One Year Pray for the Persecuted Bible - Flipbook - Page 44
January 8
be angry with me if I speak one more time.
Suppose only ten are found there?”
And the Lord replied, “Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and
Abraham returned to his tent.
19:1 That
evening the two angels came to the
entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting
there, and when he saw them, he stood up
to meet them. Then he welcomed them and
bowed with his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,”
he said, “come to my home to wash your feet,
and be my guests for the night. You may then
get up early in the morning and be on your way
again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just spend the
night out here in the city square.”
3 But Lot insisted, so at last they went home
with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast,
and they ate. 4 But before they retired for the
night, all the men of Sodom, young and old,
came from all over the city and surrounded
the house. 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!”
6 So 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. 8 Look, 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.
10 But 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.
12 Meanwhile, 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. 13 For 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
24
is about to destroy it.” But the young men
thought he was only joking.
15 At 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!”
16 When 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.
20 See, there is a small village nearby. Please let
me go there instead; d
on’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.
22 But 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.”)
23 Lot reached the village just as the sun
was rising over the horizon. 24 Then the Lord
rained down fire and burning sulfur from the
sky on Sodom and Gomorrah. 25 He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and
villages of the plain, wiping out all the people
and every bit of vegetation. 26 But Lot’s wife
looked back as she was following behind him,
and she turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early that morning and
hurried out to the place where he had stood
in the Lord’s presence. 28 He 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 Abra
ham’s request and kept Lot safe, removing him from
the disaster that engulfed the cities on the
plain.
30 Afterward 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. 31 One 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 every
one else. And our father will soon be too old
to have children. 32 Come, let’s get him drunk
with wine, and then we will have sex with
