They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” The LORD answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people . . . I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” Exodus 17:3,5-6
Water from a Rock
If you grew up in a home like mine and you complained about your food, you heard your parents say something like this: “There are starving children in Africa who would love to have that food.” Whether the reasoning was sound, the point was that we should be thankful for what we had instead of complaining.
The temptation to be dissatisfied with what we have has plagued humanity for almost as long as this world has existed. But what if it is a basic need that seems to be missing? The nation of Israel was in the wilderness. No running water. No cool springs, pools, or streams to draw water from. We can live without food, but water is essential. Didn’t God care enough to provide?
But God wasn’t ignoring their need. With a miracle, he would show that he was the one who provided for them. He told Moses to strike a rock with his staff, and water flowed out of that rock for them to drink.
How patient God was with them. How patient God is with us. We grumble and complain; yet he patiently continues to provide just what we need every day.
The greatest gift he provides is another Rock. The Bible later comments on this time period and says, “They all ate the same spiritual food and drank the same spiritual drink; for they drank from the spiritual rock that accompanied them, and that rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:3-4).
Jesus was always with them, and he is always with us, too. In his word of grace, he gives us the essential water for our spiritual lives. Through that living water that flows from Jesus, we are rescued from the wilderness we deserve because of our sins. And we are kept alive to dwell with our God, whose patient love for us always provides everything we need and more! Thanks be to God!
Prayer:
Jesus, forgive my grumbling and lack of trust. Pour out your living and life-giving water to quench my thirsty soul. Amen.
Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. Psalm 95:6-7
Under His Care
Imagine a shepherd who takes care of sheep. However, he is only concerned about making sure that they have food to eat. As long as the grass is growing in the field, nothing else matters. Or he only thinks about providing shelter. As long as the barn or the sheep pen is in good repair, he thinks he’s done his job.
Such a shepherd won’t be a shepherd for long. The sheep may be well fed but have no protection from wolves that want to attack. They may have shelter but lack the basic food and water they need to survive. No, that would be unthinkable. A shepherd needs to attend to all the needs of his sheep.
Today’s Bible verse invites us to worship the Lord because he is our Maker. Reflecting on all that we are and all that we have from the Lord who made heaven and earth leads us to joyful worship. But then he adds another even greater reason to worship. “He is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.”
The God who made us is the Shepherd who cares for us. Who better to care for us than he? He knows our needs, inside and out. He knows the diseases that threaten our bodies and our souls. He sees the wolves that want to attack and destroy us. He knows the nourishment our hearts need not only to survive but to thrive.
With his innocent life and death, Jesus crushed Satan’s power to accuse and destroy us, no matter what we’ve done. With the nourishing food of his Word, he feeds our faith to receive forgiveness and the life he won at the cross.
No, not a single need escapes his notice. Not a single need is beyond his care. He consistently, lovingly, and perfectly provides for all our needs. And he blesses us every day with one goal in mind—to bring us safely into his eternal pastures, where we will praise him forever.
Prayer:
God, my Maker and my Shepherd, I worship and praise you for your perfect love and care for me. Amen.
We also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. Romans 5:3-5
Filled with His Love
“What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” “No pain, no gain.” People say such things to encourage someone not to give up in difficult circumstances. It could be an athletic training regimen, a cancer treatment program, or just the emptiness that comes when we experience loss.
If you are like me, if someone says something like this, there’s a part of you that thinks, “That’s easy for you to say. You are not going through it.” Or you find yourself wondering if the suffering and pain are worth the possible gain you might receive.
Today’s Bible verses might sound like one of those “no pain, no gain” pep talks: “You are going to suffer, but keep your chin up. It will make you stronger and better in the end.”
But that’s not what St. Paul meant. Yes, he is trying to reshape our view of suffering, especially suffering because of our trust in Jesus. But it’s not about finding or forging personal strength by fighting through the pain and not giving up.
Instead, God wants our suffering to guide us in seeking answers and strength beyond ourselves. Our answers, our hope, our strength don’t come from a hidden reservoir inside of us but from what God himself pours into us.
The Bible says, “God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.” God loves us unconditionally and knows our struggles, wanting to rescue us from them.
That’s why Jesus came, to suffer so that we don’t have to, to conquer sin and death because we couldn’t. Only God has the strength to overcome every trouble. Only he could love us enough to do just that. And his loving promises never fail. Filled up with his unfailing love, we can keep going with the strength he provides. We can press on, fueled by confidence in his unfailing love.
Prayer:
God, pour your love into my heart, that I can face every day with the hope that you give. Amen.
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Conference of Presidents holds its winter meeting The Conference of Presidents (COP) met Jan. 6-9. At that meeting, the COP discussed the following items: The current number of pastoral vacancies. There are 162 total vacancies for pastor-trained […]
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1 Sarah lived one hundred twenty-seven years. That was the length of Sarah’s life. 2 Sarah died in Kiriath Arba (that is, Hebron) in the land of Canaan. Abraham went to mourn for Sarah and to weep for her.
3 Then Abraham got up from beside his deceased wife. He went and spoke to the descendants of Heth. [1] He said, 4 “I am an alien who has settled among you. Let me have a piece of property for a burial place among you where I may bury my dead in their final resting place.” [2]5 The descendants of Heth answered Abraham, 6 “Listen to us, my lord. You are a prince of God among us. Bury your dead in the best of our tombs. None of us will withhold his tomb from you. Bury your dead.”
7 Abraham stood up and bowed down to the people of the land, that is, to the descendants of Heth. 8 He said to them, “If you have agreed that I may bury my dead in their final resting place, then listen to me, and speak to Ephron son of Zohar on my behalf, 9 so that he gives me the Cave of Machpelah, which is at the end of the field that he owns. Let him give it to me for the full price so that I may own a burial site among you.”
10 Now Ephron was sitting among the descendants of Heth. Ephron the Hittite responded to Abraham in the hearing of all the Hittites who were gathered at the city gate. He said, 11 “No, my lord, listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. In the presence of my people I give it to you. Bury your dead.”
12 Abraham bowed down before the people of the land. 13 He spoke to Ephron in the hearing of the people of the land. He said, “No, but if you are willing, please listen to me. I will give the money [3] for the field. Accept it from me, and I will bury my dead there.”
14 Ephron responded to Abraham, 15 “My lord, listen to me. The land is worth four hundred shekels of silver, but what is that between me and you? Go ahead, bury your dead.”
16 Abraham accepted Ephron’s offer, and Abraham weighed out to Ephron the price that Ephron had quoted to him in the hearing of the Hittites, four hundred shekels [4] of silver, according to the current standard of the merchants at that time.
17 So the field of Ephron, which was in Machpelah, near Mamre—the field, the cave that was in it, and all the trees that were within the boundaries of the field were deeded 18 to Abraham as his property. This was done in the presence of all the Hittites, who were assembled at the gate of the city. 19 After this, Abraham buried Sarah his wife in the cave in the field at Machpelah near Mamre (that is, Hebron), in the land of Canaan. 20 The field and the cave that is in it were deeded to Abraham by the descendants of Heth as his property to be used as a burial site.
Footnotes
Genesis 23:3 There is no known connection between these Canaanites (Genesis 10:15) and the later Indo-European Hittites of Anatolia (Turkey). The well-known Hittites of Anatolia did not actually call themselves Hittites but were given this name because of the mistaken belief that they were related to this people in the Bible.
Genesis 23:4 Literally out of my sight, also in verse 8
Genesis 23:13 Literally the silver. There were no coins at this time. Silver or gold were weighed out to serve as money.
Genesis 23:16 A shekel was about a half ounce or a bit less, but its weight varied with time and place, as the parenthetical comment indicates.
22 At that time Abimelek and Phicol, the commander of his army, spoke to Abraham. He said, “God is with you in everything that you do. 23 Now swear to me here by God that you will not deal treacherously with me, or with my son, or with my grandson. But just as I have been kind to you, you shall do the same for me and for the land in which you have lived as an alien.”
24 Abraham said, “I will swear it.”
25 Abraham complained to Abimelek because of a well which Abimelek’s servants had seized violently. 26 Abimelek said, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, and I did not hear about it until today.”
27 Abraham took sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelek. The two of them made a treaty. [1]28 Abraham set aside seven ewe lambs from the flock.
29 Abimelek said to Abraham, “Why have you set these seven ewe lambs by themselves?”
30 He said, “You shall accept these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal testimony that I have dug this well.” 31 Therefore, he called that place Beersheba, [2] because they both took an oath there. 32 So they made a treaty at Beersheba. Then Abimelek got up with Phicol, the commander of his army, and they returned into the land of the Philistines. 33 Abraham planted a tamarisk tree in Beersheba, and there he proclaimed [3] the name of the Lord, the Eternal God. 34 Abraham lived as an alien in the land of the Philistines for a long time. [4]
Abraham Offers Isaac
Genesis 22
1 Some time later God tested Abraham. He called to him, “Abraham!”
Abraham answered, “I am here.”
2 God said, “Now take your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah. Offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains there, the one to which I direct you.”
3 Abraham got up early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, along with Isaac his son. Abraham split the wood for the burnt offering. Then he set out to go to the place that God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance.
5 Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey. The boy and I will go on over there. We will worship, and then we will come back to you.” 6 Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and loaded it on Isaac his son. He took the firepot and the knife in his hand. The two of them went on together.
7 Isaac spoke to Abraham his father and said, “My father?”
He said, “I am here, my son.”
He said, “Here are the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?”
8 Abraham said, “God himself will provide the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So the two of them went on together. 9 They came to the place that God had told him about. Abraham built the altar there. He arranged the wood, tied up Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar on top of the wood. 10 Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son.
11 The Angel of the Lord called to him from heaven, “Abraham, Abraham!”
Abraham said, “I am here.”
12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy. Do not do anything to him. For now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.”
13 Abraham looked around and saw that behind him there was a ram caught in the thicket by its horns. Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 Abraham called the name of that place “The Lord Will Provide.” [5] So it is said to this day, “On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.”
15 The Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time from heaven 16 and said, “I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, because you have done this thing and have not withheld your son, your only son, 17 I will bless you greatly, and I will multiply your descendants greatly, like the stars of the sky and like the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the city gates of their enemies. 18 In your seed [6] all the nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.”
19 Then Abraham returned to his young men, and they set out and traveled together to Beersheba. Abraham lived at Beersheba.
20 Some time after these things Abraham was told, “Listen. Milcah also has borne children for your brother Nahor. 21 They are Uz his firstborn, his brother Buz, Kemuel the father of Aram, 22 Chesed, Hazo, Pildash, Jidlaph, and Bethuel.” 23 Bethuel became the father of Rebekah. These eight sons Milcah bore for Nahor, Abraham’s brother. 24 Nahor’s concubine, whose name was Reumah, also gave birth to Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Ma’akah.
Footnotes
Genesis 21:27 Or covenant
Genesis 21:31 Beersheba can mean well of the oath or well of seven.
Genesis 21:33 Or called on
Genesis 21:34 Literally for many days. In Hebrew this can cover months or even years.
Genesis 22:14 Or Yahweh Jireh or Yahweh Who Sees
Genesis 22:18 The literal rendering seed is retained here to indicate the continuity of the Messianic promise from Eve, through Abraham and David, to Christ, who was the promised Seed of the Woman.
1 Abraham traveled from there toward the Negev, and he lived between Kadesh and Shur. He lived as a resident alien in Gerar. 2 About his wife Sarah Abraham said, “She is my sister.” Abimelek king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelek in a dream during the night and said to him, “Listen to me! You are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, because she has a husband.”
4 Now Abimelek had not come near her. He said, “Lord, will you kill even a righteous nation? 5 Didn’t he tell me, ‘She is my sister’? Even she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ I have done this with a sincere heart and innocent hands.”
6 God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this with a sincere heart, so I also prevented you from sinning against me. That is why I did not allow you to touch her. 7 Now therefore, return the man’s wife. He is a prophet, and he will pray for you, and you will live. If you do not return her, know for sure that you will die, you along with all who are yours.”
8 Abimelek rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told them all these things. The men were terrified. 9 Then Abimelek summoned Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I sinned against you, that you have brought this great sin on me and on my kingdom? You have done things to me that should not be done!” 10 Abimelek said to Abraham, “What did you see in us that made you do this?”
11 Abraham said, “I did it because I said to myself, ‘Surely they do not fear God in this place. They will kill me to get my wife.’ 12 Besides, she really is my sister, the daughter of my father but not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 When God had me migrate from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness that you shall show to me: Everywhere that we go, say about me, “He is my brother.”’”
14 Abimelek took sheep and cattle, male servants and female servants, and he gave them to Abraham. He also returned Sarah, his wife, to him. 15 Abimelek said, “Look, my land is in front of you. Dwell wherever it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your brother a thousand pieces [1] of silver. You see, it covers any offense in the eyes of everyone who is with you. In front of all of them you are vindicated.”
17 Abraham prayed to God. God healed Abimelek and his wife and his female servants, so that they were able to bear children. 18 For the Lord had closed up tight all the wombs of the household of Abimelek over the matter of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.
The Birth of Isaac
Genesis 21
1 The Lord visited [2] Sarah as he had said, and the Lord did for Sarah as he had promised. 2 Sarah conceived and gave birth to a son for Abraham in his old age, at the set time which God had announced to him. 3 Abraham named the son who was born to him—the son whom Sarah had borne to him— [3] Isaac. [4]4 Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God had commanded him. 5 Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.
6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. Everyone who hears will laugh with me.” 7 She said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have borne a son for him in his old age.”
8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham made a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. 9 Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham, laughing at Isaac. 10 Therefore, she said to Abraham, “Throw out this slave girl [5] and her son! For the son of this slave will not be heir with my son Isaac.”
11 Abraham was very distressed because of his son. 12 God said to Abraham, “Do not be so distressed because of the boy and because of your maid. [6] Listen to everything that Sarah says to you, because the family line of your descendants [7] will be traced through Isaac. 13 I will also make the son of the maid into a nation because he too is your offspring.”
14 Abraham got up early in the morning. He took bread and a waterskin, which he gave to Hagar, putting it over her shoulder. He sent her away with her child. She set out and wandered in the wilderness near Beersheba. 15 The water in the skin was used up, and she dragged the child under one of the bushes. 16 She went and sat down by herself, across from him, at a distance, about a bow shot away, because she said, “Do not let me see the death of the child.” She sat across from him and wept loudly.
17 God heard the boy’s voice, and the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven and said to her, “What is wrong, Hagar? Do not be afraid, for God has heard the boy’s voice right where he is. 18 Get up. Help the boy up, and take him by the hand, because I will make him into a great nation.”
19 God opened her eyes, and she saw a well with water in it. She went, filled the skin with water, and gave the boy a drink. 20 God was with the boy, and as he grew up, he lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. His mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.
Footnotes
Genesis 20:16 No unit of measurement is specified. It most likely was shekels.
Genesis 21:1 In the Bible, visit means to bring blessing or judgment. Here it obviously is the former.
Genesis 21:3 Hebrew narrative style is often repetitious. We have tried to preserve that style.
Genesis 21:3 Isaac means he laughs.
Genesis 21:10 The word which is used in this chapter for female slave or servant (amah) is said to be somewhat higher than the one used in connection with Ishmael’s birth in chapter 16 (shiphchah). See the note to verse 12.
Genesis 21:12 The word which is used in this chapter for female slave or servant (amah) is allegedly somewhat higher than the one used in connection with Ishmael’s birth in chapter 16 (shiphchah). In Sarah’s eyes, Hagar is still a slave, but as Sarah’s surrogate, she also has the status of a secondary wife of Abraham. It is not clear, however, whether any distinction is intended by this shift of terms. Critics, of course, see the shift as evidence of two sources.
1 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot, who was sitting in the gatehouse of Sodom, saw them and got up to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground, 2 and he said, “See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house and spend the night. Wash your feet, and you can get up early and go on your way.”
They said, “No, we will spend the night in the street.”
3 But he kept urging them, so they came with him and entered 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 all parts of town. 5 They called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may be intimate with them.” [1]
6 Lot went out to them and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not had relations with a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever seems good to you. Only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection [2] of my roof.”
9 They said, “Get out of our way!” They also said, “This fellow came to live here as an alien, and now he appoints himself as a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them!” They kept pushing Lot back and were ready to break down the door. 10 But the men inside reached out and grabbed Lot and pulled him into the house with them and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were pressing against the door of the house, both young and old, with blindness so that they wore themselves out trying to find the door.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whoever you have in the city, get them out of this place, 13 for we are going to destroy this place, because the outcry against it has grown great before the Lord, so the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to his daughters in marriage. He said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the dawn came, the angels urged Lot, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that you will not be swept away by the guilt of the city.” 16 But Lot was taking too much time, so the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, because of the Lord’s compassion for him. They led him out and placed him outside of the city. 17 Then when they had taken them out, one of them said, “Run for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, so that you are not swept away!”
18 Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lord. [3]19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great mercy by saving my life. I cannot flee to the mountains, or this disaster will stick with me, and I will die. 20 Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please let me flee there—isn’t it just a little one?—so that my life will be saved.”
21 The man said to him, “Very well, I have granted your request concerning this thing, so I will not overthrow the city that you have spoken about. 22 Hurry, flee there, because I cannot do anything until you get there.” So the city was named Zoar. [4]
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire out of the sky from the Lord. 25 He overthrew those cities, as well as all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew in the soil.
26 But Lot’s wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain. As he looked, he saw that the smoke from the land was going up like the smoke from a kiln.
29 And so when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and brought Lot out through the middle of the devastation, when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the mountains, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. His two daughters were with him. 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 land to come to us as normally takes place everywhere on earth. 32 Come on, let’s get our father to drink wine, and we will lie down with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.” [5]33 They got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn went and lay down with her father. He did not know it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 Then the next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, last night I lay down with my father. Let us get him to drink wine again tonight. You go and lie down with him, so that we may preserve our father’s seed.” 35 They got their father to drink wine that night also. Then the younger went and lay with him. He did not know it when she lay down or when she got up. 36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. [6] He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben Ammi. [7] He is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Footnotes
Genesis 19:5 Literally that we may know them. Shocking as the crime is, the text places a euphemism into the mouths of the perpetrators. The next verses make their intentions clear.
Genesis 19:8 Literally the shadow
Genesis 19:18 The Hebrew has this written as Adonai, the divine name Lord or an emphatic plural my lords. The Greek Old Testament has the singular my lord.
Genesis 19:22 Zoar means little.
Genesis 19:32 Seed here refers to semen and to the offspring that result from it.
Genesis 19:37 In Hebrew Moab sounds like from the father.
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he was sitting by the door to his tent during the heat of the day. 2 Abraham looked up, and he saw three men standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground. 3 He said, “My lord, [1] if I have now found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. 4 Now let me get a little water so that all of you can wash your feet and rest under the tree. 5 Let me get some bread so that you can refresh yourselves. After that you may go your way. That is why you have come to your servant.”
They said, “Yes, do as you have said.”
6 Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly prepare twenty quarts [2] of fine flour, knead it, and make some loaves of bread.” 7 Abraham ran to the herd, brought a good, tender calf, and gave it to the servant. He hurried to prepare it. 8 He took cheese curds, milk, and the calf that he had prepared and set it before them. He stood beside them under the tree while they ate.
9 They asked him, “Where is Sarah, your wife?”
He said, “She is over there in the tent.”
10 One of the men said, “I will certainly return to you when this season comes around next year. Then Sarah your wife will have a son.”
Sarah was listening to this from the tent door, which was behind him. 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well into old age. Sarah was past the age for childbearing. [3]12 Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, will I have pleasure, since my lord is also old?”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really give birth to a child though I am old?’ 14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the set time next year I will return to you, and Sarah will have a son.”
15 Then Sarah denied it and said, “I did not laugh,” because she was afraid.
The Lord said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
16 The men got up from there and looked down toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him, [4] so that he may command his children and his household who follow after him to keep the way of the Lord by carrying out righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may deliver to Abraham what he has promised him.”
20 So the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very flagrant, 21 I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.”
22 The two men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep them away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 You would never do such a thing, killing the righteous along with the wicked, treating the righteous the same as the wicked. You would never do such a thing. The Judge of all the earth should do right, shouldn’t he?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people within the city of Sodom, then I will spare the entire place for their sake.”
27 Abraham answered, “See now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it on myself to speak to my Lord. 28 What if there are five fewer than fifty righteous? Will you destroy the entire city if the number is five short?”
He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 He spoke to him yet again and said, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
30 He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak again. What if thirty are found there?”
He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 He said, “See now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
32 He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 As soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went on his way, and Abraham returned to his place.
Footnotes
Genesis 18:3 Or my Lord. The Hebrew writes this word as Adonai. That would make this a divine name, Lord, but did Abraham already recognize that the man was God?
Genesis 18:6 Or thirty-six pounds. Hebrew three seahs. This is a huge amount.
Genesis 18:11 Literally the way of women had ceased for Sarah
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