Font Size
Genesis 19
Common English Bible
Genesis 19
Common English Bible
Lot leaves Sodom
19 The two messengers entered Sodom in the evening. Lot, who was sitting at the gate of Sodom, saw them, got up to greet them, and bowed low. 2 He said, “Come to your servant’s house, spend the night, and wash your feet. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”
But they said, “No, we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 He pleaded earnestly with them, so they went with him and entered his house. He made a big meal for them, even baking unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom—everyone from the youngest to the oldest—surrounded the house 5 and called to Lot, “Where are the men who arrived tonight? Bring them out to us so that we may have sex with them.”
6 Lot went out toward the entrance, closed the door behind him, 7 and said, “My brothers, don’t do such an evil thing. 8 I’ve got two daughters who are virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish. But don’t do anything to these men because they are now under the protection of my roof.”
9 They said, “Get out of the way!” And they continued, “Does this immigrant want to judge us? Now we will hurt you more than we will hurt them.” They pushed Lot back and came close to breaking down the door. 10 The men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house with them and slammed the door. 11 Then the messengers blinded the men near the entrance of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, so that they groped around trying to find the entrance.
12 The men said to Lot, “Who’s still with you here? Take away from this place your sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and everyone else you have in the city 13 because we are about to destroy this place. The Lord has found the cries of injustice so serious that the Lord sent us to destroy it.”
14 Lot went to speak to his sons-in-law, married to his daughters, and said, “Get up and get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 When dawn broke, the messengers urged Lot, “Get up and take your wife and your two daughters who are here so that you are not swept away because of the evil in this city.” 16 He hesitated, but because the Lord intended to save him, the men grabbed him, his wife, and two daughters by the hand, took him out, and left him outside the city.
17 After getting them out, the men said, “Save your lives! Don’t look back! And don’t stay in the valley. Escape to the mountains so that you are not swept away.”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords, please. 19 You’ve done me a favor and have been so kind to save my life. But I can’t escape to the mountains since the catastrophe might overtake me there and I’d die. 20 This city here is close enough to flee to, and it’s small. It’s small, right? Let me escape there, and my life will be saved.”
21 He said to Lot, “I’ll do this for you as well; I won’t overthrow the city that you have described. 22 Hurry! Escape to it! I can’t do anything until you get there.” That is why the name of the city is Zoar.[a]
Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed
23 As the sun rose over the earth, Lot arrived in Zoar; 24 and the Lord rained down burning asphalt from the skies onto Sodom and Gomorrah. 25 The Lord destroyed these cities, the entire valley, everyone who lived in the cities, and all of the fertile land’s vegetation. 26 When Lot’s wife looked back, she turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham set out early for the place where he had stood with the Lord, 28 and looked out over Sodom and Gomorrah and over all the land of the valley. He saw the smoke from the land rise like the smoke from a kiln.
Origin of Moab and Ammon
29 When God destroyed the cities in the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot away from the disaster that overtook the cities in which Lot had lived. 30 Since Lot had become fearful of living in Zoar, he and his two daughters headed up from Zoar and settled in the mountains where he and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 The older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there are no men in the land to sleep with us as is the custom everywhere. 32 Come on, let’s give our father wine to drink, lie down with him, and we’ll have children from our father.” 33 That night they served their father wine, and the older daughter went in and lay down with her father, without him noticing when she lay down or got up. 34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Since I lay down with our father last night, let’s serve him wine tonight too, and you go in and lie down with him so that we will both have children from our father.” 35 They served their father wine that night also, and the younger daughter lay down with him, without him knowing when she lay down or got up. 36 Both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of today’s Moabites. 38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi.[b] He is the ancestor of today’s Ammonites.
Footnotes
- Genesis 19:22 Or small
- Genesis 19:38 Or son of my people
Genesis 19
EasyEnglish Bible
Genesis 19
EasyEnglish Bible
Lot leaves Sodom
19 The two angels arrived at Sodom. It was evening and Lot was sitting near the city gate. When Lot saw the angels, he got up to meet them. He turned his face towards the ground to respect them. 2 Lot said, ‘My lords, please come to stay in my house. You can wash your feet and stay the night there. Then you can continue your journey early in the morning.’ The angels replied, ‘No, we will stay the night here in this public place.’ 3 But Lot continued to ask them to stay with him. So the angels went with Lot to his house. Lot prepared a big meal for them, with some bread that he had baked without yeast. The angels ate the food.
4 After that, they were preparing to go to bed. Then all the men who lived in Sodom came to Lot's house. They were old men and young men, who came from every part of the city. They stood all round the house. 5 The men shouted to Lot, ‘Where are the men who are staying with you tonight? Bring them out here to us. We want to have sex with them.’
6 Lot went outside to talk to the men. He shut the door of his house behind him. 7 He said, ‘No, my friends. Please do not do this evil thing. 8 See here! I have two daughters. They have never had sex with a man. Let me bring them out to you. Then you can do whatever you want with them. But do not do anything to these men. They are my visitors and I cannot let anyone hurt them.’
9 The men from the city said, ‘Do not try to stop us! You are a stranger here in this city. You cannot tell us what to do! Be careful or we will do even worse things to you.’ They pushed against Lot and tried to reach the door of his house. They wanted to break the door and go in to the house. 10 The two visitors who were inside the house opened the door. They pulled Lot back into his house and they shut the door quickly. 11 Then they caused all the men outside to become blind. The young men of the city and the old men all became blind. As a result, they could not find the door of the house, even though they tried for some time.
12 The two visitors asked Lot, ‘Do you have any of your family here in the city? Do you have any sons or daughters, or husbands for your daughters? If you have any family, you must take them away from here. 13 We will soon destroy this city. Everybody knows how bad the people who live here are. As a result, the Lord has sent us to destroy this place.’
14 So Lot went out of his house. He spoke to the men who would marry his daughters. He said to them, ‘Hurry! Leave this city now, because the Lord has decided to destroy it.’ But the men did not believe Lot. They thought he was not being serious.
15 At dawn, the two angels told Lot he must leave quickly. They said to him, ‘Hurry! Take your wife and take your two daughters who are here. If you do not go quickly, you will all die when the Lord destroys the city.’ 16 But Lot did not move.[a] So the angels took hold of Lot's hand, as well as the hands of his wife and his two daughters. The Lord was very kind to Lot and his family and the angels led them away from the city.
17 When they had reached a place outside the city, one of the angels said, ‘Now run! Your lives are in danger. Do not look behind you! Do not stop anywhere in this valley. Run up into the mountains or you will die.’ 18 But Lot said, ‘No! Please, my lords, I cannot do that! 19 I am your humble servant and you have been very kind to me. You have saved my life. But I cannot run away into the mountains. If I try to do that, this punishment will catch me before I reach there. Then I will surely die. 20 Look! See that town over there. It is near and I can run to it safely. And it is a small town. So please let me run there. You can see that it is only a small place. If I go there, I will stay alive.’
21 The angel said to Lot, ‘OK, I will let you do what you have asked. I will not destroy that town. 22 But run there quickly. I cannot do anything until you arrive in the town.’ (The name of the town became ‘Zoar’, because it was small.)
23 Lot reached Zoar at the time when the sun was rising that morning.
24 Then the Lord poured sulphur that was on fire down on Sodom and Gomorrah. It fell from the sky like rain.[b] 25 In that way God destroyed those cities and everything in the valley. He killed all the people who lived in those cities. And he killed all the plants that grew on the land.
26 But as they ran away, Lot's wife looked back at the city. When she did that, she became a large piece of salt, like a pillar.[c]
27 Early in the morning, Abraham returned to the place where he had spoken with the Lord. 28 He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley. He saw thick dark smoke that was rising from the land. It was the smoke from a big fire.
29 When God destroyed the cities of the valley, he saved Lot from that punishment. God remembered what Abraham had asked him. He took Lot away from the cities where he had lived. Then God destroyed those cities.
Lot and his daughters
30 Lot was afraid to live in Zoar. So he took his two daughters and they went up into the mountains. They lived together in a cave. 31 One day, the older daughter said to her sister, ‘Our father is now old. There are no men who live near here, so there is nobody to marry us. We cannot have sex like everyone on the earth wants to do. 32 So we should give our father much wine to drink. When he becomes drunk, we will have sex with him. Then our father's family will continue to have descendants.’
33 That night they caused their father to become drunk with wine. The older daughter had sex with him. Lot was very drunk. He did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him. 34 The next day the older daughter said to her younger sister, ‘Last night I had sex with my father. We should make him drunk with wine again tonight. Then you can have sex with him. As a result, our father's family will continue.’
35 So that night, they caused their father to become drunk again. The younger daughter had sex with her father. He did not know when she came to him. And he did not know when she left him.
36 In that way, Lot caused both of his daughters to become pregnant. 37 The older daughter gave birth to a son. She called him Moab. He became the ancestor of the Moabites. 38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son. She called him Ben-Ammi. He became the ancestor of the Ammonites.
Footnotes
- 19:16 Lot and his family did not want to leave Sodom. They would be leaving everything that they had.
- 19:24 God used hot sulphur to destroy the cities. Sulphur is yellow. It burns quickly with a lot of heat. But when it gets cold, it becomes like stone. Hot sulphur covered the cities and the people in them. It burnt them. It became like stone over everything in the city.
- 19:26 The angel had told Lot and his family not to look back. See Genesis 19:17. Lot's wife wanted to go back to the city because she liked living there.
Genesis 19
New International Version
Genesis 19
New International Version
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels(A) arrived at Sodom(B) in the evening, and Lot(C) was sitting in the gateway of the city.(D) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.(E) 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet(F) 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.”(G)
3 But he insisted(H) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.(I) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,(J) and they ate.(K) 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom(L)—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.”(M)
6 Lot went outside to meet them(N) 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.”(O)
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,(P) and now he wants to play the judge!(Q) 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(R) 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(S) 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?(T) Get them out of here, 13 because we(U) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great(V) that he has sent us to destroy it.”(W)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[a] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!(X)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.(Y)
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(Z) when the city is punished.(AA)”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters(AB) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.(AC) 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!(AD) Don’t look back,(AE) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!(AF) Flee to the mountains(AG) or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[b] please! 19 Your[c] servant has found favor in your[d] eyes,(AH) and you[e] have shown great kindness(AI) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;(AJ) 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(AK) 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.[f](AL))
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar,(AM) the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur(AN) on Sodom and Gomorrah(AO)—from the Lord out of the heavens.(AP) 25 Thus he overthrew those cities(AQ) and the entire plain,(AR) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.(AS) 26 But Lot’s wife looked back,(AT) and she became a pillar of salt.(AU)
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.(AV) 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.(AW)
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,(AX) he remembered(AY) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe(AZ) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.(BA)
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar(BB) and settled in the mountains,(BC) 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(BD) through our father.”(BE)
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.(BF)
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.”(BG) 35 So they got their father to drink wine(BH) 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.(BI)
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.(BJ) 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab[g];(BK) he is the father of the Moabites(BL) of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi[h]; he is the father of the Ammonites[i](BM) of today.
Footnotes
- 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
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New Testament for Everyone (NTFE) 
Scripture quotations from The New Testament for Everyone are copyright © Nicholas Thomas Wright 2011, 2018, 2019.
EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.