Genesis 19

Lot’s Guests Are Assaulted

1The two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gateway. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed with his face touching the ground. 2He said, “Please, gentlemen, why don’t you come to my home and spend the night? ⌞You can⌟ wash your feet there. Then early tomorrow morning you can continue your journey.”

“No,” they answered, “we’d rather spend the night in the city square.”

3But he insisted so strongly that they came with him and went into his home. He prepared a special dinner for them, baked some unleavened bread, and they ate. 4Before they had gone to bed, all the young and old male citizens of Sodom surrounded the house. 5They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to ⌞stay with⌟ you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”

6Then Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. 7“Please, my friends, don’t be so wicked,” he said. 8“Look, I have two daughters who have never had sex. Why don’t you let me bring them out to you? Do whatever you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, since I’m responsible for them.”

9But the men yelled, “Get out of the way! This man came here to stay awhile. Now he wants to be our judge! We’re going to treat you worse than those men.” They pushed hard against Lot and lunged forward to break down the door. 10The men ⌞inside⌟ reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11Then they struck all the men who were in the doorway of the house, young and old alike, with blindness so that they gave up trying to find the door.

Lot Leaves Sodom, and the Cities Are Destroyed

12Then the men asked Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—any in-laws, sons, daughters, or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here 13because we’re going to destroy this place. The complaints to the Lord against its people are so loud that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”

14So Lot went out and spoke to the men engaged to his daughters. He said, “Hurry! Get out of this place, because the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But they thought he was joking.

15As soon as it was dawn, the angels urged Lot by saying, “Quick! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you’ll be swept away when the city is punished.” 16When he hesitated, the men grabbed him, his wife, and his two daughters by their hands, because the Lord wanted to spare Lot. They brought them safely outside the city. 17As soon as they were outside, one ⌞of the angels⌟ said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop on the plain. Run for the hills, or you’ll be swept away!”

18Lot answered, “Oh no! 19Even though you’ve been so good to me and though you’ve been very kind to me by saving my life, I can’t run as far as the hills. This disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20Look, there’s a city near enough to flee to, and it’s small. Why don’t you let me run there? Isn’t it small? Then my life will be saved.”

21The angel said to him, “Alright, I will grant you this request too. I will not destroy the city you’re talking about. 22Run there quickly, because I can’t do anything until you get there.” (The city is named Zoar [Small].)

23The sun had just risen over the land as Lot came to Zoar. 24Then the Lord made burning sulfur and fire rain out of heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25He destroyed those cities, the whole plain, all who lived in the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a column of salt.

27Early the next morning Abraham came to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord. 28When he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land in the plain, he saw smoke rising from the land like the thick smoke of a furnace.

29When God destroyed the cities on the plain, he remembered Abraham. Lot was allowed to escape from the destruction that came to the cities where he was living.

Lot’s Daughters Have Sons by Their Father

30Lot left Zoar because he was afraid to stay there. He and his two daughters settled in the mountains where they lived in a cave. 31The older daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is old. No men are here. We can’t get married as other people do. 32Let’s give our father wine to drink. Then we’ll go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” 33That night they gave their father wine to drink. Then the older one went to bed with her father. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. 34The next day the older daughter said to the younger one, “I did it! Last night I went to bed with my father. Let’s give him wine to drink again tonight. Then you go to bed with him so that we’ll be able to preserve our family line through our father.” 35That night they gave their father wine to drink again. Then the younger one went to bed with him. He didn’t know when she came to bed or when she got up. 36So Lot’s two daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The older one gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today. 38The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben Ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.

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Genesis 19

The men in Sodom were really bad

1Later that day, while the sun was going down, those other 2 men walked into the town called Sodom. They were God’s 2 angel messengers.

Abraham’s nephew, the man that was called Lot, he was sitting near the town gate, and he saw those men come into the town. So he got up to meet them, and he got down on his knees and put his face near the ground, to show them respect. 2He said, “Sirs, come and stay in my house. You can wash your feet and sleep here tonight, then you can go on your way tomorrow morning.”

The men said, “No, it’s all right. We will sleep outside in the park.”

3But Lot kept on asking them strongly to stay with him, so they agreed, and they went with him to his house. Then Lot cooked some flat damper and other food for them, and the men ate it.

4Before they went to bed, all the men that lived in Sodom, both the young men and the old men, they came and stood around Lot’s house, 5and they all yelled out to Lot. They said, “Where are the 2 men that came to your house today? Bring them out here so that we can sleep with them like a man sleeps with his wife.”

6Lot went out to talk to them and shut the door behind him. 7He said, “My friends, please don’t do that really bad thing. 8Look, I’ve got 2 daughters. They have never been married. They have never slept with any man. Let me bring them out here for you, and you can do whatever you want to do with them. But please don’t do anything bad to these men. They are staying in my house, so I have to keep them safe.”#Judges 19:22-24

9But the men of Sodom said to each other, “This man came from another town to live here, and he wants to tell us what to do. He can’t do that.” And they said to Lot, “Get out of our way, or we will do even worse things to you than we will do to those men.” And they pushed hard against Lot so they could get to the door, to break it down and grab the men that were inside.

10But those 2 men were really God’s angel messengers, and they quickly opened the door and pulled Lot inside with them, then they quickly shut the door. 11Then they used their power to make all the men outside the house go blind, the young men as well as the old men, so that they couldn’t find the door to get in.#2 Kings 6:18

The angels told Lot to leave Sodom

12-13Then the 2 men said to Lot, “God heard about all the bad things that the people in this town do, so he sent us to finish it up. You and your family have to get out of this town real soon. Maybe you have sons, or more daughters, or sons-in-law, or other family here. You all have to leave this town before we finish it up.”

14So Lot went and found the men that his 2 daughters were promised to. He said to them, “God is going to finish up this town, so we have to get out now. Come on, let’s go.” But those 2 men thought that Lot was joking, so they didn’t go with him.

15Very early the next morning, the 2 angels tried to get Lot to leave Sodom quickly. They said, “Hurry up Lot. Get your wife, and your 2 daughters, and get out of this town. If you don’t get out quick, you will die, like everyone else.” 16But Lot didn’t hurry, so the angels grabbed Lot’s hand, and his wife, and his 2 daughters, and they quickly pulled them out of the town. You see, God was good to Lot and wanted to save him and his family.#2 Peter 2:7

17As soon as the angels took Lot and his family out of the town, one of the angels told them, “Run away quickly to save your life. Don’t look back, and don’t stop anywhere in the flat country, but keep going until you get to the hill country. If you don’t do that, you will die, like all the people in Sodom are going to die.”

18But Lot said to them, “Please sirs, no. 19That’s too far. You have been very good to me and saved my life, but I can’t run fast enough to get to the hill country in time. If I try to do that, the trouble will come before I get there, and I will die too. 20Look, there is a town over there. It’s not too far for me. And it is only a little town, with only a few people. Let us go there, and then don’t finish up that little town. Then we will be safe.”

21The angel said, “All right, I will do that for you. I will let you go to that little town, and I will not finish it up. You will be safe there. 22But go quickly, because I have to wait until you get there before I finish up Sodom.”

Later, that little town was called Zoar. That name means little.

God burned up Sodom and Gomorrah

23Just after the sun came up, Lot got to Zoar. 24Then God sent fire down from the sky on to Sodom and Gomorrah, and he sent down burning rock, called sulphur, with that fire. 25God burned up those towns, and he burned up the flat country around them too. Everybody that lived in those towns died, and all the plants in that country died too.#Matthew 10:15; 11:23-24; Luke 10:12; 17:29; 2 Peter 2:6; Jude 1:7

26But Lot’s wife turned around and looked back at what was happening to Sodom, and straight away her body turned into a block of salt.#Luke 17:32

27Early in the morning, Abraham went to the hill where he talked with God before. 28He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and all the flat country around them, and he saw a lot of smoke, like a really big bush fire.

29That’s how God finished up those towns in the flat country, but he remembered everything he said to Abraham, and he saved Abraham’s nephew, Lot. Yes, God took Lot out of Sodom, where Lot lived, before he finished up that town.

Lot’s daughters did a bad thing

30Lot was frightened to stay in Zoar, so him and his daughters, they went and lived up in the hill country, in a big hole in the rock, called a cave.

31One day the oldest daughter said to her sister, “Our father is old, and we haven’t got any kids, and there are no men around here for us to marry. 32So let’s get our father drunk, and then we can pretend to be his wives, and sleep with him. Then we can have babies, so that we will always have a family.”

33So that night, they got their father drunk, and the oldest daughter pretended to be his wife, and she slept with him. Lot was so drunk that he didn’t know what was happening.

34The next day, the oldest daughter said to her sister, “Last night I slept with our father like I was his wife. Let’s get him drunk again tonight, then you go and pretend to be his wife. Then we will both have babies, and we will always have a family.”

35So that night, they got their father drunk again, and the youngest daughter pretended to be his wife, and she slept with him. And again, Lot was so drunk that he didn’t know what was happening.

36So both of Lot’s daughters had babies, and Lot was the father of those babies. 37Lot’s oldest daughter had a son, and she called him Moab. That name means from our father. His mob are called the Moab tribe, and they are still living today. 38Lot’s youngest daughter also had a son, and she called him Ben-Ammi. That name means son of my relative. Ben-Ammi’s mob are called the Ammon tribe, and they are still living today.

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