Genesis 18
1
And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And
he was sitting at the door of the tent in the heat of the day. 2 And he lifted
up his eyes and looked; and, behold, three men were standing by him. And he saw,
and he ran to meet them from the entrance of the tent. And he bowed to the
ground. 3 And he said, My Lord, if now I have found favor in Your sight, I beg
You, do not leave from near Your servant. 4 Please allow a little water to be
taken and You wash Your feet, and rest under the tree. 5 And I will bring a
bite of bread and will sustain Your heart. Then You may pass on, for this is
why You have passed over to Your servant. And they said, Do so, as you have
said. 6 And Abraham ran into the tent to Sarah and said, Hurry, prepare three
measures of fine meal, knead it and make cakes. 7 And Abraham ran to the herd
and brought a son of the herd, tender and good, and gave it to a youth. And he
hurried to prepare it. 8 And he took curds and milk and the son of the herd
which he had prepared, and he set before them. And he stood by them under the
tree. And they ate. 9 And they said to him, Where is your wife Sarah? And he
said, See, in the tent. 10 And He said, Returning I will return to you at the
time of life; and, Behold! A son shall be to your wife Sarah. And Sarah was
listening at the entrance to the tent, and it was behind Him. 11 And Abraham
and Sarah were aged, going on in days. The custom as to women had ceased to be
to Sarah. 12 And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After my being old,
shall there be pleasure to me; my lord also being old? 13 And Jehovah said to
Abraham, Why has Sarah laughed at this, saying, Indeed, truly shall I bear,
even I who am old? 14 Is anything too difficult for Jehovah? At the appointed
time I will return to you, at the time of life, and there will be a son to
Sarah. 15 And Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And He
said, No, but you did laugh. 16 And the men rose up from there and looked on
the face of Sodom. And Abraham was going with them, to send them away. 17 And
Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham that which I am doing? 18 And Abraham
shall become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth
shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have known him, so that whatever he may
command his sons and his house after him, even they may keep the way of
Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice; to the intent that Jehovah may bring
on Abraham that which He has spoken of him. 20 And Jehovah said, The cry of
Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is exceedingly heavy. 21 I will go
down and see if they have at all done according to the cry coming to Me. And if
not, I will know. 22 And the men faced around from there and went toward Sodom.
And Abraham was still standing before Jehovah. 23 And Abraham drew near and
said, Is it so? Will You cut off the righteous with the wicked? 24 Perhaps
there are fifty righteous within the city; is it so You will cut off and will
not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones that are within
it? 25 Far be it from You to act in this way, to put to death the righteous
with the wicked. Far be it from You. The Judge of all the earth, shall He not
do right? 26 And Jehovah said, If I find fifty righteous within the city, in
Sodom, then I will spare all the place because of them. 27 And Abraham answered
and said, Behold, I pray, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, and I am dust
and ash. 28 Perhaps there will be lacking five from the fifty righteous, will You
destroy all the city for the five? And He said, If I find forty five there, I
will not destroy. 29 And he continued still to speak to Him and said, Perhaps
forty will be found there. And He said, I will not do it because of the forty.
30 And he said, Please do not my Lord be angry, that I may speak; perhaps
thirty will be found there. And He said, I will not do it if I find thirty
there. 31 And he said, Behold, I pray, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord;
perhaps twenty will be found there. And He said, I will not destroy because of
the twenty. 32 And he said, I pray, let not my Lord be angry that I may speak
only this time; perhaps ten will be found there. And He said, I will not
destroy because of the ten. 33 And when Jehovah had left off speaking to Abraham,
He was finished. And Abraham returned to
his place.