| |
New Living Translation |   | |
 |
| |
| | Gen 19:1 | That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom, and Lot was sitting there as they arrived. When he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed low to the ground.
| |
| | Gen 19:2 | "My lords," he said, "come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up in the morning as early as you like and be on your way again." "Oh no," they said, "we'll just spend the night out here in the city square."
| |
| | Gen 19:3 | But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. He set a great feast before them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast. After the meal,
| |
| | Gen 19:4 | as they were preparing to retire for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.
| |
| | Gen 19:5 | They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out so we can have sex with them."
| |
| | Gen 19:6 | Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him.
| |
| | Gen 19:7 | "Please, my brothers," he begged, "don't do such a wicked thing.
| |
| | Gen 19:8 | Look--I have two virgin daughters. Do with them as you wish, but leave these men alone, for they are under my protection."
| |
| | Gen 19:9 | "Stand back!" they shouted. "Who do you think you are? We let you settle among us, and now you are trying to tell us what to do! We'll treat you far worse than those other men!" And they lunged at Lot and began breaking down the door.
| |
| | Gen 19:10 | But the two angels reached out and pulled Lot in and bolted the door.
| |
| | Gen 19:11 | Then they blinded the men of Sodom so they couldn't find the doorway.
| |
| | Gen 19:12 | "Do you have any other relatives here in the city?" the angels asked. "Get them out of this place--sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else.
| |
| | Gen 19:13 | For we will destroy the city completely. The stench of the place has reached the LORD, and he has sent us to destroy it."
| |
| | Gen 19:14 | So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters' fianc‚s, "Quick, get out of the city! The LORD is going to destroy it." But the young men thought he was only joking.
| |
| | Gen 19:15 | At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out of here right now, or you will be caught in the destruction of the city."
| |
| | Gen 19:16 | When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful.
| |
| | Gen 19:17 | "Run for your lives!" the angels warned. "Do not stop anywhere in the valley. And don't look back! Escape to the mountains, or you will die."
| |
| | Gen 19:18 | "Oh no, my lords, please," Lot begged.
| |
| | Gen 19:19 | "You have been so kind to me and saved my life, and you have granted me such mercy. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die.
| |
| | Gen 19:20 | See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don't you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved."
| |
| | Gen 19:21 | "All right," the angel said, "I will grant your request. I will not destroy that little village.
| |
| | Gen 19:22 | But hurry! For I can do nothing until you are there." From that time on, that village was known as Zoar.
| |
| | Gen 19:23 | The sun was rising as Lot reached the village.
| |
| | Gen 19:24 | Then the LORD rained down fire and burning sulfur from the heavens on Sodom and Gomorrah.
| |
| | Gen 19:25 | He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, eliminating all life--people, plants, and animals alike.
| |
| | Gen 19:26 | But Lot's wife looked back as she was following along behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
| |
| | Gen 19:27 | The next morning Abraham was up early and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the LORD's presence.
| |
| | Gen 19:28 | He looked out across the plain to Sodom and Gomorrah and saw columns of smoke and fumes, as from a furnace, rising from the cities there.
| |
| | Gen 19:29 | But God had listened to Abraham's request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.
| |
| | Gen 19:30 | Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.
| |
| | Gen 19:31 | One day the older daughter said to her sister, "There isn't a man anywhere in this entire area for us to marry. And our father will soon be too old to have children.
| |
| | Gen 19:32 | Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will sleep with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father."
| |
| | Gen 19:33 | So that night they got him drunk, and the older daughter went in and slept with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
| |
| | Gen 19:34 | The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, "I slept with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him. That way our family line will be preserved."
| |
| | Gen 19:35 | So that night they got him drunk again, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
| |
| | Gen 19:36 | So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.
| |
| | Gen 19:37 | When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.
| |
| | Gen 19:38 | When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.
| |
