Genesis 19-21

New International Version

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

19 The two angels^(A) arrived at Sodom^(B) in the evening, and Lot^(C) was sitting in the gateway of the city.^(D) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.^(E) ²“My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet^(F) and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”^(G)

³But he insisted^(H) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.^(I) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,^(J) and they ate.^(K) ⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom^(L)—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”^(M)

⁶Lot went outside to meet them^(N) and shut the door behind him ⁷and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”^(O)

⁹“Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,^(P) and now he wants to play the judge!^(Q) We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰But the men^(R) inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness^(S) so that they could not find the door.

¹²The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?^(T) Get them out of here, ¹³because we^(U) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great^(V) that he has sent us to destroy it.”^(W)

¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry^[a] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!^(X)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.^(Y)

¹⁵With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away^(Z) when the city is punished.^(AA)”

¹⁶When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters^(AB) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.^(AC) ¹⁷As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!^(AD) Don’t look back,^(AE) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!^(AF) Flee to the mountains^(AG) or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,^[b] please! ¹⁹Your^[c] servant has found favor in your^[d] eyes,^(AH) and you^[e] have shown great kindness^(AI) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;^(AJ) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request^(AK) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²²But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.^[f]^(AL))

²³By the time Lot reached Zoar,^(AM) the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur^(AN) on Sodom and Gomorrah^(AO)—from the Lord out of the heavens.^(AP) ²⁵Thus he overthrew those cities^(AQ) and the entire plain,^(AR) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.^(AS) ²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back,^(AT) and she became a pillar of salt.^(AU)

²⁷Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.^(AV) ²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.^(AW)

²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,^(AX) he remembered^(AY) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe^(AZ) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.^(BA)

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰Lot and his two daughters left Zoar^(BB) and settled in the mountains,^(BC) for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. ³¹One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. ³²Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line^(BD) through our father.”^(BE)

³³That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.^(BF)

³⁴The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”^(BG) ³⁵So they got their father to drink wine^(BH) that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.^(BI)

³⁶So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.^(BJ) ³⁷The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab^[g];^(BK) he is the father of the Moabites^(BL) of today. ³⁸The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi^[h]; he is the father of the Ammonites^[i]^(BM) of today.

Abraham and Abimelek^(BN)

20 Now Abraham moved on from there^(BO) into the region of the Negev^(BP) and lived between Kadesh^(BQ) and Shur.^(BR) For a while^(BS) he stayed in Gerar,^(BT) ²and there Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.^(BU)” Then Abimelek^(BV) king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.^(BW)

³But God came to Abimelek^(BX) in a dream^(BY) one night and said to him, “You are as good as dead^(BZ) because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman.”^(CA)

⁴Now Abimelek had not gone near her, so he said, “Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?^(CB) ⁵Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,^(CC)’ and didn’t she also say, ‘He is my brother’? I have done this with a clear conscience^(CD) and clean hands.^(CE)”

⁶Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept^(CF) you from sinning against me.^(CG) That is why I did not let you touch her. ⁷Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet,^(CH) and he will pray for you^(CI) and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”^(CJ)

⁸Early the next morning Abimelek summoned all his officials, and when he told them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. ⁹Then Abimelek called Abraham in and said, “What have you done to us? How have I wronged you that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done things to me that should never be done.^(CK)” ¹⁰And Abimelek asked Abraham, “What was your reason for doing this?”

¹¹Abraham replied, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God^(CL) in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’^(CM) ¹²Besides, she really is my sister,^(CN) the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³And when God had me wander^(CO) from my father’s household,^(CP) I said to her, ‘This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

¹⁴Then Abimelek^(CQ) brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham,^(CR) and he returned Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.”^(CS)

¹⁶To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels^[j] of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”

¹⁷Then Abraham prayed to God,^(CT) and God healed Abimelek, his wife and his female slaves so they could have children again, ¹⁸for the Lord had kept all the women in Abimelek’s household from conceiving because of Abraham’s wife Sarah.^(CU)

The Birth of Isaac

21 Now the Lord was gracious to Sarah^(CV) as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah what he had promised.^(CW) ²Sarah became pregnant and bore a son^(CX) to Abraham in his old age,^(CY) at the very time God had promised him.^(CZ) ³Abraham gave the name Isaac^[k]^(DA) to the son Sarah bore him. ⁴When his son Isaac was eight days old, Abraham circumcised him,^(DB) as God commanded him. ⁵Abraham was a hundred years old^(DC) when his son Isaac was born to him.

⁶Sarah said, “God has brought me laughter,^(DD) and everyone who hears about this will laugh with me.” ⁷And she added, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne him a son in his old age.”^(DE)

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸The child grew and was weaned,^(DF) and on the day Isaac was weaned Abraham held a great feast. ⁹But Sarah saw that the son whom Hagar the Egyptian had borne to Abraham^(DG) was mocking,^(DH) ¹⁰and she said to Abraham, “Get rid of that slave woman^(DI) and her son, for that woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with my son Isaac.”^(DJ)

¹¹The matter distressed Abraham greatly because it concerned his son.^(DK) ¹²But God said to him, “Do not be so distressed about the boy and your slave woman. Listen to whatever Sarah tells you, because it is through Isaac that your offspring^[l] will be reckoned.^(DL) ¹³I will make the son of the slave into a nation^(DM) also, because he is your offspring.”

¹⁴Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar.^(DN) He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba.^(DO)

¹⁵When the water in the skin was gone, she put the boy under one of the bushes. ¹⁶Then she went off and sat down about a bowshot away, for she thought, “I cannot watch the boy die.” And as she sat there, she^[m] began to sob.^(DP)

¹⁷God heard the boy crying,^(DQ) and the angel of God^(DR) called to Hagar from heaven^(DS) and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not be afraid;^(DT) God has heard the boy crying as he lies there. ¹⁸Lift the boy up and take him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.^(DU)”

¹⁹Then God opened her eyes^(DV) and she saw a well of water.^(DW) So she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.

²⁰God was with the boy^(DX) as he grew up. He lived in the desert and became an archer. ²¹While he was living in the Desert of Paran,^(DY) his mother got a wife for him^(DZ) from Egypt.

The Treaty at Beersheba

²²At that time Abimelek^(EA) and Phicol the commander of his forces^(EB) said to Abraham, “God is with you in everything you do.^(EC) ²³Now swear^(ED) to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or my descendants.^(EE) Show to me and the country where you now reside as a foreigner the same kindness I have shown to you.”^(EF)

²⁴Abraham said, “I swear it.”

²⁵Then Abraham complained to Abimelek about a well of water that Abimelek’s servants had seized.^(EG) ²⁶But Abimelek said, “I don’t know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I heard about it only today.”

²⁷So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek, and the two men made a treaty.^(EH) ²⁸Abraham set apart seven ewe lambs from the flock, ²⁹and Abimelek asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these seven ewe lambs you have set apart by themselves?”

³⁰He replied, “Accept these seven lambs from my hand as a witness^(EI) that I dug this well.^(EJ)”

³¹So that place was called Beersheba,^[n]^(EK) because the two men swore an oath^(EL) there.

³²After the treaty^(EM) had been made at Beersheba,^(EN) Abimelek and Phicol the commander of his forces^(EO) returned to the land of the Philistines.^(EP) ³³Abraham planted a tamarisk tree^(EQ) in Beersheba, and there he called on the name of the Lord,^(ER) the Eternal God.^(ES) ³⁴And Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines^(ET) for a long time.