Genesis 19
1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot happened to be sitting at the entrance to Sodom, and when he saw them he stood up to meet them, and bowed low with his face to the ground.
And the two Angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. And when he had seen them, he rose up and went to meet them. And he reverenced prone on the ground.
2 “Sirs, please come and stay with me for the night,” he said. “You can wash your feet and then be on your way early in the morning.” They replied, “No, it's fine. We'll spend the night here in the square.”
And he said: “I beg you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and lodge there. Wash your feet, and in the morning you will advance on your way.” And they said, “Not at all. But we will lodge in the street.”
3 But Lot insisted, and they went with him to his house. He made them a meal and baked bread for them to eat.
He pressed them very much to turn aside to him. And when they had entered his house, he made a feast for them, and he cooked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 But they hadn't even gone to bed before the men of Sodom, young and old, from every part of town, came and surrounded the house.
But before they went to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house, from boys to old men, all the people together.
5 They shouted out to Lot, “Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out here to us so we can have sex with them.”
And they called out to Lot, and they said to him: “Where are the men who entered to you in the night? Bring them out here, so that we may know them.”
6 Lot went out to talk to them in the doorway, closing the door behind him.
Lot went out to them, and blocking the door behind him, he said:
7 “My friends, please don't do such an evil thing!
“Do not, I ask you, my brothers, do not be willing to commit this evil.
8 Listen, I've got two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you want, but please don't do anything to these men. It's my responsibility to look after them.”
I have two daughters who as yet have not known man. I will bring them out to you; abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do no evil to these men, because they have entered under the shadow of my roof.”
9 “Out of our way!” they shouted. “Who do you think you are, coming to live here and now trying to judge us? We'll do even worse things to you than we were going to do to these men!” They rushed forward at Lot and tried to break down the door.
But they said, “Move away from there.” And again: “You have entered,” they said, “as a stranger; should you then judge? Therefore, we will afflict you yourself more than them.” And they acted very violently against Lot. And they were now at the point of breaking open the doors.
10 But the men inside reached out and grabbed Lot, dragged him inside, and slammed the door shut.
And behold, the men put out their hand, and they pulled Lot in to them, and they closed the door.
11 Then they made all the men in the doorway, young and old, suddenly go blind so they couldn't find the door.
And they struck those who were outside with blindness, from the least to the greatest, so that they were not able to find the door.
12 The two men asked Lot, “Is there anyone else here who's part of your family—sons-in-law, or sons or daughters, or anyone else in the town? If there are, make sure they leave,
Then they said to Lot: “Do you have here anyone of yours? All who are yours, sons-in-law, or sons, or daughters, bring them out of this city.
13 because we are about to destroy this place. The complaints that have reached the Lord about its people have become so bad that he has sent us to destroy it.”
For we will eliminate this place, because the outcry among them has increased before the Lord, who sent us to destroy them.”
14 Lot went immediately to speak to the men who were engaged to marry his daughters. “Get up quickly and leave,” he said, “because the Lord is about to destroy the town!” But they thought it was just a joke.
And so Lot, going out, spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to receive his daughters, and he said: “Rise up. Depart from this place. For the Lord will destroy this city.” And it seemed to them that he was speaking playfully.
15 At dawn, the angels begged Lot to be quick, telling him, “Hurry up! Leave right now with your wife and your two daughters here, otherwise you'll be wiped out when the city is punished.”
And when it was morning, the Angels compelled him, saying, “Arise, take your wife, and the two daughters that you have, lest you also should perish amid the wickedness of the city.”
16 But Lot hesitated. The men grabbed his hand, and those of his wife and two daughters, and dragged them along, leaving them outside the town. The Lord was kind to them to do this.
And, since he ignored them, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, as well as that of his two daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.
17 As soon as they were outside, one of the men said, “Run for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the valley! Run to the mountains otherwise you'll be destroyed!”
And they brought him out, and placed him beyond the city. And there they spoke to him, saying: “Save your life. Do not look back. Neither should you stay in the entire surrounding region. But save yourself in the mountain, lest you also should perish.”
18 “Please sir, not that!” Lot replied.
And Lot said to them: “I beg you, my lord,
19 “If you don't mind, since you have already been so kind to me by saving my life, don't make me run to the mountains—I just can't make it. The destruction will overtake me and I'll die!
though your servant has found grace before you, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have shown to me in saving my life, I cannot be saved on the mountain, lest perhaps some misfortune take hold of me and I die.
20 Look, there's a town nearby that's close enough to run to, and it's so small. Please let me run there—it's really very small. It would save my life.”
There is a certain city nearby, to which I can flee; it is a little one, and I will be saved in it. Is it not a modest one, and will not my soul live?”
21 “Fine—I'll do as you ask,” he replied. “I won't destroy this town you've mentioned.
And he said to him: “Behold, even now, I have heard your petitions about this, not to overturn the city on behalf of which you have spoken.
22 But hurry up and run there quickly, because I can't do anything until you get there.” (This is why the town was called Zoar.)
Hurry and be saved there. For I cannot do anything until you enter there.” For this reason, the name of that city is called Zoar.
23 The sun had already risen by the time Lot reached Zoar.
The sun had risen over the land, and Lot had entered into Zoar.
24 Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.
Therefore, the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord, out of heaven.
25 He completely destroyed the towns and all their inhabitants, the whole valley and everything growing there.
And he overturned these cities, and all the surrounding region: all the inhabitants of the cities, and everything that springs from the land.
26 But Lot's wife, who was lagging behind, looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
And his wife, looking behind herself, was turned into a statue of salt.
27 Abraham got up early the next morning and went back to where he had stood before the Lord.
Then Abraham, rising up in the morning, in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,
28 He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley floor, and saw the land burning, sending up smoke like from a furnace.
looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and the entire land of that region. And he saw embers rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.
29 When God destroyed the towns of the valley he didn't forget the promise he made Abraham, and he saved Lot from the destruction of the towns where Lot was living.
For when God overthrew the cities of that region, remembering Abraham, he freed Lot from the overthrow of the cities, in which he had dwelt.
30 Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, so he left town and went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.
And Lot ascended from Zoar, and he stayed on the mountain, and likewise his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Zoar) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31 Sometime later the older daughter said to the younger one, “Our father is growing old, and there's no men left to give us children like everyone does.
And the elder said to the younger: “Our father is old, and no man remains in the land who can enter to us according to the custom of the whole world.
32 Come on, let's get our father drunk with wine and sleep with him so we can keep his family line going.”
Come, let us inebriate him with wine, and let us sleep with him, so that we may be able to preserve offspring from our father.”
33 So they got their father drunk with wine that night. The older daughter went and slept with him, and he didn't notice when she lay down or when she got up.
And so they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the elder went in, and she slept with her father. But he did not perceive it, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger one, “Last night I slept with our father. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight and you can go and sleep with him so we can keep his family line going.”
Likewise, the next day, the elder said to the younger: “Behold, yesterday I slept with my father, let us give him wine to drink yet again this night, and you will sleep with him, so that we may save offspring from our father.”
35 So once again that night they got their father drunk with wine and the younger daughter went and slept with him, and he didn't notice when she lay down or when she got up.
And then they gave their father wine to drink that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and slept with him. And not even then did he perceive when she lay down, or when she rose up.
36 This is how both Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.
Therefore, the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
37 The older daughter had a son, and she called him Moab. He is the ancestor of the Moabites of today.
And the elder gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites, even to the present day.
38 The younger daughter had a son too, and she called him Ben-ammi. He is the ancestor of the Ammonites of today.
Likewise, the younger gave birth to a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, ‘the son of my people.’ He is the father of the Ammonites, even today.
