Genesis:18-19

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* And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre . And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day . * And he lifted up his eyes and saw , and behold , three men standing near him . And when he saw [them ], he ran to meet them from the tent-door , and bowed himself to the earth , * and said , Lord , if now I have found favour in thine eyes , pass not away , I pray thee , from thy servant . * Let now a little water be fetched , that ye may wash your feet , and rest yourselves under the tree . * And I will fetch a morsel of bread ; and refresh yourselves ; after that ye shall pass on ; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant . And they said , So do as thou hast said . * And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah , and said , Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour , and make cakes . * And Abraham ran to the herd , and took a calf tender and good , and gave [it ] to the attendant ; and he hasted to dress it . * And he took thick and sweet milk , and the calf that he had dressed , and set [it ] before them ; and he stood before them under the tree , and they ate . * And they said to him , Where is Sarah thy wife ? And he said , Behold , in the tent . * And he said , I will certainly return to thee at [this ] time of the year , and behold , Sarah thy wife shall have a son . And Sarah was listening at the tent-door , which was behind him . * Now Abraham and Sarah were old [and ] advanced in age : it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women . * And Sarah laughed within herself , saying , After I am become old , shall I have pleasure , and my lord old ? * And Jehovah said to Abraham , Why is this , that Sarah laughs , saying , Shall I indeed bear , when I am become old ? * Is [any ] matter too wonderful for Jehovah ? At the time appointed I will return to thee , at [this ] time of the year , and Sarah shall have a son . * And Sarah denied , saying , I did not laugh ; for she was afraid . And he said , No ; but thou didst laugh . * And the men rose up thence , and looked toward Sodom ; and Abraham went with them to conduct them . * And Jehovah said , Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing ? * Since Abraham shall indeed become a great and mighty nation ; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him . * For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him , and they shall keep the way of Jehovah , to do righteousness and justice , in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him . * And Jehovah said , Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous , * I will go down now , and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it , which is come to me ; and if not , I will know [it ]. * And the men turned thence , and went towards Sodom ; and Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah . * And Abraham drew near , and said , Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked ? * There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city : wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein ? * Far be it from thee to do so , to slay the righteous with the wicked , that the righteous should be as the wicked -- far be it from thee ! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right ? * And Jehovah said , If I find at Sodom fifty righteous within the city , then I will forgive all the place for their sakes . * And Abraham answered and said , Behold now , I have ventured to speak unto the Lord ; I , who am dust and ashes . * Perhaps there may want five of the fifty righteous : wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five ? And he said , If I shall find forty-five there , I will not destroy [it ]. * And he continued yet to speak with him , and said , Perhaps there may be forty found there . And he said , I will not do it for the forty 's sake . * And he said , Oh , let not the Lord be angry that I speak ! Perhaps there may be thirty found there . And he said , I will not do it if I find thirty there . * And he said , Behold now , I have ventured to speak with the Lord . Perhaps there may be twenty found there . And he said , I will not destroy [it ] for the twenty 's sake . * And he said , Oh , let not the Lord be angry , that I speak yet but this time ! Perhaps there may be ten found there . And he said , I will not destroy [it ] for the ten 's sake . * And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham ; and Abraham returned to his place . * And the two angels came to Sodom at even . And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom . And Lot saw them , and rose up to meet them ; and he bowed down , the face toward the ground , * and he said , Behold now , my lords , turn in , I pray you , into your servant 's house , and lodge , and wash your feet ; and ye shall rise up early , and go on your way . And they said , No ; but we will pass the night in the open place . * And he urged them greatly ; and they turned in unto him , and entered into his house . And he made them a repast , and baked unleavened cakes ; and they ate . * Before they lay down , the men of the city , the men of Sodom , surrounded the house , from the youngest to the oldest -- all the people from every quarter . * And they called to Lot , and said to him , Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night ? bring them out to us that we may know them . * And Lot went out to them to the entrance , and shut the door after him , * and said , I pray you , my brethren , do not wickedly ! * Behold now , I have two daughters who have not known a man : let me now bring them out to you ; and do to them as is good in your sight : only , to these men do nothing ; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof . * And they said , Back there ! And they said [again ], This one came to sojourn , and he must be a judge ? Now we will deal worse with thee than with them . And they pressed hard on the man -- on Lot ; and drew near to break the door . * And the men stretched out their hand , and brought Lot into the house to them , and shut the door . * And they smote the men that were at the entrance of the house with blindness , from the smallest to the greatest ; and they wearied themselves to find the entrance . * And the men said to Lot , Whom hast thou here besides ? a son-in-law , and thy sons , and thy daughters , and all whom thou hast in the city -- bring [them ] out of the place . * For we are going to destroy this place , because the cry of them is great before Jehovah , and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it . * And Lot went out , and spoke to his sons-in-law , who had married his daughters , and said , Up , go out of this place , for Jehovah will destroy the city . But he was as if he jested , in the sight of his sons-in-law . * And as the dawn arose , the angels urged Lot , saying , Up , take thy wife and thy two daughters who are present , lest thou perish in the iniquity of the city . * And as he lingered , the men laid hold on his hand , and on the hand of his wife , and on the hand of his two daughters , Jehovah being merciful to him ; and they led him out , and set him without the city . * And it came to pass when they had brought them outside , that he said , Escape for thy life : look not behind thee , neither stay thou in all the plain : escape to the mountain , lest thou perish . * And Lot said to them , Not [so ], I pray thee , Lord ; * behold now , thy servant has found favour in thine eyes , and thou hast magnified thy goodness , which thou hast shewn to me in preserving my soul alive ; but I cannot escape to the mountain , lest calamity lay hold on me , that I die . * Behold now , this city is near to flee to , and it is small : I pray thee , let me escape thither -- is it not small ? -- and my soul shall live . * And he said to him , Behold , I have accepted thee concerning this thing also , that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken . * Haste , escape thither ; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there . Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar . * The sun rose upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar . * And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven , * and overthrew those cities , and all the plain , and all the inhabitants of the cities , and what grew upon the ground . * And his wife looked back from behind him , and she became a pillar of salt . * And Abraham rose early in the morning [and went ] to the place where he had stood before Jehovah ; * and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah , and toward all the land of the plain , and beheld , and lo , a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace . * And it came to pass when God destroyed the cities of the plain , that God remembered Abraham , and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow , when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt . * And Lot went up from Zoar , and dwelt in the mountain , and his two daughters with him ; for he feared to dwell in Zoar . And he dwelt in a cave , he and his two daughters . * And the first-born said to the younger , Our father is old , and there is not a man in the land to come in to us after the manner of all the earth : * come , let us give our father wine to drink , and let us lie with him , that we may preserve seed alive of our father . * And they gave their father wine to drink that night . And the first-born went in , and lay with her father , and he did not know of her lying down , nor of her rising . * And it came to pass on the next day that the first-born said to the younger , Lo , I lay last night with my father : let us give him wine to drink to-night also , and go thou in , lie with him , that we may preserve seed alive of our father . * And they gave their father wine to drink that night also . And the younger arose , and lay with him ; and he did not know of her lying down , nor of her rising . * And both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father . * And the first-born bore a son , and called his name Moab : the same is the father of the Moabites to this day . * And the younger , she also bore a son , and called his name Ben-ammi ; the same is the father of the children of Ammon to this day . * And Abraham departed thence towards the south country , and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur , and sojourned at Gerar .

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