Genesis 18

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¹Forsooth in the valley of Mamre the Lord appeared to Abraham, sitting in the door of his tabernacle, in that heat of the day.

²And when Abraham had raised up his eyes, three men appeared to him, and stood nigh to him. And when he had seen them, he ran from the door of his tabernacle into the meeting of them, and he worshipped on the earth,

³and said, Lord, if I have found grace in thine eyes, pass thou not thy servant,

⁴but I shall bring a little water, and your feet be washed, and rest ye under the tree;

⁵and I shall set before you a morsel of bread, and your heart be comforted; afterward ye shall pass forth; for therefore be ye bowed aside to your servant. Which said, Do thou as thou hast spoken.

⁶Abraham hasted into the tabernacle, to Sarah, and said to her, Haste thou, mix three half bushels of clean flour; and make thou loaves baken under ashes.

⁷Forsooth he ran to the drove of beasts, and took thereof a calf most tender and best, and gave to a servant, which hasted, and seethed the calf;

⁸and he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had sodden, and set before them; forsooth Abraham stood beside them under the tree. And when they had eaten,

⁹they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? He answered, Lo! she is in the tabernacle.

¹⁰To whom the Lord said, I shall turn again, and I shall come to thee in this time, if I live; and Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son. When this was heard, Sarah laughed behind the door of the tabernacle.

¹¹Forsooth both were old, and of great age, and woman’s terms ceased to be made to Sarah.

¹²And she laughed, saying privily, After that I waxed eld or old, and my lord is eld or old, shall I give diligence or busyness to lust?

¹³Forsooth the Lord said to Abraham, Why laughed Sarah, thy wife, saying, Whether I an eld or old woman shall bear a child verily?

¹⁴whether anything is hard to God? By the promise I shall turn again to thee in this same time, if I live; and Sarah shall have a son.

¹⁵Sarah was afeared for dread, and denied, saying, I laughed not. Forsooth the Lord said, It is not so, but thou laughedest.

¹⁶Therefore when the men had risen from thence, they dressed the eyes against Sodom; and Abraham went together, leading them forth.

¹⁷And the Lord said, Whether I may cover from Abraham what things I shall do,

¹⁸since he shall be into a great folk and most strong, and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

¹⁹For I know that Abraham shall command his children, and his house after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, and that they do rightfulness or rightwiseness and doom, that the Lord bring for Abraham all things which he spake to Abraham.

²⁰And so the Lord said, The cry of men of Sodom and of men of Gomorrah is multiplied, and their sin is egregious greatly;

²¹I shall come down, and see whether they have ful filled in work the cry that came to me, that I know whether it is not so.

²²And they turned themselves from thence, and went to Sodom. Abraham soothly stood yet before the Lord,

²³and nighed, and said, Whether thou shalt lose a just man or the rightwise with the wicked?

²⁴if fifty just or rightwise men be in the city, shall they perish altogether, and shalt thou not spare that place for fifty just or rightwise men, if they be therein?

²⁵Far be it from thee that thou do this thing, and slay the just or rightwise with the wicked, and that a just or rightwise man be made as a wicked man; this is not thine that deemest all the earth; thou shalt not make this doom.

²⁶And the Lord said to him, If I shall find in Sodom fifty just or rightwise men in the midst of the city, I shall forgive to all the place for them.

²⁷Abraham answered and said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord, since I am dust and ashes;

²⁸what if less than fifty just or rightwise men by five be, shalt thou do away all the city for five and forty? And the Lord said, I shall not do away, if I shall find five and forty there.

²⁹And again Abraham said to him, But if forty be there, what shalt thou do? The Lord said, I shall not smite for forty.

³⁰Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, take thou not into indignation, if I speak; what if thirty be found there? The Lord answered, I shall not do, if I shall find thirty there.

³¹Abraham said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay for twenty.

³²Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, be thou not wroth, if I speak yet once more; what if ten be found there? The Lord said, I shall not do away for ten.

³³The Lord went forth, after that he had ceased to speak to Abraham, and Abraham turned again into his place.