1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening. Lot was sitting near the gate of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground.
2 "My lords," he said, "please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night here. Then you can go on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered. "We'll spend the night in the street."
3 But Lot wouldn't give up. So they went with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them. He baked bread without using yeast. And they ate.
4 Before Lot and his guests had gone to bed, all of the men came from every part of the city of Sodom. Young and old men alike surrounded the house.
5 They called out to Lot. They said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us. We want to have sex with them."
6 Lot went outside to meet them. He shut the door behind him.
7 He said, "No, my friends. Don't do such an evil thing.
8 Look, I have two daughters. No man has ever made love to them. I'll bring them out to you now. Then do to them what you want to. But don't do anything to these men. I've brought them inside so they can be safe."
9 "Get out of our way!" the men of Sodom replied. They said, "This fellow came here as an outsider. Now he wants to act like a judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept trying to force Lot to open the door. Then they moved forward to break it down.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house. They shut the door.
11 Then they made the men who were at the door of the house blind. They blinded young and old men alike. So the men couldn't find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here? Do you have sons-in-law, sons or daughters? Does anyone else in the city belong to you? Get them out of here.
13 We are going to destroy this place. There has been a great cry to the Lord against the people of this city. So he has sent us to destroy it."
14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. They had promised to get married to his daughters. He said, "Hurry up! Get out of this place! The Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 The sun was coming up. So the angels tried to get Lot to leave. They said, "Hurry up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out! If you don't, you will be swept away when the city is punished."
16 Lot didn't move right away. So the men grabbed him by the hand. They also took hold of the hands of his wife and two daughters. They led all of them safely out of the city. The Lord had mercy on them.
17 As soon as the angels had brought them out, one of them spoke. He said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back! Don't stop anywhere in the valley! Run to the mountains! If you don't, you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords! Please!
19 You have done me a big favor. You have been very kind to me by sparing my life. But I can't run to the mountains. This horrible thing that's going to happen will catch up with me. And then I'll die.
20 "Look, here's a town near enough to run to. It's small. Let me run to it. It's very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 The Lord said to Lot, "All right. I will also give you what you are asking for. I will not destroy the town you are talking about.
22 But run there quickly. I can't do anything until you reach it." The town was named Zoar. Zoar means "small."
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land.
24 Then the Lord sent down burning sulfur. It came down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. It came from the Lord out of the sky.
25 He destroyed those cities and the whole valley. All of the people who were living in the cities were wiped out. So were the plants in the land.
26 But Lot's wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar made out of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up. He returned to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord.
28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley. He saw thick smoke rising from the land. It looked like smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the valley, he showed concern for Abraham. He brought Lot out safely when he destroyed the cities where Lot had lived.
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar. They went to settle down in the mountains. Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar. So he and his daughters lived in a cave.
31 One day the older daughter spoke to the younger one. She said, "Our father is old. There aren't any other men around here to make love to, as people all over the earth do.
32 So let's get our father to drink wine. Then we can make love to him. We can use our father to continue our family line."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine. Then the older daughter went in and made love to him. He didn't know when she lay down or when she got up.
34 The next day the older daughter spoke to the younger one again. She said, "Last night I made love to my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight. Then you go in and make love to him. In that way, we can use our father to continue our family line."
35 So they got their father to drink wine that night also. Then the younger daughter went and made love to him. Again he didn't know when she lay down or when she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.
37 The older daughter had a son. She named him Moab. He's the father of the Moabites of today.