Genesis 18:10–33

¹⁰And 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.) ¹¹Now ^lAbraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and ²Sarah ^mhad passed the age of childbearing. ¹²Therefore Sarah ⁿlaughed within herself, saying, ^o“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my ^plord being old also?”

¹³And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ ^14qIs 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.”

¹⁵But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.

And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

¹⁶Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them ^sto send them on the way. ¹⁷And the Lord said, ^t“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^ublessed in him? ¹⁹For 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.” 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.