²⁵It would be unthinkable for you to do such a thing, to treat the innocent and the guilty alike and to kill the innocent with the guilty. That would be unthinkable! Won’t the judge of the whole earth do what is fair?” 

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find 50 innocent people inside the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 

²⁷Abraham asked, “Consider now, if I may be so bold as to ask you, although I’m ⸤only⸥ dust and ashes, ²⁸what if there are 45 innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of 5 fewer people?” 

The Lord answered, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.” 

²⁹Abraham asked him again, “What if 40 are found there?” 

He answered, “For the sake of the 40 I will not do it.” 

³⁰“Please don’t be angry if I speak again,” Abraham said. “What if 30 are found there?” 

He answered, “If I find 30 there, I will not do it.” 

³¹“Look now, if I may be so bold as to ask you,” Abraham said. “What if 20 are found there?” 

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 20.” 

³²“Please don’t be angry if I speak only one more time,” Abraham said. “What if 10 are found there?” 

He answered, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.” ³³When the Lord finished speaking to Abraham, he left. Abraham returned home. 

19TH CHAPTER

Lot’s Guests Are Assaulted

¹The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face touching the ground. ²He said, “Please, gentlemen, why don’t you come to my home and spend the night? ⸤You can⸥ wash your feet there. Then early tomorrow morning you can continue your journey.” 

“No,” they answered, “we’d rather spend the night in the city square.” 

³But he insisted so strongly that they came with him and went into his home. He prepared a special dinner for them, baked some unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the young and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house. ⁵They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to ⸤stay with⸥ you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” 

⁶Then Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ⁷“Please, my friends, don’t be so wicked,” he said. ⁸“Look, I have two daughters who have never had sex. Why don’t you let me bring them out to you? Do whatever you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, since I’m responsible for them.” 

⁹But the men yelled, “Get out of the way! This man came here to stay awhile. Now he wants to be our judge! We’re going to treat you worse than those men.” They pushed hard against Lot and lunged forward to break down the door. ¹⁰The men ⸤inside⸥ reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹Then they struck all the men who were in the doorway of the house, young and old alike, with blindness so that they gave up trying to find the door. 

Lot Leaves Sodom, and the Cities Are Destroyed

¹²Then the men asked Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—any in-laws, sons, daughters, or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here ¹³because we’re going to destroy this place. The complaints to the Lord against its people are so loud that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to the men engaged to his daughters. He said, “Hurry! Get out of this place, because the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But they thought he was joking. 

¹⁵As soon as it was dawn, the angels urged Lot by saying, “Quick! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you’ll be swept away when the city is punished.” ¹⁶When he hesitated, the men grabbed him, his wife, and his two daughters by their hands, because the Lord wanted to spare Lot. They brought them safely outside the city. ¹⁷As soon as they were outside, one ⸤of the angels⸥ said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop on the plain. Run for the hills, or you’ll be swept away!” 

¹⁸Lot answered, “Oh no! ¹⁹Even though you’ve been so good to me and though you’ve been very kind to me by saving my life, I can’t run as far as the hills. This disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰Look, there’s a city near enough to flee to, and it’s small. Why don’t you let me run there? Isn’t it small? Then my life will be saved.” 

²¹The angel said to him, “Alright, I will grant you this request too. I will not destroy the city you’re talking about. ²²Run there quickly, because I can’t do anything until you get there.” (The city is named Zoar ^[Small^[.) 

²³The sun had just risen over the land as Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴Then the Lord made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. ²⁵He destroyed those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. ²⁶Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a column of salt. 

²⁷Early the next morning Abraham came to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord. ²⁸When he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land in the plain, he saw smoke rising from the land like the thick smoke of a furnace. 

²⁹When God destroyed the cities on the plain, he remembered Abraham. Lot was allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he was living. 

Lot’s Daughters Have Sons by Their Father

³⁰Lot left Zoar because he was afraid to stay there. He and his two daughters settled in the mountains where they lived in a cave. ³¹The older daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old. No men are here. We can’t get married as other people do. ³²Let’s give our father wine to drink. Then we’ll go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³³That night they gave their father wine to drink. Then the older one went to bed with her father. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁴The next day the older daughter said to the younger one, “I did it! Last night I went to bed with my father. Let’s give him wine to drink again tonight. Then you go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” ³⁵That night they gave their father wine to drink again. Then the younger one went to bed with him. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. ³⁶So Lot’s two daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷The older one gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. ³⁸The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.