Bereshis 18
18
[VAYYERA]
1And Hashem appeared unto him in the terebinth trees of Mamre; and he sat in the entrance of the ohel (tent) in the heat of the day;
2And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, hinei, Shloshah Anashim (Three Men)#18:2 Isa 6:3 stood by him; and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the entrance of the ohel, and prostrated himself on the ground,
3And said, Adonoi,#18:3 Hashem, see Gn 18:13 if now I have found chen (favor) in Thy sight, pass not on by, please, from Thy servant;
4Let a little water, please, be brought, and wash Thy feet, and rest under haetz (the tree);
5And I will bring a morsel of bread, and refresh Ye Your hearts; after that Ye shall pass on; because for this purpose are Ye come to Your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
6And Avraham hastened into the ohel unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly shlosh measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes.
7And Avraham ran unto the herd, and brought a calf tender and tov, and gave it unto a servant; and he hasted to prepare it.
8And he took curds, and cholov (milk), and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under haetz, and they did eat.
9And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Hinei, in the ohel.
10And He said, I will certainly return unto thee at this time next year; and, hinei, Sarah thy wife shall have ben (son). And Sarah heard it in the entrance of the ohel, which was behind him.
11Now Avraham and Sarah were zekenim (old ones) and well stricken in age; and [in childbearing] it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12Therefore Sarah laughed [titzchak, sounds like Yitzchak] within herself, saying, After I am grown old shall I have pleasure, adoni being old also?
13And Hashem said unto Avraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I which am old of a surety bear a child?
14Is any thing too hard for Hashem? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, in due season, and Sarah shall have ben (son).
15Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And He said, Oh yes but thou didst laugh.
16And the Anashim rose up from thence, and peered toward Sodom; and Avraham went with them to send them on the way.
17And Hashem said, Shall I hide from Avraham that thing which I do;
18Seeing that Avraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and kol goyei ha'aretz (all the nations of the earth) shall be blessed in him?
19For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall be shomer over the Derech Hashem, to do tzedakah and mishpat; that Hashem may bring upon Avraham that which He hath spoken [promised] of him.
20And Hashem said, Because the outcry of Sodom and Amora is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the crying out [for punishment] of it, which is come unto Me; and if not, I will have da'as.
22And the Men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom; but Avraham stood yet before Hashem.
23And Avraham drew near, and said, Wilt Thou also destroy the tzaddik with the rasha?
24Suppose there be fifty tzaddikim within the city; wilt Thou also destroy and not nasa (spare)#18:24 take away and bear the guilt of, Isa 53:12 the place lema'an (for the sake of) the fifty tzaddikim that are therein?#18:24 1K 3:18
25That be far from Thee to do after this manner, to slay the tzaddik with the rasha; and that the tzaddik should be as the rasha, that be far from Thee: Shall not HaShofet Kol Ha'Aretz (the Judge of All the Earth) do mishpat (right)?
26And Hashem said, If I find in Sodom fifty tzaddikim within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
27And Avraham answered and said, Hinei now, I, which am but aphar and ashes, have taken upon me to speak unto Hashem;
28Suppose there shall lack five of the fifty tzaddikim; wilt Thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And He said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
29And he spoke unto Him yet again, and said, Suppose there shall be forty found there. And He said, I will not do it for fortyʼs sake.
30And he said unto Him, Oh let not Hashem be angry, and I will speak; suppose there shall thirty be found there. And He said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
31And he said, Hinei now, I have taken upon me to speak unto Hashem: suppose there shall be twenty found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for twentyʼs sake.
32And he said, Oh let not Hashem be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: suppose asarah (ten, i.e., a minyan) shall be found there. And He said, I will not destroy it for the sake of haasarah (the ten).
33And Hashem went His way, as soon as He had left communing with Avraham; and Avraham returned unto his makom.
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Bereshis 18: TOJB2011
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THE ORTHODOX JEWISH BIBLE
FOURTH EDITION © Artists For Israel Intl Inc., 2002-2011, 2021.
Genesis 18
18
The Three Visitors
1Later, the Lord again appeared to Abraham near the oak trees of Mamre. It was the hottest part of the day, and Abraham was sitting at the door of his tent. 2He looked up and saw three men standing in front of him. When he saw the men, he ran to them and bowed before them. 3Abraham said, “Sirs,#18:3 Sirs This Hebrew word can mean “sirs” or “Lord.” This might show that these were not ordinary men. please stay a while with me, your servant. 4I will bring some water to wash your feet. You can rest under the trees. 5I will get some food for you, and you can eat as much as you want. Then you can continue your journey.”
The three men said, “Do as you wish.”
6Abraham hurried to the tent. He said to Sarah, “Quickly, prepare enough flour for three loaves of bread.” 7Then Abraham ran to his cattle. He took his best young calf and gave it to the servant there. He told the servant to quickly kill the calf and prepare it for food. 8Abraham brought the meat and some milk and cheese and set them down in front of the three men. Then he stood near the men, ready to serve them while they sat under the tree and ate.
9Then the men said to Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
Abraham said, “She is there, in the tent.”
10Then one of them said, “I will come again in the spring. At that time your wife Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was listening in the tent and heard these things. 11Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was past the right age for women to have children. 12So she laughed to herself and said, “I am old, and my husband is old. I am too old to have a baby.”
13Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Sarah laughed and said she was too old to have a baby. 14But is anything too hard for the Lord? I will come again in the spring, just as I said I would, and your wife Sarah will have a son.”
15Sarah said, “I didn’t laugh!” (She said this because she was afraid.)
Then the Lord said, “No, I know that is not true. You did laugh!”
16Then the men got up to leave. They looked toward Sodom and began walking in that direction. Abraham walked with them to send them on their way.
Abraham’s Bargain With God
17The Lord said to himself, “Should I tell Abraham what I am going to do now? 18Abraham will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be blessed because of him. 19I have made a special agreement with him. I did this so that he would command his children and his descendants to live the way the Lord wants them to. I did this so that they would live right and be fair. Then I, the Lord, can give him what I promised.”
20Then the Lord said, “I have heard many times that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are very evil. 21I will go and see if they are as bad as I have heard. Then I will know for sure.”
22So the men turned and started walking toward Sodom while Abraham stood there before the Lord. 23Then Abraham approached him and asked, “Will you destroy the good people while you are destroying those who are evil? 24What if there are fifty good people in that city? Will you still destroy it? Surely you will save the city for the fifty good people living there. 25Surely you would not destroy the city. You would not destroy fifty good people to kill those who are evil. If that happened, those who are good would be the same as those who are evil—both would be punished. As the judge of the whole world, surely you would do the right thing!”
26Then the Lord said, “If I find fifty good people in the city of Sodom, I will save the whole city.”
27Then Abraham said, “Compared to you, Lord, I am only dust and ashes. But let me bother you again and ask you this question. 28What if there are five less than fifty? Will you destroy a whole city because of just five people?”
The Lord said, “If I find forty-five good people there, I will not destroy the city.”
29Abraham spoke again. He said, “And if you find only forty good people there, will you destroy the city?”
The Lord said, “If I find forty good people, I will not destroy the city.”
30Then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me, but let me ask you this. If only thirty good people are in the city, will you destroy it?”
The Lord said, “If I find thirty good people there, I will not destroy the city.”
31Then Abraham said, “Lord, may I bother you again and ask, what if there are twenty good people?”
The Lord answered, “If I find twenty good people, I will not destroy the city.”
32Then Abraham said, “Lord, please don’t be angry with me, but let me bother you this one last time. If you find ten good people there, what will you do?”
The Lord said, “If I find ten good people in the city, I will not destroy it.”
33The Lord finished speaking to Abraham and left. Then Abraham went back home.
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