Genesis 19
19
The Doom of Sodom
1Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and #19:1 Lit bowed himselfbowed down with his face to the ground. 2And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” 3Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people #19:4 Or without exception; lit from every endfrom every quarter; 5and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may #19:5 Lit know them; i.e., have intercoursehave relations with them.” 6But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8Now look, I have two daughters who have not #19:8 Lit known manhad relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them #19:8 Lit as is good in your sightwhatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the #19:8 Lit shadowshelter of my roof.” 9But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in #19:9 Lit to sojournas a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against #19:9 Lit the man, against LotLot and moved forward to break the door. 10But the men reached out their #19:10 Lit handhands and brought Lot into the house #19:10 Lit towith them, and shut the door. 11Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.
12Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the Lord that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who #19:14 Or had married; lit were takingwere to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law #19:14 Lit like one who was jokingto be joking.
15When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the #19:15 Or wrongdoingpunishment of the city.” 16But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the #19:16 Lit handhands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. 17When they had brought them outside, #19:17 Lit heone said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay #19:17 Lit in all the circleanywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the #19:17 Lit mountainmountains, or you will be swept away.” 18But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the #19:19 Lit mountainmountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) #19:20 Lit and my soul will liveso that my life may be saved.” 21And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this #19:21 Lit thingrequest also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named #19:22 I.e., smallZoar.
23The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, 25and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26But #19:26 Lit hisLot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord; 28and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and #19:28 Lit he saw, and beholdbehold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a #19:28 Lit kilnfurnace.
29So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the #19:30 Lit mountainmountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man #19:31 Or in the landon earth to #19:31 Lit come in tohave relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. 32Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep #19:32 Lit seed from our fatherour family alive through our father.” 33So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 34On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep #19:34 Lit seed from our fatherour family alive through our father.” 35So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 36And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. 37The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of #19:38 Heb Beney-Ammonthe sons of Ammon to this day.
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Genesis 19
19
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
1The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 2“My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet 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.”
3But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5They 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.”
6Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8Look, 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.”
9“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12The 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? Get them out of here, 13because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.”
14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry#19:14 Or were married to his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15With 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 when the city is punished.”
16When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them. 17As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will be swept away!”
18But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,#19:18 Or No, Lord; or No, my lord please! 19Your#19:19 The Hebrew is singular. servant has found favor in your#19:19 The Hebrew is singular. eyes, and you#19:19 The Hebrew is singular. have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20Look, 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.”
21He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.#19:22 Zoar means small.)
23By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens. 25Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land. 26But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28He 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.
29So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31One 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. 32Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line through our father.”
33That 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.
34The 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.” 35So they got their father to drink wine 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.
36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab#19:37 Moab sounds like the Hebrew for from father.; he is the father of the Moabites of today. 38The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi#19:38 Ben-Ammi means son of my father’s people.; he is the father of the Ammonites#19:38 Hebrew Bene-Ammon of today.
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