Hands-On Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 50
Genesis 19 ... page 20
5 They
shouted to Lot, “Where are the men who
came to spend the night with you? Bring them
out to us so we can have sex with them!”
6So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 “Please, my brothers,” he begged, “don’t do such a wicked thing.
8Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring
them out to you, and you can do with them as you
wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they
are my guests and are under my protection.”
9 “Stand back!” they shouted. “This fellow
came to town as an outsider, and now he’s acting
like our judge! We’ll treat you far worse than
those other men!” And they lunged toward Lot
to break down the door.
10But the two angels reached out, pulled Lot
into the house, and bolted the door. 11 Then they
blinded all the men, young and old, who were at
the door of the house, so they gave up trying to
get inside.
12Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do
you have any other relatives here in the city?”
they asked. “Get them out of this place—your
sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else.
13For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it
has reached the Lord, and he has sent us to
destroy it.”
14 So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters’
fiancés, “Quick, get out of the city! The Lord is
about to destroy it.” But the young men thought
he was only joking.
15At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. “Hurry,” they said to Lot. “Take
your wife and your two daughters who are here.
Get out right now, or you will be swept away in
the destruction of the city!”
16When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized
his hand and the hands of his wife and two
daughters and rushed them to safety outside the
city, for the Lord was merciful. 17 When they
were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, “Run for your lives! And don’t look back or
stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
18 “Oh no, my lord!” Lot begged. 19“You have
been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you
have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go
to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me
there, and I would soon die. 20See, there is a small
village nearby. Please let me go there instead;
don’t you see how small it is? Then my life will be
saved.”
21“All right,” the angel said, “I will grant your
request. I will not destroy the little village. 22But
hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you
arrive there.” (This explains why that village was
known as Zoar, which means “little place.”)
23Lot reached the village just as the sun was
rising over the horizon. 24Then the Lord rained
down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on
Sodom and Gomorrah. 25He utterly destroyed
them, along with the other cities and villages of
the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit
of vegetation. 26But Lot’s wife looked back as she
was following behind him, and she turned into a
pillar of salt.
27Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the
Lord’s presence. 28He looked out across the
plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched
as columns of smoke rose from the cities like
smoke from a furnace.
29 But God had listened to Abraham’s request
and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.
Lot and His Daughters
30Afterward
Lot left Zoar because he was afraid
of the people there, and he went to live in a cave
in the mountains with his two daughters. 31One
day the older daughter said to her sister, “There
are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so
we can’t get married like everyone else. And our
father will soon be too old to have children.
32Come, let’s get him drunk with wine, and then
we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father.”
33 So that night they got him drunk with wine,
and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
34The next morning the older daughter said
to her younger sister, “I had sex with our father
last night. Let’s get him drunk with wine again
tonight, and you go in and have sex with him.
That way we will preserve our family line
through our father.” 35 So that night they got him
drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or
getting up again.
36As a result, both of Lot’s daughters became
pregnant by their own father. 37 When the older
daughter gave birth to a son, she named him
Moab. He became the ancestor of the nation now
known as the Moabites. 38When the younger
daughter gave birth to a son, she named him
Ben-ammi. He became the ancestor of the nation
now known as the Ammonites.
