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¹ AND the LORD revealed himself to him by the oak of Mamre, as he was sitting at the door of the tent in the heat of the day;² And he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, three men stood at a distance from him; and when he saw them, he ran from the door of the tent to meet them and bowed himself to the ground,³ And said, O LORD, if now I have found mercy in thy sight, do not pass away from thy servant;⁴ Let me bring a little water and wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree;⁵ And take a morsel of bread and sustain your hearts; after that you shall go on your way, since you have come to your servant. And they said, So do as you have said.⁶ So Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine flour, knead it, and make cakes on a griddle.⁷ And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf fat and good, and gave it to a servant, and he hastened to prepare it.⁸ And he took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set them before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they ate.

⁹ And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, Behold, she is in the tent.¹⁰ And the LORD said, I will certainly return to you at this time next year, and 1o, Sarah your wife shall be with child, and shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door which was behind her.¹¹ Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well advanced in years; and Sarah was beyond the age of childbearing.¹² Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am grown old, shall I renew my youth, my lord being old also?¹³ And the LORD said to Abraham, Why did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I truly bear a child, when I am so old?¹⁴ Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at this season, and Sarah your wife shall be with child, and shall have a son.¹⁵ Then Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; because she was afraid. And he said, No; but you did laugh.

¹⁶ And the men rose up from there and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to see them off.¹⁷ And the LORD said, Shall I hide from my servant Abraham the thing which I am going to do,¹⁸ Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed through him?¹⁹ For I know him well, and that he will command his children and his household after him, to keep the ways of the LORD, to do justice and righteousness; for the LORD shall fulfil for Abraham the thing that he has spoken concerning him.²⁰ And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah has come before me and their sins are very grievous,²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to their cry which has come before me; and if not, I will know.²² So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

²³ And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou in thine anger destroy the righteous with the sinners?²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou in thine anger destroy it, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are in it?²⁵ Far be it from thee to do such a thing as this, to slay the innocent with the guilty, far be it from thee, O thou Judge of the whole earth! Such a judgment should never be carried out.²⁶ And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole country for their sake.²⁷ And Abraham answered and said, Behold, I have ventured to speak before the LORD, and yet I am but dust and ashes;²⁸ Suppose there shall lack five of the fifty righteous; wilt thou destroy the whole city for the lack of five men? And he said, If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.²⁹ And Abraham spoke to him and said, Suppose there shall be forty found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find there forty.³⁰ Then Abraham said, Oh let not the LORD be displeased and I will speak: Suppose there shall thirty be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find thirty there.³¹ And he said, Behold, I have ventured to speak before the LORD; suppose there shall be twenty found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty.³² And he said, Oh, let not the LORD be displeased, and I will speak only once more; suppose ten shall be found there? And he said, I will not destroy it for the sake of ten.³³ And the LORD went his way when he had finished communing with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.