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Lot Leaves Sodom

19 The two ·angels [messengers] came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting near the ·city gate [L gate of Sodom; C the administrative center of a city]. When he saw them, he got up ·and went to [to meet] them and bowed facedown on the ground. Lot said, “·Sirs [My lords], please come to ·my [L your servant’s] house and spend the night. There you can wash your feet, and then ·tomorrow you may [L you can get up early and] continue your journey.”

The ·angels [messengers] answered, “No, we will spend the night in the city’s public square.”

But Lot ·begged them [entreated/urged them strongly] to come, so they ·agreed [L turned aside to him] and went to his house. Then Lot prepared a ·meal [feast; banquet] for them. He baked ·bread without yeast [unleavened bread], and they ate it.

Before ·bedtime [L they lay down], men both young and old and from every part of Sodom surrounded Lot’s house. They called to Lot, “Where are the two men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can ·have sexual relations with [L know] them.”

Lot went ·outside [L out the door] to them, closing the door behind him. He said, “No, my brothers! Do not do this evil thing. Look! I have two daughters who have never ·slept with [had sexual relations with; L known] a man. I will give them to you, and you may do anything you want with them. But please don’t do anything to these men. They have come ·to my house, and I must protect them [L under the shelter/shade of my roof].”

The men around the house answered, “·Move out of the way [Stand back]!” Then they said to each other, “This ·man Lot [fellow; L one] came to our city as a ·stranger [sojourner; wanderer; resident alien], and now he wants to ·tell us what to do [L judge us]!” They said to Lot, “We will do worse things to you than to them.” They started pushing him back and were ready to break down the door.

10 But ·the two men staying with Lot [L the men] ·opened the door, [L reached out their hands and] pulled him back inside the house, and then closed the door. 11 They struck those outside the door with ·blindness [a blinding flash], so the men, both ·young and old [L small and great], could not find the door.

12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have ·any other relatives in this city [L anyone else here]? Do you have any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or any other relatives? If you do, ·tell them to leave now [get them out of this place], 13 because we are about to destroy this ·city [L place]. ·The Lord has heard of all the evil that is here [L Great is the outcry against them before the Lord], so he has sent us to destroy it.”

14 So Lot went out and said to his future sons-in-law who were pledged to marry his daughters, “·Hurry and leave this city [L Get up and get out of this place]! The Lord is about to destroy it!” But ·they [L his sons-in-law] thought Lot was joking.

15 ·At dawn the next morning [L As morning dawned], the ·angels [messengers] ·begged [urged] Lot to hurry. They said, “Go! Take your wife and your two daughters with you so you will not be ·destroyed [swept away] when the city is punished.”

16 But Lot ·delayed [lingered; dawdled]. So the two men ·took [grabbed; seized] the hands of Lot, his wife, and his two daughters and led them safely out of the city. So the Lord was merciful to Lot and his family. 17 After they brought them out of the city, one of the men said, “·Run [Flee] for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere in the ·valley [or plain]. Run to the mountains, or you will be ·destroyed [swept away].”

18 But Lot said to one of them, “·Sir, please don’t force me to go so far [L Oh no, my lord]! 19 ·You have been merciful [L Your servant has found grace in your eyes] and ·kind to me [L you have shown great kindness to me] and have saved my life. But I can’t ·run [flee] to the mountains. The disaster will catch me, and I will die. 20 Look, that little town over there is ·not too far away [L near enough to flee to]. Let me run there. It’s really just a little town, and ·I’ll be safe there [L my life will be saved/spared].”

21 The angel said to Lot, “Very well, I will ·allow you to do this also [show you this favor; L lift up your face]. I will not ·destroy that town [L overthrow the town of which you speak]. 22 But run there fast, because I cannot ·destroy Sodom [L do anything] until you are safely in that town.” (That town is named Zoar, because it is little [C Zoar sounds like the Hebrew word for “little”].)

Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed

23 The sun had already ·come up [L risen over the earth] when Lot entered Zoar. 24 The Lord sent a rain of ·burning sulfur [sulfur and fire] down from ·the sky [heaven] on Sodom and Gomorrah 25 and ·destroyed [overturned] those cities. He also ·destroyed [overturned] the whole ·Jordan Valley [valley; or plain], everyone living in the cities, and even all the plants.

26 At that point Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the ·Jordan Valley [L valley; or plain] and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 God destroyed the cities in the ·valley [or plain], but he remembered what Abraham had asked. So ·God saved Lot’s life, but he [L he sent Lot out of the overthrow/upheaval when he] ·destroyed [overturned] the city where Lot had lived [Deut. 29:23; Is. 1:9; 13:19; Jer. 50:40; Amos 4:11; Matt. 10:15; 11:23–24; Jude 1:7; Rev. 11:8].

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