Genesis 19
19
1 IT WAS evening when the two angels came to Sodom. Lot was sitting at Sodom's [city] gate. Seeing them, Lot rose up to meet them and bowed to the ground.
2 And he said, My lords, turn aside, I beg of you, into your servant's house and spend the night and bathe your feet. Then you can arise early and go on your way. But they said, No, we will spend the night in the square.
3 [Lot] entreated and urged them greatly until they yielded and [with him] entered his house. And he made them a dinner [with drinking] and had unleavened bread which he baked, and they ate.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, all the men from every quarter, surrounded the house.
5 And they called to Lot and said, Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know (be intimate with) them.
6 And Lot went out of the door to the men and shut the door after him
7 And said, I beg of you, my brothers, do not behave so wickedly.
8 Look now, I have two daughters who are virgins; let me, I beg of you, bring them out to you, and you can do as you please with them. But only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.
9 But they said, Stand back! And they said, This fellow came in to live here temporarily, and now he presumes to be [our] judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them. So they rushed at and pressed violently against Lot and came close to breaking down the door.
10 But the men [the angels] reached out and pulled Lot into the house to them and shut the door after him.
11 And they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness [which dazzled them], from the youths to the old men, so that they wearied themselves [groping] to find the door.
12 And the [two] men asked Lot, Have you any others here–sons-in-law or your sons or your daughters? Whomever you have in the city, bring them out of this place,
13 For we will spoil and destroy [Sodom]; for the outcry and shriek against its people has grown great before the Lord, and He has sent us to destroy it.
14 And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, Up, get out of this place, for the Lord will spoil and destroy this city! But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be [only] joking.
15 When morning came, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, Arise, take your wife and two daughters who are here [and be off], lest you [too] be consumed and swept away in the iniquity and punishment of the city.
16 But while he lingered, the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, for the Lord was merciful to him; and they brought him forth and set him outside the city and left him there.
17 And when they had brought them forth, they said, Escape for your life! Do not look behind you or stop anywhere in the whole valley; escape to the mountains [of Moab], lest you be consumed.
18 And Lot said to them, Oh, not that, my lords!
19 Behold now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your kindness and mercy to me in saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest the evil overtake me, and I die.
20 See now yonder city; it is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh, let me escape to it! Is it not a little one? And my life will be saved!
21 And [the angel] said to him, See, I have yielded to your entreaty concerning this thing also; I will not destroy this city of which you have spoken.
22 Make haste and take refuge there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar [little].
23 The sun had risen over the earth when Lot entered Zoar.
24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of the heavens.
25 He overthrew, destroyed, and ended those cities, and all the valley and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26 But [Lot's] wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham went up early the next morning to the place where he [only the day before] had stood before the Lord.
28 And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and saw, and behold, the smoke of the country went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 When God ravaged and destroyed the cities of the plain [of Siddim], He [earnestly] remembered Abraham [imprinted and fixed him indelibly on His mind], and He sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when He overthrew the cities where Lot lived.
30 And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he feared to dwell in Zoar; and he lived in a cave, he and his two daughters.
31 The elder said to the younger, Our father is aging, and there is not a man on earth to live with us in the customary way.
32 Come, let us make our father drunk with wine, and we will lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring (our race) through our father.
33 And they made their father drunk with wine that night, and the older went in and lay with her father; and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.
34 Then the next day the firstborn said to the younger, See here, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drunk with wine tonight also, and then you go in and lie with him, so that we may preserve offspring (our race) through our father.
35 And they made their father drunk with wine again that night, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she arose.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The older bore a son, and named him Moab [of a father]; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 The younger also bore a son and named him Ben-ammi [son of my people]; he is the father of the Ammonites to this day.
1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
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
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