Genesis 18

18 ¹Now our Father appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he sat at his tent's entrance in the day's heat. ^a a v1 Throughout the Old Testament our Father appears in forms his children can meet — as men, in fire and cloud, as a messenger. The One who comes to Abraham here is our Father, who has always pursued his children with love. ²He looked up and saw three men standing near him. Seeing them, he ran from his tent entrance to meet them and bowed to the ground. ³He said, "My Sovereign Father, if I have found favor with you, please don't pass by your servant. ⁴Let a little water be brought to wash your feet and rest under the tree. ⁵Let me bring a piece of bread so you can refresh yourselves before you go on, since you've come to your servant." They said, "Do as you've said."

⁶Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quick, take about twenty-five pounds of fine flour, knead it, and make bread." ⁷Abraham ran to the herd, took a tender, good calf, and gave it to the servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸He took curds, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, set them before the men, then stood by them under the tree while they ate.

⁹They asked him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" "There, in the tent," he said.

¹⁰Then our Father said, "I will certainly return to you at this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son." Sarah listened at the tent entrance behind him.

¹¹Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years; Sarah had stopped menstruating. ¹²Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I'm worn out, will I have pleasure, my lord being old too?"

¹³Then our Father said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Will I really bear a child, old as I am?' ¹⁴Is anything too hard for your Father? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son."

¹⁵Sarah denied it, saying, "I didn't laugh," for she was afraid. He said, "No, you did laugh."

Looking Toward Sodom

¹⁶The men set out from there and looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked with them to see them off.

¹⁷Now our Father said, "Will I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all earth's nations will be blessed through him? ¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep my way by doing what is right and just, so that I may fulfill what I have promised Abraham." ²⁰Then our Father said, "The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin very serious, ²¹that I will go down and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry reaching me claims; if not, I will know."

²²So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before our Father. ²³Then Abraham drew near and said, "Will you really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? ²⁴Suppose fifty righteous are in the city—will you really sweep it away, not sparing the place for the sake of the fifty righteous in it? ²⁵Far be it from you to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating them alike! Far be it from you! Won't the Judge of all the earth do justice?"

²⁶Our Father said, "If I find fifty righteous within the city of Sodom, I'll spare the whole place for them."

²⁷Abraham said, "I have dared to speak to my Sovereign Father, though only dust and ashes.

²⁸Suppose the fifty righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for five?" And our Father said, "I won't destroy it if I find forty-five there."

²⁹He spoke to him again: "Suppose forty are found there." He said, "For forty's sake I won't do it."

³⁰Abraham said, "May my Sovereign Father not be angry, and let me speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

³¹Abraham said, "Since I have dared to speak to my Sovereign Father, suppose only twenty are found there." He said, "For twenty's sake, I will not destroy it."

³²Then he said, "May my Sovereign Father not be angry, let me speak just once more: suppose only ten are found there." And our Father said, "For ten's sake, I will not destroy it."

³³When our Father finished speaking with Abraham, he left; Abraham returned to his place.