Read the Bible

The Lord Promises Abraham a Son

¹ One hot summer afternoon Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, when the Lord appeared to him. ² Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ³ and said, "Please come to my home where I can serve you. ⁴ I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under the tree. ⁵ Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honored to serve you."

"Thank you very much," they answered. "We accept your offer."

⁶ Abraham quickly went to his tent and said to Sarah, "Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread." ⁷ After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸ He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees, ⁹ and they asked, "Where is your wife Sarah?"

"She is right there in the tent," Abraham answered.

¹⁰ One of the guests was the Lord, and he said, "I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son."

Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹ Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ¹² So she laughed and said to herself, "Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?"^[a]

¹³ The Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ¹⁴ I am the Lord! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son."

¹⁵ Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, "I didn't laugh."

"Yes, you did!" he answered.

Abraham Prays for Sodom

¹⁶ When the three men got ready to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked part of the way with them.

¹⁷ The Lord said to himself, "I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, ¹⁸ since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth.^{[b] 19} I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair. Then I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised."

²⁰ The Lord said, "Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ²¹ Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I want to know about it."

²² The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the Lord stayed with Abraham, ²³ who asked, "Lord, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ²⁴ Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? ²⁵ You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right."

²⁶ The Lord replied, "If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed."

²⁷ Abraham answered, "I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, Lord, for daring to speak to you like this. ²⁸ But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?"

"If I find forty-five good people," the Lord replied, "I won't destroy the city."

²⁹ "Suppose there are just forty good people?" Abraham asked.

"Even for them," the Lord replied, "I won't destroy the city."

³⁰ Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city."

"If I find thirty," the Lord replied, "I still won't destroy it."

³¹ Then Abraham said, "I don't have any right to ask you, Lord, but what would you do if you find only twenty?"

"Because of them, I won't destroy the city," was the Lord's answer.

³² Finally, Abraham said, "Please don't get angry, Lord, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there."

"For the sake of ten good people," the Lord told him, "I still won't destroy the city."

³³ After speaking with Abraham, the Lord left, and Abraham went back home.