Genesis 18
1 And God appeared to him by the oak of Mambre, as he sat by the door of his tent at noon.
Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;
2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold! three men stood before him; and having seen them he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and did obeisance to the ground.
And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent, and went down on his face to the earth;
3 And he said, Lord, if indeed I have found grace in your sight, pass not by your servant.
And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go away from your servant:
4 Let water now be brought, and let them wash your feet, and do you refresh [yourselves] under the tree.
Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest under the tree:
5 And I will bring bread, and you shall eat, and after this you shall depart on your journey, on account of which [refreshment] you have turned aside to your servant. And he said, So do, as you have said.
And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.
6 And Abraam hasted to the tent to Sarrha, and said to her, Hasten, and knead three measures of fine flour, and make cakes.
Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.
7 And Abraam ran to the kine, and took a young calf, tender and good, and gave it to his servant, and he hasted to dress it.
And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready;
8 And he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had dressed; and he set them before them, and they did eat, and he stood by them under the tree.
And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food.
9 And he said to him, Where is Sarrha your wife? And he answered and said, Behold! in the tent.
And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent.
10 And he said, I will return and come to you according to this period seasonably, and Sarrha your wife shall have a son; and Sarrha heard at the door of the tent, being behind him.
And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door.
11 And Abraam and Sarrha were old, advanced in days, and the custom of women ceased with Sarrha.
Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the time for giving birth.
12 And Sarrha laughed in herself, saying, The thing has not as yet happened to me, even until now, and my lord is old.
And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?
13 And the Lord said to Abraam, Why is it that Sarrha has laughed in herself, saying, Shall I then indeed bear? but I am grown old.
And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child?
14 Shall anything be impossible with the Lord? At this time I will return to you seasonably, and Sarrha shall have a son.
Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child.
15 But Sarrha denied, saying, I did not laugh, for she was afraid. And he said to her, Nay, but you did laugh.
Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing.
16 And the men having risen up from thence looked towards Sodom and Gomorrha. And Abraam went with them, attending them on their journey.
And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went with them on their way.
17 And the Lord said, Shall I hide from Abraam my servant what things I intend to do?
And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do;
18 But Abraam shall become a great and populous nation, and in him shall all the nations of the earth be blest.
Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing?
19 For I know that he will order his sons, and his house after him, and they will keep the ways of the Lord, to do justice and judgment, that the Lord may bring upon Abraam all things whatever he has spoken to him.
For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said.
20 And the Lord said, The cry of Sodom and Gomorrha has been increased towards me, and their sins are very great.
And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,
21 I will therefore go down and see, if they completely correspond with the cry which comes to me, and if not, that I may know.
I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see.
22 And the men having departed thence, came to Sodom; and Abraam was still standing before the Lord.
And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.
23 And Abraam drew near and said, Wouldest you destroy the righteous with the wicked, and shall the righteous be as the wicked?
And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?
24 Should there be fifty righteous in the city, will you destroy them? will you not spare the whole place for the sake of the fifty righteous, if they be in it?
If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?
25 By no means shall you do as this thing [is] so as to destroy the righteous with the wicked, so the righteous shall be as the wicked: by no means. You that judge the whole earth, shall you not do right?
Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes.
And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them.
27 And Abraam answered and said, Now I have begun to speak to my Lord, and I am earth and ashes.
And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:
28 But if the fifty righteous should be diminished to forty-five, will you destroy the whole city because of the five [lacking]? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there forty-five.
If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.
29 And he continued to speak to him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake.
And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.
30 And he said, Will there be anything [against me], Lord, if I shall speak? but if there be found there thirty? And he said, I will not destroy it for the thirty's sake.
And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.
31 And he said, Since I am able to speak to the Lord, what if there should be found there twenty? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I should find there twenty.
And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.
32 And he said, Will there be anything [against me], Lord, if I speak yet once? but if there should be found there ten? And he said, I will not destroy it for the ten's sake.
And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.
33 And the Lord departed, when he left off speaking to Abraam, and Abraam returned to his place.
And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place.
