2 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, an do ye to them as is good in your eyes. 19:8
Trivia: Who told Abram (Abraham) to have sex with his wife's slave girl?
18:1-82 And he lift up his eyes and looked, and, lo, three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground,
God appeared to Abraham as he sat at his tent door. [1]
3 And said, My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant:
4Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree:
5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread, and comfort ye your hearts; after that ye shall pass on: for therefore are ye come to your servant. And they said, So do, as thou hast said.
When Abraham looked up he saw three men standing in front of him. He said to them,
Wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.
I'll get some bread while you comfort your hearts.
After that, you can go.
The three guests said to him, "Okay."
6 And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.
Abraham ran to Sarah and said to her,
Bake some cakes.
7 And Abraham ran unto the herd, and fetcht a calf tender and good, and gave it unto a young man; and he hasted to dress it.
Then he fetched a calf, killed and prepared it.
8 And he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had dressed, and set it before them; and he stood by them under the tree, and they did eat.
18:9-15
Cf. Gen 17:17 - Abraham laughs at God
9 And they said unto him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.
God and his companions said to Abraham, "Where is your wife, Sarah?" [3]
Abraham replied, "In the tent."
10 And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.
11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well stricken in age; and it ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12 Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?
God said,
I will return sometime, and Sarah will have a son.
Sarah heard it and laughed to herself, saying,
Am I, an old woman, going to have pleasurable sex with my old husband? [4]
13And the LORD said unto Abraham, Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, Shall I of a surety bear a child, which am old?
14Is any thing too hard for the LORD? At the time appointed I will return unto thee, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son.
God said to Abraham,
Why did Sarah laugh?Is anything too hard for me? [5]
I'll return at the appointed time and she will have a son.
15Then Sarah denied, saying, I laughed not; for she was afraid. And he said, Nay; but thou didst laugh.
Sarah said, "I didn't laugh."
God said, "Yes you did."
18:16-2216 And the men rose up from thence, and looked toward Sodom: and Abraham went with them to bring them on the way.
17 And the LORD said, Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do;
18 Seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.
Should I hide from Abraham the thing that I plan to do? [6]
(He will become a great and mighty nation. His descendants will obey me, everyone on earth will be blessed in him, and everything will work out the way I had it planned.)
20 And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;
21I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous, I'll go down and see whether things down there are as bad as I've heard.
If they are, I'll find out. [7]
22 And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.
23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?
24 Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?
25 That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?
Will you kill the righteous with the wicked? [8]
What if there are 50 righteous people in Sodom? Will you kill everyone including the 50 righteous?
You wouldn't do that, would you? Shouldn't the judge of all the earth do right?
26 And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
God said, "If I find 50 righteous people in Sodom, I'll spare the city for their sakes."
27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD, which am but dust and ashes:
28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.
"I'm just dust and ashes, but what if there are 45 righteous people?"
"If I find 45, I won't destroy it."
29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty's sake.
"How about 40?"
"I won't do it for the forty's sake."
30 And he said unto him, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
"Don't be angry with me for asking, but how about 30?"
"I won't do it if I find 30 there."
31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the LORD: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty's sake.
"Well, now that I've gone this far, how about 20?"
"I won't destroy it for 20's sake."
32 And he said, Oh let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.
"Okay, don't be angry and I'll ask this last question. How about ten?"
"I won't destroy it for ten's sake." [9]
33And the LORD went his way, as soon as he had left communing with Abraham: and Abraham returned unto his place.
Then God went his way, and Abraham went home.
Not a very kosher meal for God and Abraham to eat!
Sarah, who is about 90 years old and has gone through menopause, laughs at God when he tells her that she will have a son. She asks God if she will "have pleasure" with her "lord" [Abraham], when both are so very old. God assures her that he will return and impregnate her at the appointed time.
God, who is planning another mass murder, is worried that Abraham might try to stop him. so he asks himself if he should hide his intentions from Abraham.
Abraham begs God not to kill everyone in Sodom and Gomorrah. [Which is odd, since later Abraham doesn't even question God's request that he kill his own son.]
He asks God two good questions: "Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked?" and "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?" (The answers are "yes" and "no", respectively.)
I guess God couldn't find even ten good Sodomites because he decides to kill them all in the next chapter. Too bad Abraham didn't ask God about the children. Why not save them? If God could find 10 good children, toddlers, infants, or babies, would he spare the city? Apparently not. God doesn't give a damn about children.
18:23-33
God finally brings up the Sodom question. Abraham, obviously worried sick about Lot and his family, tries to reason with God, with the two haggling down the amount of righteous people needed for God not to destroy the city.
Apparently infants and children don't count. Either that, or they're sinning just as much as the adults are.
God: "I can name that tune in... 30 righteous people!"
Abraham: "Hmm..."
God: "No, make that... 20 righteous people! I can name that tune in 20 righteous people!"
Abraham: "Ok, well..."
God: "Wait, wait, wait! No, no, no! I can name that tune in 10 righteous people!"
Abraham: "..."
God floated away, Abraham shrugs and walks off.