²³ Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?^{(A) 24} What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[a] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?^{(B) 25} Far be it from you to do such a thing^(C)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous^(D) and the wicked alike.^(E) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge^(F) of all the earth do right?”^(G)

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

²⁷ Then 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,^{(I) 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.”

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

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