Genesis 18:24-33

24 if fifty just men be in the city, shall they perish together, and shalt thou not spare that place for fifty just men, if they be therein? (what if fifty righteous people be in the city, shall they perish along with the others, and shalt thou not spare that place for fifty righteous people, if they be there?)
25 Far be it from thee that thou do this thing, and slay the just with the wicked, and that a just man be made as a wicked man; this is not thine that deemest all [the] earth; thou shalt not make this doom. (Far be it from thee that thou do this thing, and kill the righteous along with the wicked, and that the righteous be made like the wicked; this is not thee who judgest all the earth; nay, thou shalt not make such a judgement.)
26 And the Lord said to him, If I shall find in Sodom fifty just men in the midst of the city, I shall forgive to all the place for them. (And the Lord said to him, If I shall find in Sodom fifty righteous people in the midst of the city, I shall forgive the whole place for their sake.)
27 Abraham answered and said, For I began once (For once I began), I shall speak to my Lord, since I am (but) dust and ashes;
28 what if less than fifty just men by five be, shalt thou do away all the city for five and forty? And the Lord said, I shall not do away, if I shall find five and forty there. (what if there be five less than fifty righteous people there, shalt thou do away all the city for forty-five? And the Lord said, I shall not do them all away, if I shall find forty-five righteous people there.)
29 And again Abraham said to him, But if forty be there, what shalt thou do? The Lord said, I shall not smite for forty (I shall not strike them all down, for the sake of forty righteous people).
30 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, take thou (it) not into indignation, if I speak (again); what if thirty be found there? The Lord answered, I shall not do (it), if I shall find thirty there.
31 Abraham said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay for twenty. (Abraham said, For once I began, I shall speak again to my Lord; what if twenty be found there? The Lord said, I shall not slay them all, for the sake of twenty.)
32 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, be thou not wroth, if I speak yet once (more); what if ten be found there? The Lord said, I shall not do away for ten. (And Abraham said, Lord, I beseech thee, be thou not angry, if I speak yet once more; what if ten be found there? And the Lord said, I shall not do them all away, if I shall find ten righteous people there.)
33 The Lord went forth, after that he [had] ceased to speak to Abraham, and Abraham turned again into his place. (And then the Lord went forth, after that he had ceased to speak with Abraham, and Abraham returned to his home.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.