Genesis 18:20–19:25

²⁰And the Lord said, “Because ^wthe outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their ^xsin is very grave, ^21yI 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.”

²²Then the men turned away from there ^aand went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³And Abraham ^bcame near and said, ^c“Would You also ^ddestroy the ^erighteous with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose 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? ²⁵Far 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?”

²⁶So the Lord said, ^h“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ⁱbut dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸Suppose 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.”

²⁹And 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.”

³⁰Then 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.”

³¹And 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.”

³²Then 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.” ³³So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

Sodom’s Depravity

19Now ^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. ²And 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.”

³But 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.

⁴Now 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. ^5hAnd 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.”

⁶So ^kLot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ^8lSee 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.”

⁹And 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. ¹⁰But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹And 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.

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

¹²Then 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! ¹³For 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.”

¹⁴So 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.

¹⁵When 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.” ¹⁶And 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. ¹⁷So 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.”

¹⁸Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^dno, my lords! ¹⁹Indeed 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. ²⁰See 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.”

²¹And he said to him, “See, ^eI have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken. ²²Hurry, escape there. For ^fI cannot do anything until you arrive there.”

Therefore ^gthe name of the city was called ⁴Zoar.

²³The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴Then the Lord rained ^hbrimstone and ⁱfire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵So He ⁵overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^jwhat grew on the ground.