^13 (A)You were determined to climb up to heaven and to place your throne above the highest stars. You thought you would sit like a king on that mountain in the north where the gods assemble. ¹⁴ You said you would climb to the tops of the clouds and be like the Almighty. ¹⁵ But instead, you have been brought down to the deepest part of the world of the dead.

^23 (A)And as for you, Capernaum! Did you want to lift yourself up to heaven? You will be thrown down to hell! If the miracles which were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would still be in existence today!

^24 (A)Suddenly the Lord rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ²⁵ and destroyed them and the whole valley, along with all the people there and everything that grew on the land. ^26 (B)But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham hurried to the place where he had stood in the presence of the Lord. ²⁸ He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace.