< Genesis 19 >

1 And at nightfall the two angels came to Sodom; and Lot was seated at the way into the town: and when he saw them he got up and came before them, falling down on his face to the earth.
And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of the city. And seeing them, he rose up and went to meet them: and worshipped prostrate to the ground,
2 And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the street.
And said: I beseech you, my lords, turn in to the house of your servant, and lodge there: wash your feet, and in the morning you shall go on your way. And they said: No, but we will abide in the street.
3 But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made unleavened bread, of which they took.
He pressed them very much to turn in unto him: and when they were come into his house, he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread and they ate:
4 But before they had gone to bed, the men of the town, all the men of Sodom, came round the house, young and old, from every part of the town;
But before they went to bed, the men of the city beset the house both young and old, all the people together.
5 And crying out to Lot, they said, Where are the men who came to your house this night? Send them out to us, so that we may take our pleasure with them.
And they called Lot, and said to him: Where are the men that came in to thee at night? bring them out hither that we may know them:
6 And Lot went out to them in the doorway, shutting the door after him.
Lot went out to them, and shut the door after him, and said:
7 And he said, My brothers, do not this evil.
Do not so, I beseech you, my brethren, do not commit this evil.
8 See now, I have two unmarried daughters; I will send them out to you so that you may do to them whatever seems good to you: only do nothing to these men, for this is why they have come under the shade of my roof.
I have two daughters who as yet have not known man: I will bring them out to you, and abuse you them as it shall please you, so that you do no evil to these men, because they are come in under the shadow of my roof.
9 And they said, Give way there. This one man, they said, came here from a strange country, and will he now be our judge? now we will do worse to you than to them; and pushing violently against Lot, they came near to get the door broken in.
But they said: Get thee back thither. And again: Thou camest in, said they, as a, stranger, was it to be a judge? therefore we will afflict thee more than them. And they pressed very violently upon Lot: and they were even at the point of breaking open the doors.
10 But the men put out their hands and took Lot into the house to them, shutting the door again.
And behold the men put out their hand, and drew in Lot unto them, and shut the door:
11 But the men who were outside the door they made blind, all of them, small and great, so that they were tired out with looking for the door.
And them that were without, they struck with blindness from the least to the greatest, so that they could not find the door.
12 Then the men said to Lot, Are there any others of your family here? sons-in-law or sons or daughters, take them all out of this place;
And they said to Lot: Hast thou here any of thine? son in law, or sons, or daughters, all that are thine bring them out of this city:
13 For we are about to send destruction on this place, because a great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.
For we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.
14 And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
So Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law that were to have his daughters, and said: Arise: get you out of this place, because the Lord will destroy this city. And he seemed to them to speak as it were in jest.
15 And when morning came, the angels did all in their power to make Lot go, saying, Get up quickly and take your wife and your two daughters who are here, and go, for fear that you come to destruction in the punishment of the town.
And when it was morning, the angels pressed him, saying: Arise, take thy wife, and the two daughters which thou hast: lest thou also perish in the wickedness of the city.
16 But while he was waiting, the men took him and his wife and his daughters by the hand, for the Lord had mercy on them, and put them outside the town.
And as he lingered, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, and of his two daughters, because the Lord spared him.
17 And when they had put them out, he said, Go for your life, without looking back or waiting in the lowland; go quickly to the mountain or you will come to destruction.
And they brought him forth, and set him without the city: and there they spoke to him, saying: Save thy life: look not back, neither stay thou in all the country about: but save thyself in the mountain, lest thou be also consumed.
18 And Lot said to them, Not so, O my Lord;
And Lot said to them: I beseech thee my Lord,
19 See now, your servant has had grace in your eyes and great is your mercy in keeping my life from destruction, but I am not able to get as far as the mountain before evil overtakes me and death;
Because thy servant hath found grace before thee, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewn to me, in saving my life, and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil seize me, and I die:
20 This town, now, is near, and it is a little one: O, let me go there (is it not a little one?) so that my life may be safe.
There is this city here at hand, to which I may flee, it is a little one, and I shall be saved in it: is it not a little one, and my soul shall live?
21 And he said, See, I have given you your request in this one thing more: I will not send destruction on this town.
And he said to him: Behold also in this, I have heard thy prayers, not to destroy the city for which thou hast spoken.
22 Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
Make haste and be saved there, because I cannot do any thing till thou go in thither. Therefore the name of that city was called Segor.
23 The sun was up when Lot came to Zoar.
The sun was risen upon the earth, and Lot entered into Segor.
24 Then the Lord sent fire and flaming smoke raining down from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.
And the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrha brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
25 And he sent destruction on those towns, with all the lowland and all the people of those towns and every green thing in the land.
And he destroyed these cities, and all the country about, all the inhabitants of the cities, and all things that spring from the earth.
26 But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt.
And his wife looking behind her, was turned into a statue of salt.
27 And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had been talking with the Lord:
And Abraham got up early in the morning and in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,
28 And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of an oven.
He looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha, and the whole land of that country: and he saw the ashes rise up from the earth as the smoke of a furnace.
29 So it came about that when God sent destruction on the towns of the lowland, he kept his word to Abraham, and sent Lot safely away when he put an end to the towns where he was living.
Now when God destroyed the cities of that country, remembering Abraham, he delivered Lot out of the destruction of the cities wherein he had dwelt.
30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole in the rock.
And Lot went up out of Segor, and abode in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Segor, ) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31 And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old, and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way:
And the elder said to the younger Our father is old, and there is no man left on the earth, to come in unto us after the manner of the whole earth.
32 Come, let us give our father much wine, and we will go into his bed, so that we may have offspring by our father,
Come, let us make him drunk with wine, and let us lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father.
33 And that night they made their father take much wine; and the older daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.
And they made their father drink wine that night: and the elder went in and lay with her father: but he perceived not neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34 And on the day after, the older daughter said to the younger, Last night I was with my father; let us make him take much wine this night again, and do you go to him, so that we may have offspring by our father.
And the next day the elder said to the younger: Behold I lay last night with my father, let us make him drink wine also to night, and thou shalt lie with him, that we may save seed of our father.
35 And that night again they made their father take much wine; and the younger daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.
They made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and lay with him: and neither then did he perceive when she lay down, nor when she rose up.
36 And so the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
So the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 And the older daughter had a son, and she gave him the name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
And the elder bore a son, and she called his name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
38 And the younger had a son and gave him the name Ben-ammi: from him come the children of Ammon to this day.
The younger also bore a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, the son of my people: he is the father of the Ammonites unto this day.

< Genesis 19 >