Berĕshith (Genesis) 19
19
1And the two messengers came to Seḏom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Seḏom. And when Lot saw them, he rose up to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground,
2and he said, “Look, please my masters, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet, and rise early and go your way.” And they said, “No, but let us spend the night in the open square.”
3But he urged them strongly, and they turned in to him and came into his house. And he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Seḏom, both old and young, all the people from every part, surrounded the house.
5And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, and let us ‘know’ them.”
6So Lot went out to them through the doorway, and shut the door behind him,
7and said, “Please, my brothers, do not do evil!
8Look, please, I have two daughters who have not known a man. Please, let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you wish, only do no deed to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.
9But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This one came in to sojourn, and should he always judge? Now we are going to treat you worse than them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.
10But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, and they wearied themselves to find the door.
12And the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and whomever you have in the city – bring them out of this place!
13For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry against them has grown great before the face of יהוה, and יהוה has sent us to destroy it.
14And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for יהוה is going to destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be as one joking.
15And when morning dawned, the messengers urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.”
16And while he loitered, the men took hold of his hand, and his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, יהוה having compassion on him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.
17And it came to be, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed.”
18And Lot said to them, “Oh no, יהוה!
19“Look, please, your servant has found favour in your eyes, and you have increased your loving-commitment which you have shown me by saving my life, but I am unable to escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die.
20“Look, please, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please let me escape there – is it not a small matter – and let my life be saved?”
21And He said to him, “Look, I have favoured you concerning this matter also, without overthrowing this city for which you have spoken.
22Hurry, escape there. For I am not able to do any deed until you arrive there. So the name of the city was called Tso‛ar.
23The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Tso‛ar.
24And יהוה rained sulphur and fire on Seḏom and Amorah, from יהוה out of the heavens.
25So He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a post of salt.
27And Aḇraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before יהוה,
28and he looked toward Seḏom and Amorah, and toward all the land of the plain. And he looked and saw the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29Thus it came to be, when Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, that Elohim remembered Aḇraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.
30And Lot went up out of Tso‛ar and dwelt in the mountains, and his two daughters were with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Tso‛ar. And he and his two daughters dwelt in a cave.
31And the first-born said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us, as is the way of all the earth.
32Come, let us make our father drink wine and lie with him, so that we preserve the seed of our father.
33So they made their father drink wine that night. And the first-born went in and lay with her father, and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.
34And it came to be on the next day that the first-born said to the younger, “See, I lay with my father last night. Let us make him drink wine tonight as well, and you go in and lie with him, so that we keep the seed of our father.”
35So they made their father drink wine that night as well. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.
36Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.
37And the first-born bore a son and called his name Mo’aḇ, he is the father of the Mo’aḇites to this day.
38And the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-Ammi, he is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
Copyright© 1993 – 2015 by the Institute for Scripture Research (ISR). All rights reserved.
Genesis 19
19
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
1The two angels entered Sodom # Gn 18:2,22 in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground 2and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”
“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.” 3But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.
4Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house. 5They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them! ” # Lv 18:22; Jdg 19:22
6Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers. 8Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man. # Jdg 19:24 I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want # Lit do what is good in your eyes to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9“Get out of the way! ” they said, adding, “This one came here as a foreigner, but he’s acting like a judge! # Ex 2:14 Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door. 10But the angels # Lit men reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the entrance. # Dt 28:28-29; 2Kg 6:18; Ac 13:11
12Then the angels # Lit men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” # Gn 18:20-21; Ex 3:7; 22:23; 1Sm 9:16; Jb 27:9
14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry # Lit take his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city! ” # Nm 16:21,26,45; Jr 51:6; Rv 18:4 But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment # Or iniquity, or guilt of the city.” 16But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.
17As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them # LXX, Syr, Vg read outside, they said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away! ”
18But Lot said to them, “No, my lords # Or My Lord, or My lords — please. 19Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there — it’s only a small place, isn’t it? — so that I can survive.”
21And he said to him, “All right, # Or Look! I’ll grant your request # Lit I will lift up your face about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned. 22Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar. # In Hb, the name Zoar is related to the phrase “small place” in v. 20; its original name was Bela; Gn 14:2. # Gn 14:2
23The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24Then out of the sky the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord. # Dt 29:23; Ps 11:6; Is 13:19; Jr 20:16; Ezk 16:49-50; Lk 17:28-29; 2Pt 2:6-8; Jd 7 25He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. # Lk 17:32
27Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. # Gn 18:22 28He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. 29So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.
The Origin of Moab and Ammon
30Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. 32Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.” 33So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
34The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” 35That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.
36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. # = From My Father He is the father of the Moabites of today. # Dt 2:9 38The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. # = Son of My People He is the father of the Ammonites of today. # Dt 2:19
© 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.