Genesis 18
18
1Againe the Lord appeared vnto him in the plaine of Mamre, as he sate in his tent doore about the heate of the day. 2And he lift vp his eyes, and looked: and lo, three men stoode by him, and when he sawe them, he ranne to meete them from the tent doore, and bowed himselfe to the grounde. 3And he said, Lord, if I haue now founde fauour in thy sight, goe not, I pray thee, from thy seruant. 4Let a litle water, I pray you, be brought, and wash your feete, and rest your selues vnder the tree. 5And I will bring a morsell of bread, that you may comfort your hearts, afterward ye shall go your wayes: for therefore are ye come to your seruant. And they said, Do euen as thou hast said. 6Then Abraham made haste into the tent vnto Sarah, and saide, Make ready at once three measures of fine meale: kneade it, and make cakes vpon the hearth. 7And Abraham ranne to the beastes, and tooke a tender and good calfe, and gaue it to the seruant, who hasted to make it ready. 8And he tooke butter and milke, and the calfe, which he had prepared, and set before them, and stoode himselfe by them vnder the tree, and they did eate. 9Then they saide to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he answered, Beholde, she is in the tent. 10And he saide, I will certainely come againe vnto thee according to ye time of life: and loe, Sarah thy wife shall haue a sonne. and Sarah heard in the tent doore, which was behinde him. 11(Nowe Abraham and Sarah were old and striken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after the maner of women) 12Therefore Sarah laughed within her selfe, saying, After I am waxed olde, and my lord also, shall I haue lust? 13And ye Lord saide vnto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah thus laugh, saying, Shall I certainely beare a childe, which am olde? 14(Shall any thing be hard to the Lord? at the time appointed will I returne vnto thee, euen according to the time of life, and Sarah shall haue a sonne.) 15But Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not: for she was afraide. And he said, It is not so: for thou laughedst. 16Afterwarde the men did rise vp from thence and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way. 17And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I doe, 18Seeing that Abraham shalbe in deede a great and a mightie nation, and all the nations of the earth shalbe blessed in him? 19For I knowe him that he will commande his sonnes and his houshold after him, that they keepe the way of the Lord, to doe righteousnesse and iudgement, that the Lord may bring vpon Abraham that he hath spoken vnto him. 20Then the Lord saide, Because the crie of Sodom and Gomorah is great, and because their sinne is exceeding grieuous, 21I will goe downe nowe, and see whether they haue done altogether according to that crie which is come vnto me: and if not, that I may knowe. 22And the men turned thence and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stoode yet before the Lord. 23Then Abraham drewe neere, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? 24If there be fiftie righteous within the citie, wilt thou destroy and not spare the place for the fiftie righteous that are therein? 25Be it farre from thee from doing this thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be euen as the wicked, be it farre from thee. shall not the Iudge of all the worlde doe right? 26And the Lord answered, If I shall finde in Sodom fiftie righteous within the citie, then will I spare all the place for their sakes. 27Then Abraham answered and said, Behold nowe, I haue begun to speake vnto my Lord, and I am but dust and ashes. 28If there shall lacke fiue of fiftie righteous, wilt thou destroy all the citie for fiue? And he saide, If I finde there fiue and fourtie, I will not destroy it. 29And he yet spake to him againe, and saide, What if there shalbe found fourtie there? Then he answered, I will not doe it for fourties sake. 30Againe he said, Let not my Lord nowe be angry, that I speake, What if thirtie be founde there? Then he saide, I will not doe it, if I finde thirtie there. 31Moreouer he said, Behold, now I haue begonne to speake vnto my Lord, What if twentie be founde there? And he answered, I will not destroy it for twenties sake. 32Then he saide, Let not my Lord be nowe angrie, and I will speake but this once, What if tenne be found there? And he answered, I will not destroy it for tennes sake. 33And the Lord went his way when he had left communing with Abraham, and Abraham returned vnto his place.
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Genesis 18
18
The Three Visitors
1Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. At that time Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. It was during the hottest part of the day. 2He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When Abraham saw them, he ran from his tent to meet them. He bowed facedown on the ground before them. 3Abraham said, “Sir, if you think well of me, please stay awhile with me, your servant. 4I will bring some water so all of you can wash your feet. You may rest under the tree. 5I will get some bread for you, so you can regain your strength. Then you may continue your journey.”
The three men said, “That is fine. Do as you said.”
6Abraham hurried to the tent where Sarah was. He said to her, “Hurry, prepare 20 quarts of fine flour. Make it into loaves of bread.” 7Then Abraham ran to his cattle. He took one of his best calves and gave it to a servant. The servant hurried to kill the calf and to prepare it for food. 8Abraham gave the three men the calf that had been cooked. He also gave them milk curds and milk. While the three men ate, he stood under the tree near them.
9The men asked Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
“There, in the tent,” said Abraham.
10Then the Lord said, “I will certainly return to you about this time a year from now. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent which was behind him. 11Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the age when women normally have children. 12So she laughed to herself, “My husband and I are too old to have a baby.”
13Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘I am too old to have a baby’? 14Is anything too hard for the Lord? No! I will return to you at the right time a year from now. And Sarah will have a son.”
15Sarah was afraid. So she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”
But the Lord said, “No. You did laugh.”
16Then the men got up to leave and started out toward Sodom. Abraham walked along with them a short time to send them on their way.
Abraham’s Bargain with God
17The Lord said, “Should I tell Abraham what I am going to do now? 18Abraham’s children will certainly become a great and powerful nation. And all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 19I have chosen him so he would command his children and his descendants to live the way the Lord wants them to. I did this so they would live right and be fair. Then I, the Lord, will give Abraham what I promised him.”
20Then the Lord said, “I have heard many things against the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. They are very evil. 21So I will go down and see if they are as bad as I have heard.”
22So the men turned and went toward Sodom. But Abraham stood there before the Lord. 23Then Abraham approached the Lord. Abraham asked, “Lord, do you plan to destroy the good persons along with the evil persons? 24What if there are 50 good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the 50 good people living there. 25Surely you will not destroy the good people along with the evil people. Then the good people and the evil people would be treated the same. You are the judge of all the earth. Won’t you do what is right?”
26Then the Lord said, “If I find 50 good people in the city of Sodom, I will save the whole city because of them.”
27Then Abraham said, “I am only dust and ashes. Yet I have been brave to speak to the Lord. 28What if there are only 45 good people in the city? Will you destroy the whole city for the lack of 5 good people?”
The Lord said, “If I find 45 good people there, I will not destroy the city.”
29Again Abraham said to the Lord, “If you find only 40 good people there, will you destroy the city?”
The Lord said, “If I find 40 good people, I will not destroy the city.”
30Then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me. Let me ask you this. If you find only 30 good people in the city, will you destroy it?”
The Lord said, “If I find 30 good people there, I will not destroy the city.”
31Then Abraham said, “I have been brave to speak to the Lord. But what if there are 20 good people in the city?”
The Lord answered, “If I find 20 good people there, I will not destroy the city.”
32Then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me. Let me bother you this one last time. What if you find 10 good people there?”
The Lord said, “If I find 10 good people there, I will not destroy it.”
33When the Lord finished speaking to Abraham, he left. And Abraham returned home.
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