New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day.
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Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;
2 He looked up and saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.
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And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent, and went down on his face to the earth;
3 He said, "My lord, if I find favor with you, do not pass by your servant.
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And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go away from your servant:
4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.
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Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest under the tree:
5 Let me bring a little bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant." So they said, "Do as you have said."
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And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, "Make ready quickly three measures of choice flour, knead it, and make cakes."
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Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.
7 Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to the servant, who hastened to prepare it.
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And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready;
8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree while they ate.
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And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food.
9 They said to him, "Where is your wife Sarah?" And he said, "There, in the tent."
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And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent.
10 Then one said, "I will surely return to you in due season, and your wife Sarah shall have a son." And Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him.
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And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door.
11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
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Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the time for giving birth.
12 So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "After I have grown old, and my husband is old, shall I have pleasure?"
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And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?
13 The Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, and say, "Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?'
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And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child?
14 Is anything too wonderful for the Lord? At the set time I will return to you, in due season, and Sarah shall have a son."
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Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child.
15 But Sarah denied, saying, "I did not laugh"; for she was afraid. He said, "Oh yes, you did laugh."
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Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing.
16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
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And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went with them on their way.
17 The Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,
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And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do;
18 seeing that Abraham shall become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
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Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing?
19 No, for I have chosen him, that he may charge his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice; so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him."
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For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said.
20 Then the Lord said, "How great is the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah and how very grave their sin!
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And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,
21 I must go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me; and if not, I will know."
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I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see.
22 So the men turned from there, and went toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.
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And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.
23 Then Abraham came near and said, "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
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And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?
24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will you then sweep away the place and not forgive it for the fifty righteous who are in it?
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If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?
25 Far be it from you to do such a thing, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"
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Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the Lord said, "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will forgive the whole place for their sake."
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And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them.
27 Abraham answered, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes.
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And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:
28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
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If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.
29 Again he spoke to him, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it."
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And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.
30 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there."
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And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.
31 He said, "Let me take it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it."
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And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.
32 Then he said, "Oh do not let the Lord be angry if I speak just once more. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it."
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And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.
33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.
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And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.