Sodom and Gomorrah Story - Bible

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre. Abraham was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. He looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them. He bowed low to the ground.

Abraham said, 'My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass by your servant. Let me get some water so you can wash your feet. Rest under this tree. Let me get you some bread so you can be refreshed. Then you can go on your way.'

The men said, 'Do as you say.'

Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. He said, 'Quick! Get three measures of the finest flour. Knead it and bake some bread.' Then he ran to the herd. He picked a choice, tender calf. He gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. Abraham brought butter, milk, and the prepared calf. He set these before the men. While they ate, he stood near them under the tree.

The men asked Abraham, 'Where is your wife Sarah?'

Abraham said, 'There, in the tent.'

One of them said, 'I will surely return to you about this time next year. Sarah your wife will have a son.'

Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent. She laughed to herself. She thought, 'After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?'

The Lord said to Abraham, 'Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, 'Will I really have a child, now that I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? I will return to you at the appointed time next year. Sarah will have a son.'

Sarah was afraid. She lied and said, 'I did not laugh.'

But the Lord said, 'Yes, you did laugh.'

When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom. Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. The Lord said, 'Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation. All nations on earth will be blessed through him. I have chosen him so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord. He will do what is right and just. Then the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.'

The Lord said, 'The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great. Their sin is so grievous. I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.'

The men turned away and went toward Sodom. But Abraham remained standing before the Lord. Abraham came closer and asked, 'Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? Far be it from you to do such a thing. Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?'

The Lord said, 'If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.'

Abraham spoke up again. 'Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?'

The Lord said, 'If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.'

Abraham said, 'What if only forty are found there?'

The Lord said, 'For the sake of forty, I will not do it.'

Abraham said, 'May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found?'

The Lord answered, 'I will not do it if I find thirty there.'

Abraham said, 'Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found?'

The Lord said, 'For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.'

Then Abraham said, 'May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found?'

The Lord answered, 'For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.'

When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left. Abraham returned home.

The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground. Lot said, 'My lords, please come to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night. Then tomorrow you can go on your way.'

'No,' they answered, 'we will spend the night in the square.'

But Lot begged them so much that they agreed. They went with him to his house. Lot prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without yeast, and they ate.

Before they went to bed, all the men of Sodom surrounded the house. Every man from every part of the city came. They called to Lot, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.'

Lot went outside to meet them. He shut the door behind him. He said, 'No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you. You can do what you like with them. But don't do anything to these men. They have come under the protection of my roof.'

They replied, 'Get out of our way!' They said, 'This fellow came here as a foreigner. Now he wants to play the judge! We will treat you worse than them.' They kept pressuring Lot. They moved forward to break down the door.

The men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house. They shut the door. Then they struck the men at the door with blindness. The men could not find the door.

The two men said to Lot, 'Do you have anyone else here? Do you have sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else in the city? Get them out of here. We are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it.'

Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. They were pledged to marry his daughters. He said, 'Hurry and get out of this place. The Lord is about to destroy the city!' But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

At dawn, the angels said to Lot, 'Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. If you don't, you will be swept away when the city is punished.'

When Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand. They also grabbed the hands of his wife and his two daughters. The Lord was merciful to them. The men led them safely out of the city.

As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, 'Run for your lives! Don't look back! Don't stop anywhere in the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!'

Lot said to them, 'No, my lords! Your servant has found favor in your eyes. You have shown great kindness to me. You have spared my life. But I can't run to the mountains. This disaster will catch up to me, and I'll die. Look, here is a town near enough to run to. It is small. Let me flee to it. It is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared.'

The angel said to him, 'Very well, I will grant this request too. I will not overthrow the town you speak of. Run there quickly. I cannot do anything until you reach it.' That is why the town was called Zoar, which means 'small.'

By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. The Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah. He destroyed those cities and the whole plain. He destroyed all the people living in the cities. He also destroyed the plants that grew in the ground.

God destroyed the cities because the people were so wicked. But He saved Lot and his family because Abraham had asked God to be merciful. God always listens to the prayers of His people.

The Sodom and Gomorrah story teaches consequences of sin and obedience. It shows God’s justice and mercy. This story highlights righteousness and caution.