Genesis 19

CHAPTER 19

1And twain angels came to Sodom in the eventide, while Lot sat in the gates of the city. And when he had seen them, he rose, and went to meet them, and worshipped or honoured low to the earth,

2and said, My lords, I beseech, bow ye [down] into the house of your servant, and dwell ye there; wash ye your feet, and in the morrowtide ye shall go into your way. Which said, Nay, but we shall dwell in the street.

3He constrained them greatly, that they should turn in to him. And when they entered into his house, he made a feast, and baked therf bread, and they ate.

4Forsooth before that they went to sleep, men of the city compassed his house, from a child till to an eld [or old] man, all the people together;

5and they called Lot, and said to him, Where be the men that entered to thee tonight? bring them out hither, that we know them, that is, by lechery against kind.

6And Lot went out to them behind the back, and closed the door,

7and said, I beseech, do not ye, my brethren, do not ye do this evil.

8I have two daughters, that knew not yet a man; I shall lead out them to you, and mis-use ye them as it pleaseth you, so that ye do none evil to these men, for they entered under the shadow of my roof.

9And they said, Go thou from hence. And again they said, Thou enteredest [in] hither as a comeling; whether that thou shalt deem us? therefore we shall torment thee more than these. And they did violently to Lot full greatly. Then it was nigh that they would break the doors;

10and lo! the men put forth their hands, and led in Lot to them, and they closed the door.

11And they smote with blindness they that were withoutforth, from the least till to the most; so that they might not find the door.

12Forsooth they said to Lot, Hast thou here any man of thine, husband of thy daughter, or sons, or daughters; if so, lead thou out of this city all men that be thine,

13for we shall do away this place, for the cry of them increased before the Lord, which sent us that we lose them.

14And Lot went out, and spake to the husbands to be of his daughters, that should take his daughters, and said, Rise ye, and go ye out of this place; for the Lord shall do away this city. And he was seen to them to speak as playing.

15And when the morrowtide was, the angels constrained Lot, and said, Rise thou, and take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which thou hast, lest also thou perish altogether in the sin of the city.

16While he dissembled, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters; for the Lord spared him. And they led out him, and set [or put] him without the city.

17There they spake to him, and said, Save thou thy life; do not thou behold behind thy back, neither stand thou in all the country about, but make thee safe in the hills; lest also thou perish altogether.

18And Lot said to them, My Lord, I beseech,

19for thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy grace and mercy, which thou hast done to me, that thou shouldest save my life; I may not be saved in the hills, lest peradventure evil overtake me, and I die;

20a little city is here beside, to which I may flee, and I shall be safe therein; whether it is not such a little city? and my soul shall live therein.

21And he said to Lot, Lo! also in this I have received thy prayers, that I destroy not the city, for which thou hast spoken;

22haste thee, and be thou saved there, for I may not do anything till thou enter [in] thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Zoar.

23The sun rose on [the] earth, and Lot entered into Zoar.

24Therefore the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire, from the Lord of heaven,

25and destroyed these cities, and all the country about; he destroyed all the dwellers of those cities, and all green things of [the] earth.

26And Lot’s wife looked aback, and she was turned into an image of salt.

27Forsooth Abraham rising early, went to where he stood before with the Lord,

28beheld Sodom and Gomorrah, and all the land of that country; and he saw a dead spark going up from the earth, as the smoke of a furnace.

29For when God destroyed the cities of that country, he had mind of Abraham, and delivered Lot from [the] destroying of the cities in which he dwelled.

30And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelled in the hills, and his two daughters with him, for he dreaded to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelled in a den, he and his two daughters with him.

31And the more daughter said to the less, Our father is eld [or old], and no man is left on earth that may enter [in] to us, by the custom of all earth;

32come thou, make we him drunken of wine, and sleep we with him, that we may keep the seed of our father.

33And so they gave to their father to drink wine in that night, and the more, or the elder, daughter entered, and slept with her father; and he feeled not, neither when the daughter lay down, neither when she [a] rose.

34And the tother day the more daughter said to the less, or the younger, Lo! I slept yesterday with my father; give we to him to drink wine also in this night; and thou sleep with him, that we save the seed of our father.

35And they gave to their father also in that night to drink wine, and the less daughter entered, and slept with him; and soothly he feeled not then when she lay down, neither when she [a] rose.

36Therefore the two daughters of Lot conceived of their father.

37And the more daughter childed a son, and called his name Moab; he is the father of men of Moab unto this present day.

38And the less daughter childed a son, and called his name Benammi, that is, The son of my people; he is the father of men of Ammon till to [this] day.

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Genesis 19

Lot’s Visitors

1-2That evening the two angels came to the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting near the city gates and saw them. He got up and went to them. He bowed to show respect and said, “Sirs, please come to my house, and I will serve you. There you can wash your feet and stay the night. Then tomorrow you can continue your journey.”

The angels answered, “No, we will stay the night in the city square.”

3But Lot continued to ask them to come to his house, so they agreed and went with him. Lot gave them something to drink. He baked some bread for them, and they ate it.

4That evening, just before bedtime, men from every part of town came to Lot’s house. They stood around the house and called to Lot. They said, 5“Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them.”

6Lot went outside and closed the door behind him. 7He said to the men, “No, my friends, I beg you, please don’t do this evil thing! 8Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man before. I will give my daughters to you. You can do anything you want with them. But please don’t do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them.”#19:8 I must protect them Whoever invited a traveler in as a guest was also promising to protect the traveler.

9The men surrounding the house answered, “Get out of our way!” They said to themselves, “This man Lot came to our city as a visitor. Now he wants to tell us how we should live!” Then the men said to Lot, “We will do worse things to you than to them.” So the men started moving closer and closer to Lot. They were about to break down the door.

10But the two men staying with Lot opened the door, pulled him back inside the house, and closed the door. 11Then they did something to the men outside the door—they caused all these evil men, young and old, to become blind. So the men trying to get in the house could not find the door.

The Escape From Sodom

12The two men said to Lot, “Are there any other people from your family living in this city? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other people from your family here? If so, you should tell them to leave now. 13We are going to destroy this city. The Lord heard how evil this city is, so he sent us to destroy it.”

14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, the men who had married his other daughters. He said, “Hurry and leave this city! The Lord will soon destroy it!” But they thought he was joking.

15The next morning at dawn, the angels were trying to make Lot hurry. They said, “This city will be punished, so take your wife and your two daughters who are still with you and leave this place. Then you will not be destroyed with the city.”

16When Lot did not move fast enough, the two men grabbed his hand. They also took the hands of his wife and his two daughters. The two men led Lot and his family safely out of the city. The Lord was kind to Lot and his family. 17So after the two men brought Lot and his family out of the city, one of the men said, “Now run to save your life! Don’t look back at the city, and don’t stop anywhere in the valley. Run until you are in the mountains. If you stop, you will be destroyed with the city!”

18But Lot said to the two men, “Sirs, please don’t force me to run so far! 19You have been very kind to me, your servant. You have been very kind to save me, but I cannot run all the way to the mountains. What if I am too slow and something happens? I will be killed! 20Look, there is a very small town near here. Let me run to that town. I can run there and be safe.”

21The angel said to Lot, “Very well, I’ll let you do that. I will not destroy that town. 22But run there quickly. I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town.” (That town is named Zoar,#19:22 Zoar This name means “small.” because it is a small town.)

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

23Lot was entering the town as the sun came up, 24and the Lord began to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah. He caused fire and burning sulfur to fall from the sky. 25He destroyed the whole valley—all the cities, the people living in the cities, and all the plants in the valley.

26Lot’s wife was following behind him and looked back at the city. When she did, she became a block of salt.

27Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he stood before the Lord. 28Abraham looked down into the valley toward the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He saw clouds of smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29God destroyed the cities in the valley, but he remembered what Abraham had said. So God sent Lot away from those cities before destroying them.

Lot and His Daughters

30Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, so he and his two daughters went to live in the mountains in a cave. 31One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Everywhere on the earth, men and women marry and have a family. But our father is old, and there are no men around here to give us children. 32So let’s get our father drunk with wine. Then we can have sex with him. That way we can use our father to keep our family alive!”

33That night the two girls went to their father and got him drunk with wine. Then the older daughter went and had sexual relations with him. He did not even know when she came to bed or when she got up.

34The next day the older daughter said to the younger daughter, “Last night I went to bed with my father. Let’s get him drunk with wine again tonight. Then you can go and have sex with him. In this way we can use our father to have children, and our family will not come to an end.” 35So that night the two girls got their father drunk with wine. Then the younger daughter went and had sexual relations with him. Again, Lot did not know when she came to bed or when she got up.

36Both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant. Their father was the father of their babies. 37The older daughter gave birth to a son. She named him Moab.#19:37 Moab In Hebrew this name sounds like “from father.” Moab is the ancestor of all the Moabites living today. 38The younger daughter also gave birth to a son. She named him Ben-Ammi.#19:38 Ben-Ammi In Hebrew this name sounds like “son of my father” or “son of my people.” Ben-Ammi is the ancestor of all the Ammonites living today.

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