One day when Abraham was sitting in front of his tent, he looked up and saw three men coming. He ran to meet them and invited them to wash their feet and rest under the tree and said he would get them something to eat. They agreed and so he hurried into the tent and told Sarah to make some bread. Then he killed a calf and had a servant prepare it. So he fed his guests meat, milk, and bread.
Then they asked, "Where is your wife Sarah?" "In the tent," he answered. One of the men said, "I will come back about this time next year and Sarah will have a son." Now Abraham had not realized it, but this was God in the form of a man. When Sarah heard Him say this, she laughed to herself because she was too old to have a baby. Then God asked, "Why did Sarah laugh? Is anything too hard for God?" Sarah was afraid and so she lied, "I didn't laugh." And God said, "But you did laugh."
Then the men left on their journey and Abraham went with them part of the way. God said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am going to do? I am going down to Sodom and Gomorrah to see if they are as sinful as I hear they are." Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but God stayed with Abraham.
Abraham asked the Lord, "Are You really going to destroy the good people with the bad? What if there are fifty good people in the city?" And God said, "If there are fifty good people in Sodom, I will not destroy it." Then Abraham said, "I am too bold and not good enough to ask, but what if five are missing?" And God said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five good people there." Then Abraham said, "Please do not be angry, but what if there are only thirty?" And God said, "I will not destroy it if there are thirty." Once more Abraham said, "I am too bold, but what if there are only twenty?" And God said, "I will not destroy it if there are twenty." Then Abraham said, "Please don't get angry; I'll only ask once more. What if there are only ten?" And once more God said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten." Then God went away and Abraham went home.
That evening the two men who were really angels came to the city of Sodom. Lot, the nephew of Abraham, was sitting outside the city and when he saw these strangers he got up to meet them. "Sirs," he said, "please come to my house to spend the night, and you can leave early in the morning." They said, "No, we will spend the night in the street." But he kept asking them until they agreed. He fixed them supper to eat, but before it was time to go to bed, men from all over the city gathered outside Lot's door. The called out, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out, so that we can do bad things to them." Lot went outside to see them and he shut the door behind him and said, "I beg you, my brothers, do not do this bad thing. These men are guests in my house and I must protect them." But they said, "Get out of our way. This man came to stay among us, and now he wants to judge us." Then they pushed against him and started to break down the door. The two angels inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. Then they struck the men outside with blindness, so that they couldn't find the door.
The angels said to Lot, "Do you have any relatives here? Tell them to get out of the city, because we are about to destroy this place." So Lot went to the men that his daughters were supposed to marry and said, "Hurry up and get out of here; God is going to destroy this place." But they thought he was joking.
Early the nest morning the angels said, "Hurry! Take your wife and two daughters away, so that you will not be destroyed with the city." When he was slow about leaving, the angels took the family by their hands and led them out of the city. Then they said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, so that you will not be destroyed." Then Lot said, "Oh, no, sirs; you have been very kind and saved my life, but I cannot run to the hills. I will die before I get there. There is a little town over there that is close enough to run to. Let me go there and be safe." On of the angels answered, "All right, I won't destroy that town. But run fast; I can't do anything until you get there."
About sunrise Lot's family reached the little town of Zoar. Suddenly God rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities in the valley. Then Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
After that Lot was afraid to live in Zoar, so he and his daughters moved to a cave in the hills. That is how God saved the good man Lot, even though he lived in a bad city. He later became the father of the Moabite and Ammonite peoples.
