Bereshis 19
19
1And there came two malachim to Sodom at erev; and Lot sat in the sha'ar Sodom; and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;
2And he said, Hinei, adonai (my masters), turn in, now, into the bais avdechem, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Lo; but we will abide the night in the rekhov.
3And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his bais; and he made them a mishteh (meal, feast), and did bake matzot, and they did eat.
4But before they lay down, the men of the Ir, even the anshei Sodom, surrounded the bais, from na'ar to zeken, all the people from every quarter [of the city];
5And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the anashim which came in to thee halailah (this night)? Bring them out unto us, that we may know them [carnally].
6And Lot went outside unto them, and shut the delet after him,
7And said, Now, achai (my brethren), do not so wickedly.
8Hinei now, I have two banot which have not known man; now let me bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes; only unto these anashim do nothing; for therefore came they under the tzel (shadow) of my korah (beam, roof).
9And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn as a ger (alien), and he will now play the shofet; now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed strongly upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break down the delet.
10But the anashim put forth their yad, and pulled Lot into the bais to them, and shut the delet.
11And they struck the men that were at the petach of the bais with blindness, both katan and gadol; so that they wearied themselves to find the petach.
12And the anashim said unto Lot, Hast thou here any one else? Choson (Son-in-law), and thy banim, and thy banot, and whatsoever thou hast in the Ir, bring them out of this makom (place);
13For we are the mashchitim (ones destroying) this makom (place), because the cry of them is so gedolah before the face of Hashem; and Hashem hath sent us to destroy it.
14And Lot went out, and spoke unto his chosonim, which were pledged to marry his banot, and said, Up, get you out of makom hazeh; for Hashem is mashchit (destroying) the Ir (City). But he seemed as one that metzachek (joked) unto his chosonim.
15And when the shachar came, then the malachim urged Lot, saying, Arise, take thy isha, and thy two banot, which are here or thou be swept away in the avon haIr.
16And while he lingered hesitating, the anashim laid hold upon his yad, and upon the yad of his isha, and upon the yad of his two banot; Hashem being merciful unto him; and they brought him out and set him outside the Ir.
17And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that he said, Flee and escape for thy nefesh; look not back behind thee, neither stop thou anywhere in all the plain; flee and escape to the mountain, lest thou be swept away.
18And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, Adonoi (My L-rd):
19Hinei now, thy eved hath found chen in Thy sight, and Thou hast magnified Thy chesed, which Thou hast showed unto me in sparing my nefesh; and I cannot flee to escape to the mountain, lest some ra'ah overtake me, and I die;
20Hinei now, this Ir is near to run unto, and it is a little one; Oh, let me flee to escape there, (is it not mitzar [small]?), and my nefesh shall live.
21And He said unto him, Hinei, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the Ir, for the which thou hast spoken.
22Haste thee, flee to escape there; for I cannot do anything till thou arrive there. Therefore the shem of the Ir was called Tzoar.#19:22 sounds like mitzar
23The shemesh rose over ha'aretz when Lot entered Tzoar.
24Then Hashem rained upon Sodom and upon Amora gofrit and eish from Hashem out of Shomayim;
25And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and tzemach (what grew) upon haadamah.
26But his isha, from behind him, looked back, and she became a netziv melach (pillar of salt).
27And Avraham got up early in the boker to the makom where he stood there before Hashem;
28And he looked down toward Sodom and Amora, and toward all the eretz of the plain, and hinei, he saw kitor (smoke, steam) of the eretz go up like kitor of a furnace.
29And it came to pass, when Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, that zikron Avraham came to Elohim, and He sent Lot out of the midst of the hafekhah (upheaval, destruction, overthrow), when He overthrew the cities in the which Lot dwelt.
30And Lot left Tzoar, and dwelt in the har, and his two banot with him; for he feared to dwell in Tzoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two banot.
31And the bechirah said unto the younger, Avinu is old, and there is not an ish in ha'aretz to come in unto us after the derech of kol ha'aretz:
32Come, let us make avinu drink yayin, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve zera by avinu.
33And they made their av drink yayin balailah: and the bechirah went in, and lay with her av; and he had da'as not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
34And it came to pass on the next day, that the bechirah said unto the younger, Hinei, I lay yesternight with avi. Let us make him drink yayin halailah also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve zera by avinu.
35And they made their av drink yayin balailah also; and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he had da'as not when she lay down, nor when she arose.
36Thus were both the banot of Lot with child by their av.
37And the bechirah bore ben, and called shmo Moav; the same is the Avi Moav unto this day.
38And the younger, she also bore ben, and called shmo Ben-Ammi; the same is the Avi Bnei Ammon unto this day.
THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 19
19
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
1That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. 2“My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”
3But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. 4But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. 5They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”
6So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7“Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. 8Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”
9“Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
10But the two angels#19:10 Hebrew men; also in 19:12, 16. reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. 11Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
12Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”
14So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.
15At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”
16When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. 17When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19“You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. 20See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”
21“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
23Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. 24Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. 26But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
27Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence. 28He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.
29But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.
Lot and His Daughters
30Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. 31One day the older daughter said to her sister, “There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. 32Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.”
33So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
34The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, “I had sex with our father last night. Let’s get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” 35So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
36As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father. 37When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab.#19:37 Moab sounds like a Hebrew term that means “from father.” He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites. 38When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi.#19:38 Ben-ammi means “son of my kinsman.” He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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