The Lord appeared
again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was
sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day. He
looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to
meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.
“My lord,” he said,
“if it pleases you, stop here for a while. Rest in the shade of this tree
while water is brought to wash your feet. And since you’ve honored your
servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you
continue on your journey.”
“All right,” they
said. “Do as you have said.”
So Abraham ran back to
the tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get three large measures of your best
flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread.” Then Abraham ran out to
the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly
prepared it. When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk
and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited
on them in the shade of the trees.
“Where is Sarah, your
wife?” the visitors asked.
“She’s inside the
tent,” Abraham replied.
Then one of them said,
“I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will
have a son!”
Sarah was listening to
this conversation from the tent. Abraham and Sarah were both very old by
this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children. So she
laughed silently to herself and said, “How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy
such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?”
Then the Lord said
to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, ‘Can an old woman like me
have a baby?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return about
this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Sarah was afraid, so
she denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh.”
But
the Lord said, “No, you did laugh.”
Then
the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom. As they left,
Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
“Should I hide my plan
from Abraham?” the Lord asked. “For Abraham will
certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth
will be blessed through him. I have singled him out so that he
will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of
the Lord by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham
all that I have promised.”
So
the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and
Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant. I am going down to see if
their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know.”
The other men turned
and headed toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham. Abraham
approached him and said, “Will you sweep away both the righteous and the
wicked? Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will
you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes? Surely you
wouldn’t do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why,
you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you
wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”
And
the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will
spare the entire city for their sake.”
Then Abraham spoke
again. “Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am
but dust and ashes. Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people
rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?”
And
the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous
people there.”
Then Abraham pressed
his request further. “Suppose there are only forty?”
And
the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”
“Please don’t be
angry, my Lord,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous
people are found?”
And
the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it if I find thirty.”
Then Abraham said,
“Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are
only twenty?”
And
the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
Finally, Abraham said,
“Lord, please don’t be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten
are found there?”
And
the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the
ten.”
When
the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his
way, and Abraham returned to his tent.
~ Source : Genesis
18:1-33 [Holy Bible -NLT] taken from https://www.biblegateway.com
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