< Genesis 19 >

1 That evening, the two angels arrived in Sodom. Lot was sitting at the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to greet them, and prostrated himself with his face on the ground.
Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown,
2 He said to them, “Gentlemen, please stay in my house tonight. You can wash your feet, and tomorrow you can continue your journey.” But they said, “No, we will just sleep in the city square.”
and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”
3 But Lot kept insisting strongly that they sleep in his house. So they entered his house with him, and he prepared a meal for them. He baked some bread without yeast, and they ate it.
But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4 After they finished eating, before they went to bed, the men of Sodom [city], all of them, from the young ones to the old ones, surrounded the house.
Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house.
5 They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to your house this evening? Bring them out, so that we can have sex with them!” [EUP]
They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!”
6 Lot went outside the house and shut the door behind him, so that they could not go inside.
Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him.
7 He said to them, “My friends, don’t do such an evil thing!
“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!
8 Listen to me. I have two daughters who have never had sex with any man. Let me bring them out to you now, and you can do with them whatever pleases you. But don’t do anything to these men, because they are guests in my house, [so I must protect them]!”
Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”
9 But they replied, “Get out of our way! You are a foreigner; so you have no right to tell us what is right! [If you don’t get out of our way], we will do worse things to you than we will do to them!” Then they lunged towards Lot, and tried forcefully to break down the door.
“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
10 But the two angels opened the door carefully, reached out their hands, and pulled Lot to them inside the house. Then they quickly shut the door.
But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.
11 Then they caused all the men who were outside the door of the house, young and old, to become blind, so that they could not find the door.
And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
12 Then the two angels said to Lot, “Who else is with you here? If you have sons or sons-in-law or daughters or anyone else in the city who is related to you, take them out of the city,
Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here,
13 because we are the ones who are going to destroy this place. Yahweh considers that these people are so evil that he sent us to destroy the city.”
because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went and spoke to the men who had pledged to marry his daughters. He said to them, “Hurry! Get out of this city, because Yahweh is about to destroy it!” But his future sons-in-law thought he was joking.
So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 As it was about to dawn the next morning, the two angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up quickly! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here with you and leave! If you don’t, you will die when [we destroy/Yahweh destroys] the city!”
At daybreak the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.”
16 When Lot hesitated, the angels grasped his hand and his wife’s hand and the hands of his two daughters. They led them outside the city safely. The angels did that because Yahweh was acting mercifully toward them.
But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them.
17 When they were outside the city, one of the angels said, “[If you want to remain alive], run away quickly! Don’t look back! And don’t stop anywhere in the valley! Flee to the hills! If you don’t, you will die!”
As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to one of the angels, “No, sir, don’t make me do that!
But Lot replied, “No, my lords, please!
19 Please, listen. You have been pleased with me and have been very kind to me and spared my life. But I cannot flee to the mountain. If I try to do that, I will die in this disaster [PRS].
Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.
20 But listen to me. There is a town nearby. Let me run to that small town. Let me go there now. It is a small town, but our lives will be saved if we go there.”
Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.”
21 One of the angels said to Lot, “I will allow you to do what you have requested [MTY]. I will not destroy the little town you are speaking about.
“Very well,” he answered, “I will grant this request as well, and will not demolish the town you indicate.
22 But hurry! Run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you arrive there.” People later called the name of the town Zoar [which means ‘small’, ] because Lot said it was small.
Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.
23 As the sun was rising, Lot and his family arrived in the town which is now called Zoar.
And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar.
24 Then Yahweh caused fire and [burning] sulfur to fall down on Sodom and Gomorrah like rain.
Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens.
25 In that way, he destroyed those cities and all the people who were living in those cities. He also destroyed everything in the valley, including all the plants/vegetation.
Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground.
26 But Lot’s wife stopped and looked back [to see what was happening], so she died, and her body [later] became a pillar of salt.
But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 That morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood in front of Yahweh.
Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and he [was surprised to] see that all over the valley, smoke was rising, like the smoke of a huge furnace.
He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace.
29 So, when God destroyed those cities in the valley, he remembered what he had promised Abraham, and he rescued Lot from the disaster that occurred in the cities where Lot had lived.
So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.
30 Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, so he left there and moved with his two daughters to the mountain, and they lived in a cave.
Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains—for he was afraid to stay in Zoar—where they lived in a cave.
31 One day the older daughter said to (the younger daughter/her sister), “Our father is old, and there is no man in this area who can have sex [EUP] with us, as people all over the earth do.
One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth.
32 Let’s make our father drink wine until he gets drunk. Then we can have sex with him [EUP] [without him knowing it]. In that way [he will cause us to become pregnant] and we can bear children.”
Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.”
33 So that night they caused their father to become drunk. And the older daughter went in and lay in bed with her father, and he had sex with her, but he was so drunk that he did not know when she lay down with him or when she got up.
So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day, his older daughter said to (his younger daughter/her sister), “Listen to me. Last night I slept with our father. Let’s cause him to become drunk again tonight! This time you can go and sleep with him. If he has sex with you, you can become pregnant, and that way you can have a child, too.”
The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.”
35 So that night, they caused their father to become drunk with wine again, and then his younger daughter went and slept with him. But again, he was so drunk that he did not know when she lay down with him or when she got up.
So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So Lot caused his two daughters to become pregnant.
Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
37 The older one later gave birth to a son, whom she named Moab. He became the ancestor of the Moab people-group.
The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.
38 The younger one also gave birth to a son, whom she named Ben-Ammi. He became the ancestor of the Ammon people-group.
The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

< Genesis 19 >