Old Testament · Law

Genesis chapter 18

appeared to Abraham near the while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and to the ground.He said, “, if I have found with you, please don’t pass your servant by.”“Let me have a little water brought so you can , and then rest under this tree.”“Let me get you so you can be refreshed, and then you can go on your way -- since you’ve come by your servant’s place.” “Go ahead,” they replied. “Do as you say.”So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick -- get of the , knead it, and bake some bread!”Then Abraham ran to the herd, picked out a , and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.He then brought , milk, and the prepared calf and set it all before them. He under a tree while they ate.“Where is your wife ?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he answered.Then one of them said, “ to you about this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.Now Abraham and Sarah were old -- well along in years -- and Sarah was .So Sarah to herself, thinking, “After I’m worn out and my husband is old, will I really have this ?”Then Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child now that I’m old?’”“Is anything for Yahweh? At the set time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”Sarah was afraid, so she denied it. “I didn’t laugh,” she said. But he said, “No -- you did laugh.”When the men got up to leave, they looked out toward , and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.Then Yahweh said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I’m about to do?”“Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on earth will be through him.”“For I have him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is , so that Yahweh will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”Then Yahweh said, “The against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their is extremely serious.”“I will and see whether what they’ve done matches the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”The men turned away and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham .Then Abraham and said, “Will you really sweep away the along with the ?”“What if there are fifty just people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not the place for the sake of the fifty just people in it?”“ to do such a thing -- to kill the just along with the wicked, treating the just and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Won’t the of all the earth do what is right?”Yahweh said, “If I find fifty just people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”Then Abraham spoke up again: “I know I’m being bold to speak to the Lord like this -- I’m nothing but .”“What if the fifty just people are five short? Would you destroy the whole city because of five?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”Once again Abraham spoke to him: “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”Then he said, “Please , Lord, but let me speak. What if only thirty are found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”Abraham said, “I know I’m being bold to speak to the Lord like this. What if only twenty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”Then he said, “Please don’t be angry, Lord, and let me speak just once more. What if only are found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”When Yahweh had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.