The Complete Jewish Bible CJB
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 The two angels came to S'dom that evening, when Lot was sitting at the gate of S'dom. Lot saw them, got up to greet them and prostrated himself on the ground.
1
And at nightfall the two angels came to Sodom; and Lot was seated at the way into the town: and when he saw them he got up and came before them, falling down on his face to the earth.
2 He said, "Here now, my lords, please come over to your servant's house. Spend the night, wash your feet, get up early, and go on your way.""No," they answered, "we'll stay in the square."
2
And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the street.
3 But he kept pressing them; so they went home with him; and he made them a meal, baking matzah for their supper, which they ate.
3
But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made unleavened bread, of which they took.
4 But before they could go to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house -young and old, everyone from every neighborhood of S'dom.
4
But before they had gone to bed, the men of the town, all the men of Sodom, came round the house, young and old, from every part of the town;
5 They called Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us! We want to have sex with them!"
5
And crying out to Lot, they said, Where are the men who came to your house this night? Send them out to us, so that we may take our pleasure with them.
6 Lot went out to them and stood in the doorway, closing the door behind him,
6
And Lot went out to them in the doorway, shutting the door after him.
7 and said, "Please, my brothers, don't do such a wicked thing.
7
And he said, My brothers, do not this evil.
8 Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins. Please, let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them what seems good to you; but don't do anything to these men, since they are guests in my house."
8
See now, I have two unmarried daughters; I will send them out to you so that you may do to them whatever seems good to you: only do nothing to these men, for this is why they have come under the shade of my roof.
9 "Stand back!" they replied. "This guy came to live here, and now he's decided to play judge. For that we'll deal worse with you than with them!"Then they crowded in on Lot, in order to get close enough to break down the door.
9
And they said, Give way there. This one man, they said, came here from a strange country, and will he now be our judge? now we will do worse to you than to them; and pushing violently against Lot, they came near to get the door broken in.
10 But the men inside reached out their hands, brought Lot into the house to them and shut the door.
10
But the men put out their hands and took Lot into the house to them, shutting the door again.
11 Then they struck the men at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they couldn't find the doorway.
11
But the men who were outside the door they made blind, all of them, small and great, so that they were tired out with looking for the door.
12 The men said to Lot, "Do you have any people here besides yourself? Whomever you have in the city - son-in-law, your sons, your daughters - bring them out of this place;
12
Then the men said to Lot, Are there any others of your family here? sons-in-law or sons or daughters, take them all out of this place;
13 because we are going to destroy it. ADONAI has become aware of the great outcry against them, and ADONAI has sent us to destroy it."
13
For we are about to send destruction on this place, because a great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.
14 Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up and leave this place, because ADONAI is going to destroy the city." But his sons-in-law didn't take him seriously.
14
And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.
15 When morning came, the angels told Lot to hurry. "Get up," they said, "and take your wife and your two daughters who are here; otherwise you will be swept away in the punishment of the city."
15
And when morning came, the angels did all in their power to make Lot go, saying, Get up quickly and take your wife and your two daughters who are here, and go, for fear that you come to destruction in the punishment of the town.
16 But he dallied, so the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand and the hands of his two daughters -ADONAI was being merciful to him - and led them, leaving them outside the city.
16
But while he was waiting, the men took him and his wife and his daughters by the hand, for the Lord had mercy on them, and put them outside the town.
17 When they had brought them out, he said, "Flee for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stop anywhere in the plain, but escape to the hills! Otherwise you will be swept away."
17
And when they had put them out, he said, Go for your life, without looking back or waiting in the lowland; go quickly to the mountain or you will come to destruction.
18 Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lord!
18
And Lot said to them, Not so, O my Lord;
19 Here, your servant has already found favor in your sight, and you have shown me even greater mercy by saving my life. But I can't escape to the hills, because I'm afraid the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.
19
See now, your servant has had grace in your eyes and great is your mercy in keeping my life from destruction, but I am not able to get as far as the mountain before evil overtakes me and death;
20 Look, there's a town nearby to flee to, and it's a small one. Please let me escape there - isn't it just a small one? -and that way I will stay alive."
20
This town, now, is near, and it is a little one: O, let me go there (is it not a little one?) so that my life may be safe.
21 He replied, "All right, I agree to what you have asked. I won't overthrow the city of which you have spoken.
21
And he said, See, I have given you your request in this one thing more: I will not send destruction on this town.
22 Hurry, and escape to that place, because I can't do anything until you arrive there." For this reason the city was named Tzo'ar [small].
22
Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.
23 By the time Lot had come to Tzo'ar, the sun had risen over the land.
23
The sun was up when Lot came to Zoar.
24 Then ADONAI caused sulfur and fire to rain down upon S'dom and 'Amora from ADONAI out of the sky.
24
Then the Lord sent fire and flaming smoke raining down from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.
25 He overthrew those cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and everything growing in the ground.
25
And he sent destruction on those towns, with all the lowland and all the people of those towns and every green thing in the land.
26 But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a column of salt.
26
But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt.
27 Avraham got up early in the morning, went to the place where he had stood before ADONAI,
27
And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had been talking with the Lord:
28 and looked out toward S'dom and 'Amora, scanning the entire plain. There before him the smoke was rising from the land like smoke from a furnace!
28
And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of an oven.
29 But when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Avraham and sent Lot out, away from the destruction, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
29
So it came about that when God sent destruction on the towns of the lowland, he kept his word to Abraham, and sent Lot safely away when he put an end to the towns where he was living.
30 Lot went up from Tzo'ar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, because he was afraid to stay in Tzo'ar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave.
30
Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole in the rock.
31 The firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there isn't a man on earth to come in to us in the manner customary in the world.
31
And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old, and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way:
32 Come, let's have our father drink wine; then we'll sleep with him, and that way we'll enable our father to have descendants."
32
Come, let us give our father much wine, and we will go into his bed, so that we may have offspring by our father,
33 So they plied their father with wine that night, and the older one went in and slept with her father; he didn't know when she lay down or when she got up.
33
And that night they made their father take much wine; and the older daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.
34 The following day, the older said to the younger, "Here, I slept last night with my father. Let's make him drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him, and that way we'll enable our father to have descendants."
34
And on the day after, the older daughter said to the younger, Last night I was with my father; let us make him take much wine this night again, and do you go to him, so that we may have offspring by our father.
35 They plied their father with wine that night also, and the younger one got up and slept with him, and he didn't know when she lay down or when she got up.
35
And that night again they made their father take much wine; and the younger daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.
36 Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.
36
And so the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.
37 The older one gave birth to a son and called him Mo'av; he is the ancestor of Mo'av to this day.
37
And the older daughter had a son, and she gave him the name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day.
38 The younger also gave birth to a son, and she called him Ben-'Ammi; he is the ancestor of the people of 'Amon to this day.
38
And the younger had a son and gave him the name Ben-ammi: from him come the children of Ammon to this day.
Complete Jewish Bible Copyright 1998 by David H. Stern. Published by Jewish New Testament Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.