Genesis 18
1 Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;
Forsothe in the valei of Mambre the Lord apperide to Abraham, sittynge in the dore of his tabernacle, in thilke heete of the dai.
2 And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent, and went down on his face to the earth;
And whanne he hadde reisid his iyen, thre men apperiden to hym, and stoden nyy hym. And whanne he hadde seyn hem, he ran fro the dore of his tabernacle in to the meting of hem, and he worschipide on erthe,
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go away from your servant:
and seide, Lord, if Y haue founde grace in thin iyen, passe thou not thi seruaunt,
4 Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest under the tree:
but I schal brynge a litil watir, and youre feet be waischid, and reste ye vndur the tre;
5 And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.
and Y schal sette a mussel of breed, and youre herte be coumfortid; aftirward ye schulen passe; for herfor ye bowiden to youre seruaunt. Whiche seiden, Do thou as thou hast spoke.
6 Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.
Abraham hastide in to the tabernacle, to Sare, and seide to hir, Hast thou, meddle thou thre half buschelis of clene flour; and make thou looues bakun vndur aischis.
7 And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready;
Forsothe he ran to the droue of beestis, and took therof a calf moost tendre and best, and yaf to a child, which hastide, and sethede the calfe;
8 And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food.
and he took botere, and mylk, and the calf which he hadde sode, and settide bifore hem; forsothe Abraham stood bisidis hem vndur the tre.
9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent.
And whanne thei hadden ete, thei seiden to hym, Where is Sare thi wijf? He answerde, Lo! sche is in the tabernacle.
10 And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door.
To whom the Lord seide, Y schal turne ayen, and Y schal come to thee in this tyme, if Y lyue; and Sare, thi wijf, schal haue a sone. Whanne this was herd, Sare leiyede bihynde the dore of the tabernacle.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the time for giving birth.
Forsothe bothe weren olde, and of greet age, and wommans termes ceessiden to be maad to Sare.
12 And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?
And she leiyede, seiynge pryueli, after that Y wexede eld, and my lord is eld, schal Y yyue diligence to lust?
13 And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child?
Forsothe the Lord seide to Abraham, Whi leiyeth Sare, thi wijf, seiynge, whether Y an eld womman schal bere child verili?
14 Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child.
whether ony thing is hard to God? Bi the biheeste Y schal turne ayen to thee in this same tyme, if Y lyue; and Sara schal haue a sone.
15 Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing.
Sare was aferd for drede, and denyede, seiynge, Y leiyede not. Forsothe the Lord seide, It is not so, but thou leiyedist.
16 And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went with them on their way.
Therfor whanne the men hadden risen fro thennus, thei dressiden the iyen ayens Sodom; and Abraham yede to gidre, ledynge hem forth.
17 And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do;
And the Lord seide, Wher Y mowe hele fro Abraham what thingis Y schal do,
18 Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing?
sithen he schal be in to a greet folk and moost strong, and alle naciouns of erthe schulen be blessid in hym?
19 For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said.
For Y woot that Abraham schal comaunde hise children, and his hows after hym, that thei kepe the weie of the Lord, and that thei do riytfulnesse and dom, that the Lord bringe for Abraham alle thingis whiche he spak to Abraham.
20 And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,
And so the Lord seide, The cry of men of Sodom and of men of Gomorre is multiplied, and her synne is agreggid greetli; Y schal come doun,
21 I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see.
and schal se whether thei han fillid in werk the cry that cam to me, that Y wite whether it is not so.
22 And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.
And thei turneden han fro thennus, and yeden to Sodom. Abraham sotheli stood yit bifore the Lord,
23 And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?
and neiyede, and seide, Whether thou schalt leese a iust man with the wickid man?
24 If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?
if fifti iust men ben in the citee, schulen thei perische togidere, and schalt thou not spare that place for fifti iust men, if thei ben ther ynne?
25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
Fer be it fro thee that thou do this thing, and sle a iust man with a wickid man, and that a iust man be maad as a wickid man; this is not thin that demest al erthe; thou schalt not make this doom.
26 And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them.
And the Lord seide to him, If Y schal fynde in Sodom fifti iust men in the myddis of the citee, Y schal foryyue to al the place for hem.
27 And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:
Abraham answerde and seide, For Y bigan onys, Y schal speke to my Lord, sithen Y am dust and aische;
28 If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.
what if lesse than fifti iust men bi fyue ben, schalt thou do a wey al the cite for fyue and fourti? And the Lord seide, Y schal not do a wei, if I schal fynde fyue and fourti there.
29 And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.
And eft Abraham seide to hym, But if fourti ben there, what schalt thou do? The Lord seide, Y schal not smyte for fourti.
30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.
Abraham seide, Lord, Y biseche, take thou not to indignacioun, if Y speke; what if thretti be foundun there? The Lord answerde, Y schal not do, if Y schal fynde thretti there.
31 And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.
Abraham seide, For Y bigan onys, Y schal speke to my Lord; what if twenti be foundun there? The Lord seide, Y schal not sle for twenti.
32 And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.
Abraham seide, Lord, Y biseche, be thou not wrooth, if Y speke yit onys; what if ten be founden there? The Lord seide, Y schal not do a wey for ten.
33 And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place.
The Lord yede forth, after that he ceesside to speke to Abraham, and Abraham turnede ayen in to his place.
