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The First Book of Moses: Genesis

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- Chapter 19 -

(Judges 19:1–30)
1
And the two Angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting at the gate of the city. And when he had seen them, he rose up and went to meet them. And he reverenced prone on the ground.
2
And he said: “I beg you, my lords, turn aside to the house of your servant, and lodge there. Wash your feet, and in the morning you will advance on your way.” And they said, “Not at all. But we will lodge in the street.”
3
He pressed them very much to turn aside to him. And when they had entered his house, he made a feast for them, and he cooked unleavened bread, and they ate.(a)
4
But before they went to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house, from boys to old men, all the people together.
5
And they called out to Lot, and they said to him: “Where are the men who entered to you in the night? Bring them out here, so that we may know them.”
6
Lot went out to them, and blocking the door behind him, he said:
7
“Do not, I ask you, my brothers, do not be willing to commit this evil.
8
I have two daughters who as yet have not known man. I will bring them out to you; abuse them as it pleases you, provided that you do no evil to these men, because they have entered under the shadow of my roof.”(b)
9
But they said, “Move away from there.” And again: “You have entered,” they said, “as a stranger; should you then judge? Therefore, we will afflict you yourself more than them.” And they acted very violently against Lot. And they were now at the point of breaking open the doors.
10
And behold, the men put out their hand, and they pulled Lot in to them, and they closed the door.
11
And they struck those who were outside with blindness, from the least to the greatest, so that they were not able to find the door.

Lot Flees to Zoar

12
Then they said to Lot: “Do you have here anyone of yours? All who are yours, sons-in-law, or sons, or daughters, bring them out of this city.
13
For we will eliminate this place, because the outcry among them has increased before the Lord, who sent us to destroy them.”(c)
14
And so Lot, going out, spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to receive his daughters, and he said: “Rise up. Depart from this place. For the Lord will destroy this city.” And it seemed to them that he was speaking playfully.
15
And when it was morning, the Angels compelled him, saying, “Arise, take your wife, and the two daughters that you have, lest you also should perish amid the wickedness of the city.”
16
And, since he ignored them, they took his hand, and the hand of his wife, as well as that of his two daughters, because the Lord was sparing him.
17
And they brought him out, and placed him beyond the city. And there they spoke to him, saying: “Save your life. Do not look back. Neither should you stay in the entire surrounding region. But save yourself in the mountain, lest you also should perish.”
18
And Lot said to them: “I beg you, my lord,
19
though your servant has found grace before you, and you have magnified your mercy, which you have shown to me in saving my life, I cannot be saved on the mountain, lest perhaps some misfortune take hold of me and I die.
20
There is a certain city nearby, to which I can flee; it is a little one, and I will be saved in it. Is it not a modest one, and will not my soul live?”
21
And he said to him: “Behold, even now, I have heard your petitions about this, not to overturn the city on behalf of which you have spoken.
22
Hurry and be saved there. For I cannot do anything until you enter there.” For this reason, the name of that city is called Zoar.(d)
23
The sun had risen over the land, and Lot had entered into Zoar.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

(Luke 17:20–37)
24
Therefore, the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah sulphur and fire, from the Lord, out of heaven.
25
And he overturned these cities, and all the surrounding region: all the inhabitants of the cities, and everything that springs from the land.
26
And his wife, looking behind herself, was turned into a statue of salt.(e)
27
Then Abraham, rising up in the morning, in the place where he had stood before with the Lord,
28
looked out toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and the entire land of that region. And he saw embers rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.
29
For when God overthrew the cities of that region, remembering Abraham, he freed Lot from the overthrow of the cities, in which he had dwelt.

Lot and His Daughters

30
And Lot ascended from Zoar, and he stayed on the mountain, and likewise his two daughters with him, (for he was afraid to stay in Zoar) and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters with him.
31
And the elder said to the younger: “Our father is old, and no man remains in the land who can enter to us according to the custom of the whole world.
32
Come, let us inebriate him with wine, and let us sleep with him, so that we may be able to preserve offspring from our father.”
33
And so they gave their father wine to drink that night. And the elder went in, and she slept with her father. But he did not perceive it, neither when his daughter lay down, nor when she rose up.
34
Likewise, the next day, the elder said to the younger: “Behold, yesterday I slept with my father, let us give him wine to drink yet again this night, and you will sleep with him, so that we may save offspring from our father.”
35
And then they gave their father wine to drink that night also, and the younger daughter went in, and slept with him. And not even then did he perceive when she lay down, or when she rose up.
36
Therefore, the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.
37
And the elder gave birth to a son, and she called his name Moab. He is the father of the Moabites, even to the present day.
38
Likewise, the younger gave birth to a son, and she called his name Ammon, that is, ‘the son of my people.’ He is the father of the Ammonites, even today.

Footnotes

(a)19:3 The verb ‘coxit’ can refer to baking or other types of cooking, but it often refers to boiling.(Conte)
(b)19:8 In this passage, Sacred Scripture plainly teaches that homosexual acts are much more offensive to God than even the worst heterosexual acts. Modern society, like Lot, permits all manner of sexual offenses to be committed within heterosexual relations, yet some persons, like those of Sodom, insist on committing the greater offense of homosexual acts.(Conte)
(c)19:13 The genitive case is not always to be translated as possession.(Conte)
(d)19:22 Segor:That is, a little one.(Challoner)
(e)19:26 And his wife:As a standing memorial to the servants of God to proceed in virtue, and not to look back to vice or its allurements.(Challoner)
(Judges 19:1–30)
1
The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth,
2
and he said, “See now, my lords, please come into your servant’s house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we will stay in the street all night.”
3
He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into his house. He made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
4
But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from every quarter.
5
They called to Lot, and said to him, “Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them.”
6
Lot went out to them through the door, and shut the door after himself.
7
He said, “Please, my brothers, don’t act so wickedly.
8
See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof.”
9
They said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now we will deal worse with you than with them!” They pressed hard on the man Lot, and came near to break the door.
10
But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door.
11
They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

Lot Flees to Zoar

12
The men said to Lot, “Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place:
13
for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
14
Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the LORD will destroy the city!” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking.
15
When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city.”
16
But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and his two daughtershands, the LORD being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city.
17
It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, “Escape for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!”
18
Lot said to them, “Oh, not so, my lord.
19
See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can’t escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die.
20
See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn’t it a little one?), and my soul will live.”
21
He said to him, “Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
22
Hurry, escape there, for I can’t do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.(a)
23
The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

(Luke 17:20–37)
24
Then the LORD rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the LORD out of the sky.
25
He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground.
26
But Lot’s wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27
Abraham went up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.
28
He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.
29
When God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30
Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived in a cave with his two daughters.
31
The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth.
32
Come, let’s make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
33
They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she arose.
34
It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let’s make him drink wine again tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father’s family line.”
35
They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn’t know when she lay down, nor when she got up.
36
Thus both of Lot’s daughters were with child by their father.
37
The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38
The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

Footnotes

(a)19:22 Zoar means “little”.