Genesis 19
19
1 And the two Angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. And when he had seen them, he rose up and went to meet them. And he reverenced prone on the ground.
2 And he said: "I beg you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and lodge there. Wash your feet, and in the morning you will advance on your way." And they said, "Not at all. But we will lodge in the street."
3 He pressed them very much to turn aside to him. And when they had entered his house, he made a feast for them, and he cooked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 But before they went to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house, from boys to old men, all the people together.
5 And they called out to Lot, and they said to him: "Where are the men who entered to you in the night? Bring them out here, so that we may know them."
6 Lot went out to them, and blocking the door behind him, he said:
7 "Do not, I ask you, my brothers, do not be willing to commit this evil.
8 I have two daughters who as yet have not known man. I will bring them out to you; abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do no evil to these men, because they have entered under the shadow of my roof."
9 But they said, "Move away from there." And again: "You have entered," they said, "as a stranger; should you then judge? Therefore, we will afflict you yourself more than them." And they acted very violently against Lot. And they were now at the point of breaking open the doors.
10 And behold, the men put out their hand, and they pulled Lot in to them, and they closed the door.
11 And they struck those who were outside with blindness, from the least to the greatest, so that they were not able to find the door.
12 Then they said to Lot: "Do you have here anyone of yours? All who are yours, sons-in-law, or sons, or daughters, bring them out of this city.
13 For we will eliminate this place, because the outcry among them has increased before the Lord, who sent us to destroy them."
14 And so Lot, going out, spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to receive his daughters, and he said: "Rise up. Depart from this place. For the Lord will destroy this city." And it seemed to them that he was speaking playfully.
15 And when it was morning, the Angels compelled him, saying, "Arise, take your wife, and the two daughters that you have, lest you also should perish amid the wickedness of the city."
16 And, since he ignored them, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, as well as that of his two daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.
17 And they brought him out, and placed him beyond the city. And there they spoke to him, saying: "Save your life. Do not look not back. Neither should you stay in the entire surrounding region. But save yourself in the mountain, lest you also should perish."
18 And Lot said to them: "I beg you, my lord,
19 though your servant has found grace before you, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have shown to me in saving my life, I cannot be saved on the mountain, lest perhaps some misfortune take hold of me and I die.
20 There is a certain city nearby, to which I can flee; it is a little one, and I will be saved in it. Is it not a modest one, and will not my soul live?"
21 And he said to him: "Behold, even now, I have heard your petitions about this, not to overturn the city on behalf of which you have spoken.
22 Hurry and be saved there. For I cannot do anything until you enter there." For this reason, the name of that city is called Zoar.
23 The sun had risen over the land, and Lot had entered into Zoar.
24 Therefore, the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord, out of heaven.
25 And he overturned these cities, and all the surrounding region: all the inhabitants of the cities, and everything that springs from the land.
26 And his wife, looking behind herself, was turned into a statue of salt.
27 Then Abraham, rising up in the morning, in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,
28 looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and the entire land of that region. And he saw embers rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.
29 For when God overthrew the cities of that region, remembering Abraham, he freed Lot from the overthrow of the cities, in which he had dwelt.
30 And Lot ascended from Zoar, and he stayed on the mountain, and likewise his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Zoar) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31 And the elder said to the younger: "Our father is old, and no man remains in the land who can enter to us according to the custom of the whole world.
32 Come, let us inebriate him with wine, and let us sleep with him, so that we may be able to preserve offspring from our father."
33 And so they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the elder went in, and she slept with her father. But he did not perceive it, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34 Likewise, the next day, the elder said to the younger: "Behold, yesterday I slept with my father, let us give him wine to drink yet again this night, and you will sleep with him, so that we may save offspring from our father."
35 And then they gave their father wine to drink that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and slept with him. And not even then did he perceive when she lay down, or when she rose up.
36 Therefore, the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
37 And the elder gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites, even to the present day.
38 Likewise, the younger gave birth to a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, 'the son of my people.' He is the father of the Ammonites, even today.
Genesis 19
19
The Lord Destroys Sodom and Gomorrah
1The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting near the gate of the city. When Lot saw the angels, he got up to greet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground. 2“My lords,” he said, “please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night there. Then you can go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered. “We’ll spend the night in the town square.”
3But Lot wouldn’t give up. So they went with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without using yeast. And they ate. 4Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house. 5They called out to Lot. They said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them.”
6Lot went outside to meet them. He shut the door behind him. 7He said, “No, my friends. Don’t do such an evil thing. 8Look, I have two daughters that no man has ever slept with. I’ll bring them out to you now. Then do to them what you want to. But don’t do anything to these men. I’ve brought them inside so they can be safe.”
9“Get out of our way!” the men of Sodom replied to Lot. “You came here as an outsider. Now you want to act like a judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept trying to force Lot to open the door. Then they moved forward to break it down.
10But the angels inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11Then they made the men who were at the door of the house blind. They blinded both young and old men so that they couldn’t find the door.
12The two angels said to Lot, “Do you have any other family members here? Do you have sons-in-law, sons, daughters or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here! 13We are going to destroy this place. Many have cried out to the Lord against the people of this city. So he has sent us to destroy it.”
14Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. They had promised to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry up! Get out of this place! The Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15The sun was coming up. So the angels tried to get Lot to leave. They said, “Hurry up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out! If you don’t, you will be swept away when the city is destroyed.”
16Lot didn’t move right away. So the men grabbed him by the hand. They also took hold of the hands of his wife and two daughters. They led all of them safely out of the city. The Lord had mercy on them. 17As soon as the angels had brought them out, one of them spoke. He said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back! Don’t stop anywhere in the valley! Run to the mountains! If you don’t, you will be swept away!”
18But Lot said to them, “No, my lords! Please! 19You have done me a big favor. You have been very kind to me by sparing my life. But I can’t run to the mountains. I won’t be able to escape this horrible thing that’s going to happen. And then I’ll die. 20Look, here’s a town near enough to run to. It’s small. Let me run to it. It’s very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21The Lord said to Lot, “All right. I will also give you what you are asking for. I will not destroy the town you are talking about. 22But run there quickly. I can’t do anything until you reach it.” The town was named Zoar. Zoar means Small.
23By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24Then the Lord sent down burning sulfur. It came down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. It came from the Lord. It came out of the sky. 25The Lord destroyed these cities and the whole valley. All the people who were living in the cities were wiped out. So were the plants in the land. 26But Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar made out of salt.
27Early the next morning Abraham got up. He returned to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord. 28He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley. He saw thick smoke rising from the land. It looked like smoke from a furnace.
29So when God destroyed the cities of the valley, he showed concern for Abraham. He brought Lot out safely when he destroyed the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30Lot and his two daughters left Zoar. They went to live in the mountains because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar. So he and his daughters lived in a cave. 31One day the older daughter spoke to the younger one. She said, “Our father is old. People all over the earth have men to marry and have children with. We do not. 32So let’s get our father to drink wine. Then we can sleep with him. We can use our father to continue our family line.”
33That night they got their father to drink wine. Then the older daughter went in and slept with him. He wasn’t aware when she lay down or when she got up.
34The next day the older daughter spoke to the younger one again. She said, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight. Then you go in and sleep with him. We can use our father to continue our family line.” 35So they got their father to drink wine that night also. Then the younger daughter slept with him. Again he wasn’t aware 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. She named him Moab. He’s the father of the Moabites of today. 38The younger daughter also had a son. She named him Ben-Ammi. He’s the father of the Ammonites of today.
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