Three Visitors at Mamre
1Yahweh appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent in the heat of the day. 2He looked up and saw three men standing near him. As soon as he saw them, he ran from the tent entrance to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3He said, “My lord, if I have found favor in your eyes, please do not pass your servant by. 4Let a little water be brought, so you may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree. 5Let me bring a bit of bread, so you can refresh yourselves before you go on — since that is why you have come this way to your servant.” “Very well,” they said, “do as you have said.” 6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick — three seahs of fine flour! Knead it and make bread.” 7Then Abraham ran to the herd, chose a calf, tender and choice, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 8He took curds and milk, and the calf that had been prepared, and set them before the men. He stood by them under the tree while they ate.
Sarah Laughs
9They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” “There,” he said, “in the tent.” 10He said, “I will surely return to you when the season comes round, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent, just behind him. 11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. 12So Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old besides, will I now know such pleasure?” 13Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I really bear a child, old as I am?’ 14Is anything too wonderful for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, when the season comes round, and Sarah will have a son.” 15Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said — because she was afraid. But he said, “No — you did laugh.”
Bargaining for Sodom
16The men got up from there and looked out toward Sodom, and Abraham walked with them to see them on their way. 17Yahweh said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him. 19For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of Yahweh, doing what is right and just, so that Yahweh may bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.” 20Then Yahweh said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grave. 21I will go down and see whether they have done all that the outcry reaching me accuses them of. If not, I will know.” 22The men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before Yahweh. 23Abraham approached and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city — will you really sweep it away, and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25Far be it from you to do such a thing — to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous the same as the wicked. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26Yahweh said, “If I find fifty righteous in Sodom, within the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 27Abraham spoke up again. “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes — 28suppose the fifty righteous are five short — will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” “I will not destroy it,” he said, “if I find forty-five there.” 29He spoke to him once more. “Suppose forty are found there.” “For the sake of the forty,” he said, “I will not do it.” 30He said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and let me speak further — suppose thirty are found there.” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” 31He said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord — suppose twenty are found there.” He said, “For the sake of the twenty, I will not destroy it.” 32He said, “Let not the Lord be angry, and let me speak just once more — suppose ten are found there.” He said, “For the sake of the ten, I will not destroy it.” 33When he had finished speaking with Abraham, Yahweh went on his way, and Abraham returned home.
