Through the Bible – Day 6

₁One hot summer afternoon Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, when the LORD appeared to him. ₂Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ₃and said, “Please come to my home where I can serve you. ₄I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under the tree. ₅Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honoured to serve you.”

“Thank you very much,” they answered. “We accept your offer.”

₆Abraham quickly went to his tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread.” ₇After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ₈He then served his guests some yoghurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees, ₉and they asked, “Where is your wife Sarah?”

“She is there in the tent,” Abraham answered.

₁₀One of the guests was the LORD, and he said, “I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son.”

Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ₁₁Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ₁₂So she laughed and said to herself, “Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?”

₁₃The LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ₁₄I am the LORD! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son.”

₁₅Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, “I didn't laugh.”

“Yes, you did!” he answered.

₁₆When the three men got ready to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked part of the way with them.

₁₇The LORD said to himself, “I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, ₁₈since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth. ₁₉I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me for ever and to do what is right and fair. Then I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised.”

₂₀The LORD said, “Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ₂₁Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I want to know about it.”

₂₂The men turned and started towards Sodom. But the LORD stayed with Abraham, ₂₃who asked, “LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ₂₄Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? ₂₅You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right.”

₂₆The LORD replied, “If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed.”

₂₇Abraham answered, “I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, LORD, for daring to speak to you like this. ₂₈But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?”

“If I find forty-five good people,” the LORD replied, “I won't destroy the city.”

₂₉“Suppose there are just forty good people?” Abraham asked.

“Even for them,” the LORD replied, “I won't destroy the city.”

₃₀Abraham said, “Please don't be angry, LORD, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city.”

“If I find thirty,” the LORD replied, “I still won't destroy it.”

₃₁Then Abraham said, “I don't have any right to ask you, LORD, but what would you do if you find only twenty?”

“Because of them, I won't destroy the city,” was the LORD's answer.

₃₂Finally, Abraham said, “Please don't get angry, LORD, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there.”

“For the sake of ten good people,” the LORD told him, “I still won't destroy the city.”

₃₃After speaking with Abraham, the LORD left, and Abraham went back home.

₁That evening the two angels arrived in Sodom, while Lot was sitting near the city gate. When Lot saw them, he got up, bowed down low, ₂and said, “Gentlemen, I am your servant. Please come to my home. You can wash your feet, spend the night, and be on your way in the morning.”

They told him, “No, we'll spend the night in the city square.” ₃But Lot kept insisting, until they finally agreed and went home with him. He baked some bread, cooked a meal, and they ate.

₄Before Lot and his guests could go to bed, every man in Sodom, young and old, came and stood outside his house ₅and started shouting, “Where are your visitors? Send them out, so we can have sex with them!”

₆Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ₇Then he said, “Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing! ₈I have two daughters who have never been married. I'll bring them out, and you can do what you want with them. But don't harm these men. They are guests in my home.”

₉“Don't get in our way,” the crowd answered. “You're an outsider. What right do you have to order us around? We'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them.”

The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed towards the door to break it down. ₁₀But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside. ₁₁Then they struck everyone in the crowd blind, and none of them could even find the door.

_12-13The two angels said to Lot, “The LORD has heard many terrible things about the people of Sodom, and he has sent us here to destroy the city. Take your family and leave. Take every relative you have in the city, as well as the men your daughters are going to marry.”

₁₄Lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said, “Hurry and get out of here! The LORD is going to destroy this city.” But they thought he was joking, and they laughed at him.

₁₅Early the next morning the two angels tried to make Lot hurry and leave. They said, “Take your wife and your two daughters and get out of here as fast as you can! If you don't, every one of you will be killed when the LORD destroys the city.” ₁₆At first, Lot just stood there. But the LORD wanted to save him. So the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. ₁₇When they were outside, one of the angels said, “Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you will be safe.”

_18-19Lot answered, “You have done us a great favour, sir. You have saved our lives, but please don't make us go to the hills. That's too far away. The city will be destroyed before we can get there, and we will be killed when it happens. ₂₀There's a town near here. It's only a small place, but my family and I will be safe, if you let us go there.”

₂₁“All right, go there,” he answered. “I won't destroy that town. ₂₂Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there.”

The town was later called Zoar because Lot had said it was small.

₂₃The sun was coming up as Lot reached the town of Zoar, ₂₄and the LORD sent burning sulphur down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. ₂₅He destroyed those cities and everyone who lived in them, as well as their land and the trees and grass that grew there.

₂₆On the way, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt.

₂₇That same morning Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood and spoken with the LORD. ₂₈He looked down towards Sodom and Gomorrah and saw smoke rising from all over the land—it was like a flaming furnace.

₂₉When God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot lived, he remembered his promise to Abraham and saved Lot from the terrible destruction.

₃₀Lot was afraid to stay on in Zoar. So he took his two daughters and moved to a cave in the hill country. ₃₁One day his elder daughter said to her sister, “Our father is old, and there are no men anywhere for us to marry. ₃₂Let's get our father drunk! Then we can sleep with him and have children.” ₃₃That night they got their father drunk, and the elder daughter got in bed with him, but he was too drunk even to know she was there.

₃₄The next day the elder daughter said to her sister, “I slept with my father last night. We'll get him drunk again tonight, so you can go to bed with him, and we can each have a child.” ₃₅That night they got their father drunk, and this time the younger sister slept with him. But once again he was too drunk even to know she was there.

₃₆That's how Lot's two daughters had their children. ₃₇The elder daughter named her son Moab, and he is the ancestor of the Moabites. ₃₈The younger daughter named her son Benammi, and he is the ancestor of the Ammonites.