Genesis 18:10–33

¹⁰Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,^s and Sarah your wife will have a son.”^t

Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were already very old,^u and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.^{v 12}So Sarah laughed^w to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord^x is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

¹³Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’^{y 14}Is anything too hard for the Lord?^z I will return to you at the appointed time next year,^a and Sarah will have a son.”^b

¹⁵Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”

But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶When the men^c got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham^d what I am about to do?^{e 18}Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,^f and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^{c 19}For I have chosen him^g, so that he will direct his children^h and his household after him to keep the way of the Lordⁱ by doing what is right and just,^j so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”^k

²⁰Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom^l and Gomorrah is so great^m and their sin so grievous^{n 21}that I will go down^o and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

²²The men^p turned away and went toward Sodom,^q but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{dr 23}Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?^{s 24}What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^e the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?^{t 25}Far be it from you to do such a thing^u—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous^v and the wicked alike.^w Far be it from you! Will not the Judge^x of all the earth do right?”^y

²⁶The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.^z”

²⁷Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,^{a 28}what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

³⁰Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,^b but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

³²Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.^c What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten,^d I will not destroy it.”

³³When the Lord had finished speaking^e with Abraham, he left,^f and Abraham returned home.^g