38:17 Then Jeremiah said to Zedekiah, “The Lord, the God who rules over all, the God of Israel, ¹  says, ‘You must surrender to the officers of the king of Babylon. If you do, your life will be spared ²  and this city will not be burned down. Indeed, you and your whole family will be spared.

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham ¹  by the oaks ²  of Mamre while ³  he was sitting at the entrance ⁴  to his tent during the hottest time of the day. 18:2 Abraham ⁵  looked up ⁶  and saw ⁷  three men standing across ⁸  from him. When he saw them ⁹  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ¹⁰  to the ground. ¹¹ 

18:3 He said, “My lord, ¹²  if I have found favor in your sight, do not pass by and leave your servant. ¹³  18:4 Let a little water be brought so that ¹⁴  you may all ¹⁵  wash your feet and rest under the tree. 18:5 And let me get ¹⁶  a bit of food ¹⁷  so that you may refresh yourselves ¹⁸  since you have passed by your servant’s home. After that you may be on your way.” ¹⁹  “All right,” they replied, “you may do as you say.”

18:6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Take ²⁰  three measures ²¹  of fine flour, knead it, and make bread.” ²²  18:7 Then Abraham ran to the herd and chose a fine, tender calf, and gave it to a servant, ²³  who quickly prepared it. ²⁴  18:8 Abraham ²⁵  then took some curds and milk, along with the calf that had been prepared, and placed the food ²⁶  before them. They ate while ²⁷  he was standing near them under a tree.

18:9 Then they asked him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He replied, “There, ²⁸  in the tent.” 18:10 One of them ²⁹  said, “I will surely return ³⁰  to you when the season comes round again, ³¹  and your wife Sarah will have a son!” ³²  (Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, not far behind him. ³³  18:11 Abraham and Sarah were old and advancing in years; ³⁴  Sarah had long since passed menopause.) ³⁵  18:12 So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, ³⁶  “After I am worn out will I have pleasure, ³⁷  especially when my husband is old too?” ³⁸ 

18:13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why ³⁹  did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really ⁴⁰  have a child when I am old?’ 18:14 Is anything impossible ⁴¹  for the Lord? I will return to you when the season comes round again and Sarah will have a son.” ⁴²  18:15 Then Sarah lied, saying, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid. But the Lord said, “No! You did laugh.” ⁴³ 

18:16 When the men got up to leave, ⁴⁴  they looked out over ⁴⁵  Sodom. (Now ⁴⁶  Abraham was walking with them to see them on their way.) ⁴⁷  18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ⁴⁸  18:18 After all, Abraham ⁴⁹  will surely become ⁵⁰  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁵¹  using his name. 18:19 I have chosen him ⁵²  so that he may command his children and his household after him to keep ⁵³  the way of the Lord by doing ⁵⁴  what is right and just. Then the Lord will give ⁵⁵  to Abraham what he promised ⁵⁶  him.”

18:20 So the Lord said, “The outcry against ⁵⁷  Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so blatant ⁵⁸  18:21 that I must go down ⁵⁹  and see if they are as wicked as the outcry suggests. ⁶⁰  If not, ⁶¹  I want to know.”

18:22 The two men turned ⁶²  and headed ⁶³  toward Sodom, but Abraham was still standing before the Lord. ⁶⁴  18:23 Abraham approached and said, “Will you sweep away the godly along with the wicked? 18:24 What if there are fifty godly people in the city? Will you really wipe it out and not spare ⁶⁵  the place for the sake of the fifty godly people who are in it? 18:25 Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the godly with the wicked, treating the godly and the wicked alike! Far be it from you! Will not the judge ⁶⁶  of the whole earth do what is right?” ⁶⁷ 

18:26 So the Lord replied, “If I find in the city of Sodom fifty godly people, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

18:27 Then Abraham asked, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord ⁶⁸  (although I am but dust and ashes), ⁶⁹  18:28 what if there are five less than the fifty godly people? Will you destroy ⁷⁰  the whole city because five are lacking?” ⁷¹  He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

18:29 Abraham ⁷²  spoke to him again, ⁷³  “What if forty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”

18:30 Then Abraham ⁷⁴  said, “May the Lord not be angry ⁷⁵  so that I may speak! ⁷⁶  What if thirty are found there?” He replied, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

18:31 Abraham ⁷⁷  said, “Since I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

18:32 Finally Abraham ⁷⁸  said, “May the Lord not be angry so that I may speak just once more. What if ten are found there?” He replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

18:33 The Lord went on his way ⁷⁹  when he had finished speaking ⁸⁰  to Abraham. Then Abraham returned home. ⁸¹