Genesis 19

Lot’s Visitors

1The two angels came to Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting near the city gate and saw them. He got up and went to them and bowed facedown on the ground. 2Lot said, “Sirs, please come to my house and spend the night. There you can wash your feet. Then tomorrow you may continue your journey.”

The angels answered, “No, we will spend the night in the city’s public square.”

3But Lot begged them to come to his house. So they agreed and went to his house. Then Lot prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without yeast, and they ate it.

4Before bedtime, all the men of the city surrounded Lot’s house. These men were both young and old and came from every part of Sodom. 5They called to Lot, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to force them to have physical relations with us.”

6Lot went outside to them, closing the door behind him. 7He said, “No, my brothers! Do not do this evil thing. 8Look! I have two daughters. They have never slept with a man. I will give them to you. You may do anything you want with them. But please don’t do anything to these men. They have come to my house, and I must protect them.”

9The men around the house answered, “Move out of the way!” Then they said to each other, “This man Lot came to our city as a stranger. Now he wants to tell us what to do!” They said to Lot, “We will do worse things to you than to them.” So they started pushing Lot back. They were ready to break down the door.

10But the two men staying with Lot opened the door and pulled him back inside the house. Then they closed the door. 11The two men struck the men outside the door with blindness. So these men, both young and old, could not find the door.

12The two men said to Lot, “Do you have any other relatives in this city? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters or any other relatives? If you do, tell them to leave now. 13We are about to destroy this city. The Lord has heard of all the evil that is here. So he has sent us to destroy it.”

14So Lot went out and spoke to his future sons-in-law. They were pledged to marry his daughters. Lot said, “Hurry and leave this city! The Lord is about to destroy it!” But they thought Lot was joking.

15At dawn the next morning, the angels begged Lot to hurry. They said, “Go! Take your wife and your two daughters with you. Then you will not be destroyed when the city is punished.”

16But Lot delayed. So the two men took the hands of Lot, his wife and his two daughters. The men led them safely out of the city. So the Lord was merciful to Lot and his family. 17The two men brought Lot and his family out of the city. Then one of the men said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Run to the mountains or you will be destroyed.”

18But Lot said to one of them, “Sir, please don’t force me to go so far! 19You have been merciful and kind to me. You have saved my life. But I can’t run to the mountains. The disaster will catch me, and I will die. 20Look, that little town over there is not too far away. Let me run there. It’s really just a little town. I’ll be safe there.”

21The angel said to Lot, “Very well, I will allow you to do this also. I will not destroy that town. 22But run there fast. I cannot destroy Sodom until you are safely in that town.” (That town is named Zoar,# This name sounds like the Hebrew word for “little.” because it is little.)

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

23The sun had already come up when Lot entered Zoar. 24The Lord sent a rain of burning sulfur down from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25So the Lord destroyed those cities. He also destroyed the whole Jordan Valley, everyone living in the cities and even all the plants.

26At that point Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar of salt.

27Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28Abraham looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the Jordan Valley. He saw smoke rising from the land. It was like smoke from a furnace.

29God destroyed the cities in the valley. But he remembered what Abraham had asked. So God saved Lot’s life. But he destroyed the city where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30Lot was afraid to continue living in Zoar. So he and his two daughters went to live in the mountains. They lived in a cave there. 31One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old. Everywhere on the earth women and men marry. But there are no men around here for us to marry. 32Let’s get our father drunk. Then we can have physical relations with him. We can use our father to have children. That way we can continue our family.”

33That night the two girls got their father drunk. Then the older daughter went and had physical relations with him. But Lot did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

34The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I had physical relations with my father. Let’s get him drunk again tonight. Then you can go and have physical relations with him, too. In this way we can use our father to have children to continue our family.” 35So that night they got their father drunk again. Then the younger daughter went and had physical relations with him. Again, Lot did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The older daughter gave birth to a son. She named him Moab. Moab is the ancestor of all the Moabite people who are still living today. 38The younger daughter also gave birth to a son. She named him Ben-Ammi. He is the father of all the Ammonite people who are still living today.

Genesis 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

1That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground. 2“My lords,” he said, “come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”

“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the night out here in the city square.”

3But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate. 4But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house. 5They shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!”

6So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7“Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing. 8Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection.”

9“Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.

10But the two angels#19:10 Hebrew men; also in 19:12, 16. reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door. 11Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.

12Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other relatives here in the city?” they asked. “Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else. 13For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to destroy it.”

14So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’ fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is about to destroy it.” But the young men thought he was only joking.

15At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!”

16When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the Lord was merciful. 17When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”

18“Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19“You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die. 20See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved.”

21“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village. 22But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there.” (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)

23Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon. 24Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation. 26But Lot’s wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

27Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the Lord’s presence. 28He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.

29But God had listened to Abraham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.

Lot and His Daughters

30Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters. 31One day the older daughter said to her sister, “There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can’t get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children. 32Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.”

33So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.

34The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, “I had sex with our father last night. Let’s get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.” 35So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.

36As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their own father. 37When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab.#19:37 Moab sounds like a Hebrew term that means “from father.” He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites. 38When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi.#19:38 Ben-ammi means “son of my kinsman.” He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.

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Genesis 19

Genesis 19