Genesis 19
1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
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.
2 and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”
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.”
3 He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
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.
4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
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.
5 They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
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]
6 Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself.
Lot went outside the house and shut the door behind him, so that they could not go inside.
7 He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly.
He said to them, “My friends, don’t do such an evil thing!
8 See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
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]!”
9 They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door.
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.
10 But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
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.
11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.
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.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:
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,
13 for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”
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.”
14 Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.
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.
15 When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”
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!”
16 But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughters’ hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.
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.
17 It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”
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!”
18 Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord.
But Lot said to one of the angels, “No, sir, don’t make me do that!
19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die.
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].
20 See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”
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.”
21 He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
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.
22 Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.
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.
23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
As the sun was rising, Lot and his family arrived in the town which is now called Zoar.
24 Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky.
Then Yahweh caused fire and [burning] sulfur to fall down on Sodom and Gomorrah like rain.
25 He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
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.
26 But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
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.
27 Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh.
That morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood in front of Yahweh.
28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
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.
29 When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
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.
30 Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
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.
31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.
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.
32 Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
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.”
33 They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose.
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.
34 It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
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.”
35 They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up.
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.
36 Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.
So Lot caused his two daughters to become pregnant.
37 The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
The older one later gave birth to a son, whom she named Moab. He became the ancestor of the Moab people-group.
38 The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.
The younger one also gave birth to a son, whom she named Ben-Ammi. He became the ancestor of the Ammon people-group.
