1And the two angels came to Sodom at even. And Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. And Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them; and he bowed down, the face toward the ground, 2and he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant's house, and lodge, and wash your feet; and ye shall rise up early, and go on your way. And they said, No; but we will pass the night in the open place. 3And he urged them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house. And he made them a repast, and baked unleavened cakes; and they ate.

4Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from the youngest to the oldest — all the people from every quarter. 5And they called to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men that have come in to thee to-night? bring them out to us that we may know them. 6And Lot went out to them to the entrance, and shut the door after him, 7and said, I pray you, my brethren, do not wickedly! 8Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man: let me now bring them out to you; and do to them as is good in your sight: only, to these men do nothing; for therefore have they come under the shadow of my roof. 9And they said, Back there! And they said again, This one came to sojourn, and he must be a judge? Now we will deal worse with thee than with them. And they pressed hard on the man — on Lot; and drew near to break the door. 10And the men stretched out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11And they smote the men that were at the entrance of the house with blindness, from the smallest to the greatest; and they wearied themselves to find the entrance.

12And the men said to Lot, Whom hast thou here besides? a son-in-law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and all whom thou hast in the city — bring them out of the place. 13For we are going to destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before Jehovah, and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it. 14And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, Up, go out of this place, for Jehovah will destroy the city. But he was as if he jested, in the sight of his sons-in-law.

15And as the dawn arose, the angels urged Lot, saying, Up, take thy wife and thy two daughters who are present, lest thou perish in the iniquity of the city. 16And as he lingered, the men laid hold on his hand, and on the hand of his wife, and on the hand of his two daughters, Jehovah being merciful to him; and they led him out, and set him without the city. 17And it came to pass when they had brought them outside, that he said, Escape for thy life: look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain: escape to the mountain, lest thou perish. 18And Lot said to them, Not so, I pray thee, Lord; 19behold now, thy servant has found favour in thine eyes, and thou hast magnified thy goodness, which thou hast shewn to me in preserving my soul alive; but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest calamity lay hold on me, that I die. 20Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is small: I pray thee, let me escape thither — is it not small? — and my soul shall live. 21And he said to him, Behold, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken. 22Haste, escape thither; for I cannot do anything until thou art come there. Therefore the name of the city is called Zoar. 23The sun rose upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

24And Jehovah rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven, 25and overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew upon the ground.

26And his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27And Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Jehovah; 28and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and lo, a smoke went up from the land as the smoke of a furnace. 29And it came to pass when God#GodHebrew: Elohim destroyed the cities of the plain, that God#GodHebrew: Elohim remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30And Lot went up from Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31And the first-born said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the land to come in to us after the manner of all the earth: 32come, let us give our father wine to drink, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed alive of our father. 33And they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the first-born went in, and lay with her father, and he did not know of her lying down, nor of her rising. 34And it came to pass on the next day that the first-born said to the younger, Lo, I lay last night with my father: let us give him wine to drink to-night also, and go thou in, lie with him, that we may preserve seed alive of our father. 35And they gave their father wine to drink that night also. And the younger arose, and lay with him; and he did not know of her lying down, nor of her rising. 36And both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. 37And the first-born bore a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; the same is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.

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Genesis 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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Genesis 19

Genesis 19