The Lord appears to Abraham and talks to him
1The Lord came to Abraham. Abraham was sitting in front of the door of his tent. This was near the trees of Mamre. It was very hot. 2Abraham looked and suddenly he saw 3 men standing not far from him. He ran to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground. 3Abraham said: ‘Please do not go past my tent and go away. Please stay for a short while so that I can serve you. 4I will bring you some water, and then you can wash your feet. You can rest here under this tree. 5I will also bring you some food and when you have eaten enough, you can go on. I am happy that you have come to me, your servant.’
Then they said to Abraham: ‘Yes, you can do what you have said.’
6Abraham quickly went to Sarah in the tent and told her: ‘You must get 3 seahs of flour and quickly bake some bread.’
7Then Abraham ran to his cattle and he chose the best young bull-calf. He gave the bull-calf to his slave and told him to kill it and cook it.
8He brought some cream and milk and the meat of the calf and he gave it to them. They ate and Abraham stood with them under the tree.
9Then they asked Abraham: ‘Where is your wife, Sarah?’
Abraham answered and said: ‘She is here in the tent.’
10Then One of the men said to Abraham: ‘I will come back next year and then Sarah will have a baby boy.’
Sarah was in the tent and she heard what He said. 11Abraham and Sarah were very old. Sarah was too old to have a baby. 12Sarah laughed and said to herself: ‘I am too old. I can not sleep with my husband and have a baby. He is also too old.’
13The Man was the Lord Himself. He asked Abraham: ‘Why did Sarah laugh? She thinks that she is too old to have a baby. 14I am the Lord. I can do anything that I want to do. I will come back next year at the time that I have said, and then Sarah will have a son.’
15Sarah was afraid. She lied and said: ‘I did not laugh.’
But the Lord said: ‘Yes, you did.’
Abraham prays for the city of Sodom
16The 3 men wanted to go. They looked at the city of Sodom and Abraham walked with them to greet them.
17The Lord said to Himself: ‘I will tell Abraham what I am going to do. 18His family will become a big and important nation. I will bless all the other nations on earth because I have blessed Abraham. 19I chose him and he must tell his children and his descendants to live as I want them to live, to live in the right way and not to do what is wrong, and then I will give him everything that I have promised him.’
20The Lord said: ‘Abraham, I know that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing very bad things and that they sin a lot. 21I am going to the cities to see if it is true. I want to know if those people are so bad.’
22Then 2 of the men started to walk to the city of Sodom. But the Lord did not go. He stayed with Abraham. 23Abraham asked Him: ‘Lord, when You punish those bad people, are You also going to punish the people who are good? 24If there are 50 good people in the city, will You punish them with the bad people, or will You save the city because there are 50 good people in it? 25I am sure that You will not kill the good people with the bad people. You will not punish the good people and the bad people in the same way. I know that You are not like that. You are the Judge of the world and You always do what is right.’
26The Lord said: ‘If I find 50 good people in the city of Sodom, I will not punish the people of the city. I will save the city.’
27Then Abraham said: ‘I am only a human. I am like dust. Lord, please forgive me if I keep on asking You. 28Maybe there are only 45 good people in the city of Sodom. Will You then punish all the people in the city?’
God answered Abraham: ‘If I find 45 good people in the city, I will not punish them and I will not destroy the city.’
29Abraham said again: ‘Maybe there are only 40 good people.’
And the Lord said: ‘If there are 40 good people, I will not destroy the city.’
30Abraham asked: ‘Lord, please do not be angry with me. What will You do if there are 30 good people in the city?’
The Lord said: ‘If I find 30 good people in the city, I will not destroy it.’
31Then Abraham said: ‘Please forgive me if I keep on asking You. Lord, what will You do if You find 20 good people there?’
The Lord answered: ‘If there are 20 good people, I will not destroy the city.’
32Then Abraham said: ‘Lord, please don't be angry with me. I will ask You only one more time. If You find 10 good people there, what will You do?’
And the Lord said to him: ‘If I find 10 good people there, I will not destroy the city.’
33After the Lord had talked to Abraham, He went away and Abraham went to his home.
