Genesis 18
He Stood Between the City and the Judge
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The Hospitality of Abraham
18:1God appeared to him beside the oak of Mamre as he sat at the entrance of his tent at noon.
18:2He raised his eyes and saw three men standing over him. When he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to meet them and bowed to the ground.
18:3He said, “Lord, if indeed I have found favor before you, do not pass by your servant.
18:4Let water be brought, and let them wash your feet; refresh yourselves under the tree.
18:5I will bring bread, and you shall eat; afterward you may continue on your way, since you have turned aside to your servant.” They said, “Do as you have said.”
18:6Abraham hurried to the tent, to Sarah, and said to her, “Hurry, knead three measures of fine flour and make cakes baked in the embers.”
18:7Abraham ran to the cattle, took a tender and good calf, and gave it to the attendant, who hurried to prepare it.
18:8He took butter, milk, and the calf he had prepared and set them before them, and they ate. He stood by them under the tree.
Sarah Laughs
18:9He said to him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He answered, “There, in the tent.”
18:10He said, “I will return to you at this season, when the time comes round, and your wife Sarah shall have a son.” Sarah heard at the tent entrance, being behind him.
18:11Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in days. The things of women had ceased for Sarah.
18:12Sarah laughed within herself, saying, “It has not happened to me up to now, and my lord is old.”
18:13The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh within herself, saying, ‘Will I really bear a child? But I have grown old.’
18:14Is any word impossible with God? At this season I will return to you, when the time comes round, and Sarah shall have a son.”
18:15Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. He said, “No, you did laugh.”
God’s Plan for Sodom and Gomorrah
18:16The men rose from there and looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham accompanied them to escort them onward.
18:17The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham My servant what I am doing?
18:18Abraham will surely become a great and numerous nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.
18:19For I knew that he would command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham everything He has spoken to him.”
18:20The Lord said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has increased, and their sins are very great.
18:21I will go down, then, and see whether they are being brought to an end according to their outcry that comes to Me; if not, that I may know.”
18:22The men turned from there and came to Sodom, while Abraham stood before the Lord.
Abraham Negotiates for the Righteous
18:23Abraham drew near and said, “Will You destroy the righteous with the ungodly, so that the righteous will be like the ungodly?
18:24If there are fifty righteous people in the city, will You destroy them? Will You not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they are in it?
18:25By no means shall You do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the ungodly, so that the righteous will be like the ungodly! By no means! You who judge all the earth, will You not do justice?”
18:26The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake.”
18:27Abraham answered, “Now I have begun to speak to the Lord, though I am earth and ashes.
18:28“If the fifty righteous lack five, will You destroy the whole city because of the five?” He said, “I will certainly not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
18:29He spoke to Him again: “What if forty are found there?” He said, “I will certainly not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”
18:30He said, “Please, Lord, if I may speak: what if thirty are found there?” He said, “I will certainly not destroy it if I find thirty there.”
18:31He said, “Since I may speak to the Lord: what if twenty are found there?” He said, “I will certainly not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
18:32He said, “Please, Lord, if I may speak once more: what if ten are found there?” He said, “I will certainly not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
18:33The Lord departed when He stopped speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.
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Saints Translation · Liturgical reading edition · V1 · working draft awaiting specialist review.