Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

¹⁶ Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them ^(A)to send them on the way. ¹⁷ And the Lord said, ^(B)“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, ¹⁸ since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be ^(C)blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have known him, in order ^(D)that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “Because ^(E)the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their ^(F)sin is very grave, ^21 (G)I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, ^(H)I will know.”

²² Then the men turned away from there ^(I)and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ And Abraham ^(J)came near and said, ^(K)“Would You also ^(L)destroy the ^(M)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 ^(N)that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^(O)Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”

²⁶ So the Lord said, ^(P)“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 ^(Q)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.”

^14 (A)“Now therefore, fear the Lord, serve Him in ^(B)sincerity and in truth, and ^(C)put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of ^[a]the River and ^(D)in Egypt. Serve the Lord! ¹⁵ And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, ^(E)choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether ^(F)the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of ^[b]the River, or ^(G)the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. ^(H)But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

⁴ And ^(A)you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but ^(B)bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.