^30 (A)So I sought for a man among them who would ^(B)make a wall, and ^(C)stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.

The Justice of God’s Judgment

⁵ You ^(A)have not gone up into the ^[a]gaps to build a wall for the house of Israel to stand in battle on the day of the Lord.

¹⁰ Now therefore, ^(A)let Me alone, that ^(B)My wrath may burn hot against them and I may ^[a]consume them. And ^(C)I will make of you a great nation.”

^11 (D)Then Moses pleaded with ^[b]the Lord his God, and said: “Lord, why does Your wrath burn hot against Your people whom You have brought out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? ^12 (E)Why should the Egyptians speak, and say, ‘He brought them out to harm them, to kill them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from Your fierce wrath, and ^(F)relent from this harm to Your people. ¹³ Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, Your servants, to whom You ^(G)swore by Your own self, and said to them, ^(H)‘I will multiply your descendants as the stars of heaven; and all this land that I have spoken of I give to your descendants, and they shall inherit it forever.’ ” ¹⁴ So the Lord ^(I)relented from the harm which He said He would do to His people.

²³ And Abraham ^(A)came near and said, ^(B)“Would You also ^(C)destroy the ^(D)righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose 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? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so ^(E)that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^(F)Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, ^(G)“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”

²⁷ Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am ^(H)but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: ²⁸ Suppose 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.”

²⁹ And 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.”

³⁰ Then 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.”

³¹ And 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.”

³² Then he said, ^(I)“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”

^(J)And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.”

The Lord Will Not Relent

15 Then the Lord said to me, ^(A)“Even if ^(B)Moses and ^(C)Samuel stood before Me, My ^[a]mind would not be favorable toward this people. Cast them out of My sight, and let them go forth.