Genesis 18
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 18
God Becomes a Guest.[a] 1 The Lord appeared to Abraham at the Oak of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. 2 He looked up and saw three men standing nearby. As soon as he saw them, he ran to meet them from the entrance of his tent and bowed down to the ground, 3 saying, “My lord, if I have found favor with you, please do not pass on without stopping to visit your servant. 4 Let some water be brought so that you may wash your feet. Make yourselves comfortable under this tree. 5 Let me go and prepare a bit of food that you may refresh yourselves. Afterward, you can go on your way. It is for this that you have come to visit your servant.”
They answered, “Do as you have said.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick, take three seahs[b] of fine flour, knead it, and make it into rolls.”
7 He ran to the herd, took a choice calf, and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it. 8 He then took curds[c] and milk, as well as the veal that had been prepared, and he placed them before his guests. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9 They then said, “Where is Sarah, your wife?” He answered, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord[d] said, “I will return this way a year from now, and by that time Sarah, your wife, will have a son.” Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, just behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. Sarah no longer had her monthly periods. 12 Sarah therefore laughed to herself and said, “After I am withered and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13 But the Lord said to Abraham, “Why is Sarah laughing and saying, ‘Can I really give birth now that I am so old?’ 14 Is anything impossible to the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time, one year from now, and Sarah will have a son.” 15 Sarah denied laughing, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
16 The “Friend” of God.[e] The men rose up and went along to look down upon Sodom from on high while Abraham accompanied them to show them the way. 17 The Lord said, “Should I keep hidden from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 for Abraham shall become a great and powerful nation and all of the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him? 19 I chose him so that he would instruct his sons and his family after him to observe the ways of the Lord and to act with justice and righteousness so that the Lord might fulfill what he has promised to Abraham.”
20 Therefore, the Lord said, “The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah is too great and their sin is very grave. 21 I am going to descend to see if they have really done all the evil that has cried out to me. I want to know this!”
22 While the two men departed and journeyed toward Sodom, Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached him and said to him, “Is it true that you will destroy the just along with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really destroy it? Will you not spare it for the sake of the fifty righteous people that you found there? 25 Far be it from you to make the righteous die along with the wicked, so that the righteous would have the same fate as the wicked. Far be it from you! Is it possible that the judge of the whole earth does not practice justice?” 26 The Lord answered, “If I find fifty righteous people living in the city of Sodom, for their sake I will spare the city.”
27 Abraham spoke again, “Look how I dare to speak with my Lord, I who am dust and ashes. 28 What if there are five fewer than fifty righteous people, will you destroy the entire city because of those five?”
He answered, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 Abraham spoke again and said, “What if you find forty there?” He answered, “I will not do it, for the sake of those forty.” 30 And again he said, “Let my Lord not grow impatient with me if I continue to speak; what if thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31 Once again he said, “Look how I dare to talk to my Lord! What if you find twenty there?” He said, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of those twenty.”
32 Yet again he said, “My Lord, do not grow impatient if I speak still another time; what if ten are found there?” He answered, “I will not destroy it, for the sake of the ten.” 33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.
Footnotes
- Genesis 18:1 Chapters 18–19 are from the Yahwist tradition and might be entitled “The meaning of the covenant.” Three individuals appear before Abraham; he receives them with an act of homage. “He saw three but worshiped the One,” said the Fathers of the Church, who saw here a prefiguration of the Trinity.
- Genesis 18:6 Three seahs: a dry measure that equaled about one ephah.
- Genesis 18:8 Curds: a kind of soft cheese.
- Genesis 18:10 The Lord: literally, “he.”
- Genesis 18:16 For the first time in the Bible God’s justice is questioned; trusting in the Lord, Abraham begins to try to bend it. The sacred writer, like his contemporaries, is convinced that members of one and the same group have a joint responsibility as well as the same destiny, but he thinks that ten righteous persons can save an entire city. The prophets Jeremiah (Jer 5:1) and Ezekiel (Ezek 22:30) will claim that a single righteous person is enough. Abraham, however, does not feel able to push his request any further; perhaps there were no truly righteous persons in the city.
Genesis 18
King James Version
18 And the Lord appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;
2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4 Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
13 And the Lord said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
14 Is any thing too hard for the Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
15 Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
16 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment; that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
20 And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the Lord.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
33 And the Lord went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
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