18
God promised to give Abraham and Sarah a son
1 Some time later, when Abraham was camped near the Great Trees of Mamre, the Lord came to talk to Abraham again. It was the hottest part of the day and Abraham was sitting in the doorway of his tent. 2 He looked up and saw 3 men standing there. When Abraham saw them, he left his tent and ran to meet them. He bowed down with his face on the ground in front of them.+ 3-5 He said, “My lord, if you are happy with me, please come and sit down with me. Let me look after you, and I will get someone to bring water so that you can wash your feet. You can rest under this tree and I will get some food ready for you. When you have finished eating, you will feel strong again and then you can keep going.”
The 3 men said, “Thank you, yes, we will do that.” 6 Straight away, Abraham went and found Sarah in the tent and said, “Quick, get some of our best flour and make bread for our visitors.” 7 Then he ran and picked a nice young calf from his mob of cattle. He gave it to one of his workers, who quickly killed the calf and cooked it for the men. 8 Abraham gave the men some milk, yogurt and meat to eat, and then went to stand in the shade of a tree.
9 The men said to Abraham, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
Abraham answered, “She is right there in our tent.”
10 Sarah was sitting in the tent behind where the men were eating, and she heard one of the men say, “I will come back to visit you this time next year, and Sarah will have a baby boy.”+
11-12 Sarah could not believe it, and so she laughed to herself. She was thinking, “My husband Abraham is really old and I am too old and worn out to have my own baby. I will never be happy that way.”
13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say to herself, ‘I am too old to have a baby?’ 14 I tell you, God can do anything. Just like I said, at the right time next year, I will come back to visit you, and Sarah will have a baby boy.”+ 15 Sarah was frightened and so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But the Lord said, “Yes you did. You did laugh.”
Abraham tried to save Sodom
16 When the 3 men finished eating, they got up to leave. Abraham walked with them to say goodbye and as they walked along the men looked down at the town called Sodom.
17 The Lord was saying to himself as they walked, “Is it a good idea to tell Abraham what I am going to do, or will I say nothing? 18 Abraham's family will be a big and powerful nation one day, and I will use his family to do good things for all the nations on the earth.+ 19 I have picked him so that he can teach his family to live my way and do what is right. If Abraham's family do these things, I will keep my promise to him.”
20 Then the Lord said, “Abraham, I have heard about all the really bad things that happen in Sodom and Gomorrah. And I am shocked to hear what those people do. 21 I am going to go down and find out if what I hear is true. If it is true, I will burn those towns.”+
22 Straight away, the other 2 men turned and walked towards Sodom. They left Abraham standing next to the Lord.
23 Abraham turned to the Lord and asked, “Are you going to kill all the good people when you kill all the bad people that have gone against you? 24-25 There might be 50 good people in that town. Will you still burn it? I don't think you will do that. I know that you are the judge of the whole world and you always do what is right. And I don't think you will do to the good people what you are going to do to the bad people.”
26 The Lord answered, “Ok Abraham. If I find 50 people that live my way in Sodom, I will leave that town alone. Those 50 good people will save everyone else in the town.”
27-28 Abraham asked again, “I know that I am just a man, but I want to ask you another question. What if there are only 45 good people who live your way. Will you still burn the town?”
God answered, “If I find 45 good people, I will not burn the town.”
29 Again Abraham asked, “What if there are only 40 good people there?”
God said, “If I only find 40 good people, I will not burn the town.”
30 And again, Abraham asked, “Please do not get angry with me, but what if there are only 30 good people?”
God said, “I will not burn the town if there are 30 good people.”
31 Abraham asked, “I know that I am being brave to ask you this but, what if there are only 20 people that live your way in the town?”
God answered, “I will not burn the town if I find 20 good people there.”
32 Abraham said, “Please do not be angry with me if I ask one last question. What if you only find 10 good people in that town?”
God answered, “If I find 10 good people, I will not burn that town.”
33 When they finished talking, the Lord left Abraham and Abraham went back to his camp.
+ 18:2 Hebrews 13:2 + 18:10 Romans 9:9 + 18:14 Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26; Mark 10:27 + 18:18 Genesis 12:1-3; 22:18; 26:4; 28:14; Galatians 3:8 + 18:21 Genesis 13:13