Genesis 19

The Angels Visit Lot

1 Two angels rolled up to Sodom that evening. Lot was chilling at the city gate. When he saw them, he got up, bowed low, and said,

2 ‘Listen, my lords, come crash at my house tonight. Wash your feet, rest up, and then you all can bounce early in the morning.’ They said, ‘Nah, we will stay in the city square.’

3 But Lot insisted, so they went with him. He made them a meal, baked some bread, and they ate.

4 Before they could even lay down for the night, the men of Sodom, young and old, surrounded the house.

5 They shouted, ‘Where are the dudes who came to your crib tonight, Bring them out so we can mess with them!’

6 Lot stepped outside, closed the door behind him, and said,

7 ‘Brothers, do not do this wicked thing!’

8 ‘Look, I got two daughters who have never been with a man. Let me bring them out to you all, and you can do whatever you want, but leave these men alone, they are under my protection.’

9 They said, ‘Get out of here! Who do you think you are, acting like our judge, We are going to deal with you worse than them!’ They rushed at Lot and tried to break the door down.

10 The angels reached out, pulled Lot back inside, and shut the door.

11 They struck the men outside with blindness, so they could not find the door no matter how hard they tried.

Lot Is Warned to Leave

12 The angels said to Lot, ‘Listen, anyone else here, sons, daughters, sons-in-law, anyone in the city, Get them out of here!’

13 ‘We are about to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against these people is off the charts, and He sent us to handle it.’

14 Lot went to talk to his future sons-in-law, who were set to marry his daughters. He said, ‘Listen, get up! Get out of here! God is about to destroy this place!’ But they thought he was joking.

15 By morning, the angels told Lot, ‘Hurry up! Take your wife and daughters out of here so you do not get caught up in the destruction.’

16 Lot hesitated, so the angels grabbed him, his wife, and his daughters by the hand and rushed them out of the city. The Lord was showing mercy on them.

17 As soon as they were out, one of the angels said, ‘Run for your life! Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the mountains, or you will die!’

18 Lot said, ‘Please, my lord,’

19 ‘You have been good to me and saved my life, but I cannot make it to the mountains. Something bad will happen, and I will die.’

20 ‘There is a small town nearby. Let me run there, it is just a little place. Can I go there and stay alive,’

21 The angel said, ‘Alright, I will let you go there, and I will not destroy that town.’

22 ‘But hurry up! I cannot do anything until you are there.’ That is why the town was called Zoar (which means small).

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun was rising over the land.

24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the heavens.

25 He wiped out those cities, the valley, all the people living there, and everything growing on the land.

26 But Lot’s wife looked back, and she turned into a pillar of salt.

27 Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

28 He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.

29 God remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the destruction when He wiped out the cities where Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30 Lot left Zoar and went to live in the mountains with his two daughters. He was too scared to stay in Zoar, so they lived in a cave.

31 One day, the older daughter said to the younger, ‘Listen, our dad is old, and there is no men around here to give us kids, like everyone else.’

32 ‘Let us get him drunk, sleep with him, and keep our family line going.’

33 That night, they got their dad drunk, and the older daughter slept with him. He did not even know what was happening.

34 The next day, the older daughter said, ‘Last night, I slept with Dad. Let us get him drunk again tonight so you can do the same.’

35 They got him drunk again, and the younger daughter slept with him. He still did not know what was going on.

36 Both daughters ended up pregnant by their father.

37 The older daughter had a son named Moab, who became the ancestor of the Moabites.

38 The younger daughter had a son named Ben-Ammi, who became the ancestor of the Ammonites.