The Angels Arrive in Sodom

1. And two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom;
and Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them,
and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground,

2. and he said, “Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray, into your servant’s house,
and lodge all night, and wash your feet;
and you shall rise up early, and go on your way.”
And they said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”

3. And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in to him, and entered into his house;
and he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

The Men of Sodom Attack

4. But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house,
both young and old, all the people from every quarter.

5. And they called to Lot, and said to him,
“Where are the men who came in to you tonight?
Bring them out to us, that we may have relations with them.”

6. And Lot went out to them at the door, and shut the door after him,

7. and said, “I pray you, my brothers, do not do wickedly.

8. Behold now, I have two daughters who have not known a man;
let me, I pray you, bring them out to you,
and do to them as is good in your eyes;
only to these men do nothing, for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.”

9. And they said, “Stand back!” And they said again,
“This one came in to sojourn, and he will needs play the judge;
now we will deal worse with you than with them.”
And they pressed sore upon the man, Lot, and came near to break the door.

10. But the men put forth their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.

11. And they struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great,
so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

The Angels Warn Lot

12. And the men said to Lot,
“Have you here any besides — son-in-law, your sons, your daughters,
and whoever you have in the city — bring them out of this place;

13. for we are about to destroy this place,
because the outcry of them has grown great before Jehovah;
and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it.”

14. And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who married his daughters, and said,
“Up, get out of this place; for Jehovah will destroy the city.”
But he seemed to his sons-in-law as one that mocked.

The Flight from Sodom

15. And when the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying,
“Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here,
lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”

16. And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, and the hand of his wife,
and the hands of his two daughters — Jehovah being merciful to him —
and they brought him out, and set him outside the city.

17. And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth outside, that one said,
“Escape for your life; look not behind you,
neither stay in all the plain;
escape to the mountain, lest you be consumed.”

18. And Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my Lord!

19. Behold now, Your servant has found favor in Your sight,
and You have magnified Your mercy, which You have shown to me in saving my life;
but I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil overtake me, and I die.

20. Behold now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one;
oh, let me escape there — is it not a little one? — and my soul shall live.”

21. And He said to him,
“See, I have accepted you concerning this thing also,
that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

22. Hurry, escape there; for I cannot do anything till you have come there.”
Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar (“little”).

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

23. The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar.

24. Then Jehovah rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah
brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven;

25. and He overthrew those cities, and all the plain,
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.

26. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

Abraham Looks Toward Sodom

27. And Abraham rose early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Jehovah;

28. and he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah,
and toward all the land of the plain,
and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29. And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain,
that God remembered Abraham,
and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when He overthrew the cities in which Lot dwelt.

Lot and His Daughters

30. And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain,
and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar;
and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

31. And the firstborn said to the younger,
“Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth
to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.

32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him,
that we may preserve seed from our father.”

33. And they made their father drink wine that night;
and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father;
and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

34. And it came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger,
“Behold, I lay last night with my father;
let us make him drink wine this night also,
and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve seed from our father.”

35. And they made their father drink wine that night also;
and the younger arose, and lay with him;
and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

36. Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

37. And the firstborn bore a son, and called his name Moab;
he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

38. And the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-Ammi;
he is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.