Genesis 19:4–28

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.