Genesis 18
18
The Son of Promise
1Then the Lord appeared to him by the #Gen. 13:18; 14:13terebinth trees of Mamre, as he was sitting in the tent door in the heat of the day. 2#Gen. 18:16, 22; 32:24; Josh. 5:13; Judg. 13:6–11; Heb. 13:2So he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, three men were standing by him; #Gen. 19:1; 1 Pet. 4:9and when he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed himself to the ground, 3and said, “My Lord, if I have now found favor in Your sight, do not pass on by Your servant. 4Please let #Gen. 19:2; 24:32; 43:24a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5And #Judg. 6:18, 19; 13:15, 16I will bring a morsel of bread, that #Judg. 19:5; Ps. 104:15you may refresh your hearts. After that you may pass by, #Gen. 19:8; 33:10inasmuch as you have come to your servant.”
They said, “Do as you have said.”
6So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, make ready three measures of fine meal; knead it and make cakes.” 7And Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender and good calf, gave it to a young man, and he hastened to prepare it. 8So #Gen. 19:3he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree as they ate.
9Then they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?”
So he said, “Here, #Gen. 24:67in the tent.”
10And He said, “I will certainly return to you #2 Kin. 4:16according to the time of life, and behold, #Gen. 17:19, 21; 21:2; Rom. 9:9Sarah your wife shall have a son.”
(Sarah was listening in the tent door which was behind him.) 11Now #Gen. 17:17; Luke 1:18; Rom. 4:19; Heb. 11:11, 12, 19Abraham and Sarah were old, well advanced in age; and Sarah #Gen. 31:35had passed the age of childbearing. 12Therefore Sarah #Gen. 17:17laughed within herself, saying, #Luke 1:18“After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my #1 Pet. 3:6lord being old also?”
13And the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14#Num. 11:23; Jer. 32:17; Zech. 8:6; Matt. 3:9; 19:26; Luke 1:37; Rom. 4:21Is anything too hard for the Lord? #Gen. 17:21; 18:10; 2 Kin. 4:16At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.”
15But Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid.
And He said, “No, but you did laugh!”
Abraham Intercedes for Sodom
16Then the men rose from there and looked toward Sodom, and Abraham went with them #Acts 15:3; Rom. 15:24to send them on the way. 17And the Lord said, #Gen. 18:22, 26, 33; Ps. 25:14; Amos 3:7; (John 15:15)“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing, 18since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be #(Gen. 12:3; 22:18); Matt. 1:1; Luke 3:34; (Acts 3:25, 26; Gal. 3:8)blessed in him? 19For I have known him, in order #(Deut. 4:9, 10; 6:6, 7)that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice, that the Lord may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him.” 20And the Lord said, “Because #Gen. 4:10; 19:13; Ezek. 16:49, 50the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their #Gen. 13:13sin is very grave, 21#Gen. 11:5; Ex. 3:8; Ps. 14:2I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, #Deut. 8:2; 13:3; Josh. 22:22; Luke 16:15; 2 Cor. 11:11I will know.”
22Then the men turned away from there #Gen. 18:16; 19:1and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the Lord. 23And Abraham #(Heb. 10:22)came near and said, #Ex. 23:7; Num. 16:22; 2 Sam. 24:17; Ps. 11:4–7“Would You also #Job 9:22destroy the #Gen. 20:4righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it? 25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that #Job 8:20; Is. 3:10, 11the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! #Deut. 1:16, 17; 32:4; Job 8:3, 20; 34:17; Ps. 58:11; 94:2; Is. 3:10, 11; Rom. 3:5, 6Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
26So the Lord said, #Jer. 5:1; Ezek. 22:30“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
27Then Abraham answered and said, “Indeed now, I who am #(Gen. 3:19); Job 4:19; 30:19; 42:6; (1 Cor. 15:47, 48)but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: 28Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?”
So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”
29And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”
30Then he said, #Judg. 6:39“Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31And he said, “Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?”
So He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.”
32Then he said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?”
#James 5:16And He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.” 33So the Lord went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
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Genesis 18: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
Genesis 18
18
1And the Lord appeared to him in the vale of Mambre as he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
2And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men standing near him: and as soon as he saw them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and adored down to the ground.
3And he said: Lord, if I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away from thy servant:
4But I will fetch a little water; and wash ye your feet, and rest ye under the tree.
5And I will set a morsel of bread, and strengthen ye your heart, afterwards you shall pass on: for therefore are you come aside to your servant. And they said: Do as thou hast spoken.
6Abraham made haste into the tent to Sara, and said to her: Make haste, temper together three measures of flour, and make cakes upon the hearth.
7And he himself ran to the herd, and took from thence a calf very tender and very good: and gave it to a young man, who made haste and boiled it.
8He took also butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled; and set before them. But he stood by them under the tree.
9And when they had eaten, they said to him: Where is Sara thy wife? He answered: Lo, she is in the tent.
10And he said to him: I will return and come to thee at this time, life accompanying; and Sara thy wife shall have a son. Which when Sara heard, she laughed behind the door of the tent.
11Now they were both old, and far advanced in years, and it had ceased to be with Sara after the manner of women.
12And she laughed secretly, saying: After I am grown old, and my lord is an old man, shall I give myself to pleasure?
13And the Lord said to Abraham: Why did Sara laugh, saying: Shall I who am an old woman bear a child indeed?
14Is there any thing hard to God? According to appointment, I will return to thee at this same time, life accompanying; and Sara shall have a son.
15Sara denied, saying: I did not laugh. For she was afraid. But the Lord said: Nay; but thou didst laugh:
16And when the men rose up from thence, they turned their eyes towards Sodom: and Abraham walked with them, bringing them on the way.
17And the Lord said: Can I hide from Abraham what I am about to do:
18Seeing he shall become a great and mighty nation, and in him all the nations of the earth shall be blessed?
19For I know that he will command his children, and his household after him, to keep the way of the Lord, and do judgment and justice: that for Abraham's sake the Lord may bring to effect all the things he hath spoken unto him.
20And the Lord said: The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha is multiplied, and their sin is become exceedingly grievous.
21I will go down and see whether they have done according to the cry that is come to me: or whether it be not so, that I may know.
22And they turned themselves from thence, and went their way to Sodom: but Abraham as yet stood before the Lord.
23And drawing nigh, he said: Wilt thou destroy the just with the wicked?
24If there be fifty just men in the city, shall they perish withal? And wilt thou not spare that place for the sake of the fifty just, if they be therein?
25Far be it from thee to do this thing, and to slay the just with the wicked, and for the just to be in like case as the wicked. This is not beseeming thee, thou who judgest all the earth, wilt not make this judgment.
26And the Lord said to him: If I And in Sodom fifty just within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.
27And Abraham answered, and said: Seeing I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord, whereas I am dust and ashes.
28What if there be five less than fifty just persons? Wilt thou for five and forty destroy the whole city? And he said: I will not destroy it, if I find five and forty.
29And again he said to him: But if forty be found there, what wilt thou do? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of forty.
30Lord, saith he, be not angry, I beseech thee, if I speak: What if thirty shall be found there? He answered: I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31Seeing, saith he, I have once begun, I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty be found there? He said: I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.
32I beseech thee, saith he, be not angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more: What if ten should be found there? And he said: I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.
33And the Lord departed, after he had left speaking to Abraham: and Abraham returned to his place.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.