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Genesis 18-19
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Genesis 18-19
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Abraham’s Three Visitors
18 Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre(A) while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him.(B) When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3 Then he said, “My lord,[a] if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves.[b] This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”
“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures[c] of fine flour and make bread.”[d] 7 Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8 Then Abraham took curds[e] and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served[f] them as they ate under the tree.
Sarah Laughs
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he answered.
10 The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!”(C) Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.
11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years.[g] Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.[h](D) 12 So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?”(E)
13 But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord?(F) At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”
15 Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.
But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”
Abraham’s Plea for Sodom
16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. 17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?(G) 18 Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.(H) 19 For I have chosen[i] him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. 21 I will go down(I) to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out.”
22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom(J) while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[j] 23 Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?(K) 24 What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? 25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just?”(L)
26 The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”(M)
27 Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord—even though I am dust and ashes— 28 suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”
29 Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.”
30 Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”
31 Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?”
He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.”
32 Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time.(N) Suppose 10 are found there?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels entered Sodom(O) in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground 2 and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”
“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.” 3 But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.
4 Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!”(P)
6 Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers. 8 Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man.(Q) I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want[k] to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 “Get out of the way!” they said, adding, “This one came here as a foreigner, but he’s acting like a judge!(R) Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door. 10 But the angels[l] reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the entrance.(S)
12 Then the angels[m] said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13 for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”(T)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry[n] his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!”(U) But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment[o] of the city.” 16 But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.
17 As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them[p] said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords[q]—please. 19 Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20 Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there—it’s only a small place, isn’t it?—so that I can survive.”
21 And he said to him, “All right,[r] I’ll grant your request[s] about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned. 22 Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.[t](V)
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then out of the sky the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord.(W) 25 He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26 But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.(X)
27 Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.(Y) 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. 29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.
The Origin of Moab and Ammon
30 Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. 32 Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.” 33 So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” 35 That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab.[u] He is the father of the Moabites of today.(Z) 38 The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi.[v] He is the father of the Ammonites of today.(AA)
Footnotes
- Genesis 18:3 Or My Lord, or The Lord
- Genesis 18:5 Lit may sustain your heart
- Genesis 18:6 Lit three seahs; about 21 quarts
- Genesis 18:6 A round, thin, unleavened bread
- Genesis 18:8 Or butter
- Genesis 18:8 Lit was standing by
- Genesis 18:11 Lit days
- Genesis 18:11 Lit The way of women had ceased for Sarah
- Genesis 18:19 Lit known
- Genesis 18:22 Ancient Jewish tradition reads while the Lord remained standing before Abraham
- Genesis 19:8 Lit do what is good in your eyes
- Genesis 19:10 Lit men
- Genesis 19:12 Lit men
- Genesis 19:14 Lit take
- Genesis 19:15 Or iniquity, or guilt
- Genesis 19:17 LXX, Syr, Vg read outside, they
- Genesis 19:18 Or My Lord, or My lords
- Genesis 19:21 Or Look!
- Genesis 19:21 Lit I will lift up your face
- Genesis 19:22 In Hb, the name Zoar is related to the phrase “small place” in v. 20; its original name was Bela; Gn 14:2.
- Genesis 19:37 = From My Father
- Genesis 19:38 = Son of My People
Genesis 18-19
New International Version
Genesis 18-19
New International Version
The Three Visitors
18 The Lord appeared to Abraham(A) near the great trees of Mamre(B) while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent(C) in the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up(D) and saw three men(E) standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.(F)
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes,(G) my lord,[a] do not pass your servant(H) by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet(I) and rest under this tree. 5 Let me get you something to eat,(J) so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.”
“Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[b] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”(K)
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf(L) and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8 He then brought some curds(M) and milk(N) and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them.(O) While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?”(P) they asked him.
“There, in the tent,(Q)” he said.
10 Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year,(R) and Sarah your wife will have a son.”(S)
Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old,(T) and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.(U) 12 So Sarah laughed(V) to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord(W) is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’(X) 14 Is anything too hard for the Lord?(Y) I will return to you at the appointed time next year,(Z) and Sarah will have a son.”(AA)
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men(AB) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham(AC) what I am about to do?(AD) 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,(AE) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[c] 19 For I have chosen him(AF), so that he will direct his children(AG) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord(AH) by doing what is right and just,(AI) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”(AJ)
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom(AK) and Gomorrah is so great(AL) and their sin so grievous(AM) 21 that I will go down(AN) and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men(AO) turned away and went toward Sodom,(AP) but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[d](AQ) 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?(AR) 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?(AS) 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing(AT)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous(AU) and the wicked alike.(AV) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge(AW) of all the earth do right?”(AX)
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.(AY)”
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,(AZ) 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.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,(BA) but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham 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.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.(BB) What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten,(BC) I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking(BD) with Abraham, he left,(BE) and Abraham returned home.(BF)
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels(BG) arrived at Sodom(BH) in the evening, and Lot(BI) was sitting in the gateway of the city.(BJ) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.(BK) 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet(BL) and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”(BM)
3 But he insisted(BN) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.(BO) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,(BP) and they ate.(BQ) 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom(BR)—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”(BS)
6 Lot went outside to meet them(BT) and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”(BU)
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,(BV) and now he wants to play the judge!(BW) We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men(BX) inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness(BY) so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?(BZ) Get them out of here, 13 because we(CA) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great(CB) that he has sent us to destroy it.”(CC)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[f] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!(CD)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.(CE)
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away(CF) when the city is punished.(CG)”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters(CH) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.(CI) 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!(CJ) Don’t look back,(CK) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!(CL) Flee to the mountains(CM) or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[g] please! 19 Your[h] servant has found favor in your[i] eyes,(CN) and you[j] have shown great kindness(CO) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;(CP) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request(CQ) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[k](CR))
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar,(CS) the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur(CT) on Sodom and Gomorrah(CU)—from the Lord out of the heavens.(CV) 25 Thus he overthrew those cities(CW) and the entire plain,(CX) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.(CY) 26 But Lot’s wife looked back,(CZ) and she became a pillar of salt.(DA)
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.(DB) 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.(DC)
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,(DD) he remembered(DE) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe(DF) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.(DG)
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar(DH) and settled in the mountains,(DI) for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line(DJ) through our father.”(DK)
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(DL)
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”(DM) 35 So they got their father to drink wine(DN) that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(DO)
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.(DP) 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab[l];(DQ) he is the father of the Moabites(DR) of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi[m]; he is the father of the Ammonites[n](DS) of today.
Footnotes
- Genesis 18:3 Or eyes, Lord
- Genesis 18:6 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- Genesis 18:18 Or will use his name in blessings (see 48:20)
- Genesis 18:22 Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the Lord remained standing before Abraham
- Genesis 18:24 Or forgive; also in verse 26
- Genesis 19:14 Or were married to
- Genesis 19:18 Or No, Lord; or No, my lord
- Genesis 19:19 The Hebrew is singular.
- Genesis 19:19 The Hebrew is singular.
- Genesis 19:19 The Hebrew is singular.
- Genesis 19:22 Zoar means small.
- Genesis 19:37 Moab sounds like the Hebrew for from father.
- Genesis 19:38 Ben-Ammi means son of my father’s people.
- Genesis 19:38 Hebrew Bene-Ammon
Isaiah 3:9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Isaiah 3:9
Holman Christian Standard Bible
9 The look on their faces testifies against them,
and like Sodom,(A) they flaunt their sin.
They do not conceal it.
Woe to them,
for they have brought evil on themselves.(B)
Isaiah 3:9
New International Version
Isaiah 3:9
New International Version
Jeremiah 23:14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
Jeremiah 23:14
Holman Christian Standard Bible
14 Among the prophets of Jerusalem also
I saw a horrible thing:
They commit adultery and walk in lies.
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,
and none turns his back on evil.
They are all like Sodom(A) to Me;
Jerusalem’s residents are like Gomorrah.
Jeremiah 23:14
New International Version
Jeremiah 23:14
New International Version
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
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