Sodom’s Depravity

19 Now ^(A)the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and ^(B)Lot 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. ² And he said, “Here now, my lords, please ^(C)turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and ^(D)wash 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.”

³ But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. ^(F)Then he made them a feast, and baked ^(G)unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ Now 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. ^5 (H)And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ^(I)Bring them out to us that we ^(J)may know them carnally.”

⁶ So ^(K)Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! ^8 (L)See 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, ^(M)since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.”

⁹ And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one ^(N)came in to ^[a]stay here, ^(O)and 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. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ And they ^(P)struck 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^(Q)

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city—^(R)take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because the ^(S)outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and ^(T)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, ^(U)who had married his daughters, and said, ^(V)“Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” ^(W)But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, ^(X)“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ And while he lingered, the men ^(Y)took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the ^(Z)Lord being merciful to him, ^(AA)and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that ^[b]he said, ^(AB)“Escape for your life! ^(AC)Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape ^(AD)to the mountains, lest you be ^[c]destroyed.”

¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “Please, ^(AE)no, my lords! ¹⁹ Indeed 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. ²⁰ See 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.”

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

Therefore ^(AH)the name of the city was called ^[d]Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained ^(AI)brimstone and ^(AJ)fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the Lord out of the heavens. ²⁵ So He ^[e]overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and ^(AK)what grew on the ground.

²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became ^(AL)a pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where ^(AM)he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, ^(AN)the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God ^(AO)remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

The Descendants of Lot

³⁰ Then Lot went up out of Zoar and ^(AP)dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave. ³¹ Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth ^(AQ)to come in to us as is the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we ^(AR)may preserve the ^[f]lineage of our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁴ It happened on the next day that the firstborn said to the younger, “Indeed I lay with my father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve the ^[g]lineage of our father.” ³⁵ Then they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; ^(AS)he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi; ^(AT)he is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.

Abraham and Abimelech

20 And Abraham journeyed from ^(AU)there to the South, and dwelt between ^(AV)Kadesh and Shur, and ^(AW)stayed in Gerar. ² Now Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^(AX)“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and ^(AY)took Sarah.

³ But ^(AZ)God came to Abimelech ^(BA)in a dream by night, and said to him, ^(BB)“Indeed you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[h]a man’s wife.”

⁴ But Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(BC)will You slay a righteous nation also? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she, even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ ^(BD)In the ^[i]integrity of my heart and innocence of my hands I have done this.”

⁶ And God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know that you did this in the integrity of your heart. For ^(BE)I also withheld you from sinning ^(BF)against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife; ^(BG)for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you shall live. But if you do not restore her, ^(BH)know that you shall surely die, you ^(BI)and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ And Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I ^[j]offended you, ^(BJ)that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me ^(BK)that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Then Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you have in view, that you have done this thing?”

¹¹ And Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely ^(BL)the fear of God is not in this place; and ^(BM)they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed ^(BN)she is truly my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ And it came to pass, when ^(BO)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is your kindness that you should do for me: in every place, wherever we go, ^(BP)say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

¹⁴ Then Abimelech ^(BQ)took sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ And Abimelech said, “See, ^(BR)my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver; ^(BS)indeed this ^[k]vindicates you ^(BT)before all who are with you and before everybody.” Thus she was ^[l]rebuked.

¹⁷ So Abraham ^(BU)prayed to God; and God ^(BV)healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord ^(BW)had closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.