The Doom of Sodom

1Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and [a]bowed down with his face to the ground. 2And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” 3Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4Before they lay down, the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people [b]from every quarter; 5and they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may [c]have relations with them.” 6But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, 7and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. 8Now look, I have two daughters who have not [d]had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them [e]whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the [f]shelter of my roof.” 9But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in [g]as a foreigner, and already he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against [h]Lot and moved forward to break the door. 10But the men reached out their [i]hands and brought Lot into the house [j]with them, and shut the door. 11Then they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

12Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; 13for we are about to destroy this place, because their outcry has become so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.” 14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who [k]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, get out of this place, for the LORD is destroying the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law [l]to be joking.

15When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the [m]punishment of the city.” 16But he hesitated. So the men grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the [n]hands of his two daughters, because the compassion of the LORD was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. 17When they had brought them outside, [o]one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay [p]anywhere in the surrounding area; escape to the [q]mountains, or you will be swept away.” 18But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! 19Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the [r]mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; 20now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) [s]so that my life may be saved.” 21And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this [t]request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. 22Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named [u]Zoar.

23The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out of heaven, 25and He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26But [v]Lot’s wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the LORD; 28and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and [w]behold, he saw the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a [x]furnace.

29So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and stayed in the [y]mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. 31Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man [z]on earth to [aa]have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. 32Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep [ab]our family alive through our father.” 33So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 34On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep [ac]our family alive through our father.” 35So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. 36And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. 37The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of [ad]the sons of Ammon to this day.

[a] 1 Lit bowed himself
[b] 4 Or without exception; lit from every end
[c] 5 Lit know them; i.e., have intercourse
[d] 8 Lit known man
[e] 8 Lit as is good in your sight
[f] 8 Lit shadow
[g] 9 Lit to sojourn
[h] 9 Lit the man, against Lot
[i] 10 Lit hand
[j] 10 Lit to
[k] 14 Or had married; lit were taking
[l] 14 Lit like one who was joking
[m] 15 Or wrongdoing
[n] 16 Lit hand
[o] 17 Lit he
[p] 17 Lit in all the circle
[q] 17 Lit mountain
[r] 19 Lit mountain
[s] 20 Lit and my soul will live
[t] 21 Lit thing
[u] 22 I.e., small
[v] 26 Lit his
[w] 28 Lit he saw, and behold
[x] 28 Lit kiln
[y] 30 Lit mountain
[z] 31 Or in the land
[aa] 31 Lit come in to
[ab] 32 Lit seed from our father
[ac] 34 Lit seed from our father
[ad] 38 Heb Beney-Ammon