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Genesis 18 :: New International Version (NIV)

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The Three Visitors

(Heb 13:2 )
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:1 - The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:2 - Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:3 - He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord,[fn] do not pass your servant by.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:4 - Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:5 - Let me get you something to eat, so you can be refreshed and then go on your way—now that you have come to your servant.” “Very well,” they answered, “do as you say.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:6 - So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs[fn] of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:7 - Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:8 - He then brought some curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and set these before them. While they ate, he stood near them under a tree.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:9 - “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him. “There, in the tent,” he said.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:10 - Then one of them said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife will have a son.” Now Sarah was listening at the entrance to the tent, which was behind him.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:11 - Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:12 - So Sarah laughed to herself as she thought, “After I am worn out and my lord is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:13 - Then the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:14 - Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return to you at the appointed time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:15 - Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.” But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”

Abraham Pleads for Sodom

Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:16 - When the men got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way.
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:17 - Then the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:18 - Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:19 - For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, so that the LORD will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:20 - Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:21 - that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:22 - The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.[fn]
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:23 - Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:24 - What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[fn] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:25 - Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:26 - The LORD said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:27 - Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:28 - what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?” “If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:29 - Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?” He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:30 - Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?” He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:31 - Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?” He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:32 - Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?” He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
Unchecked Copy BoxGen 18:33 - When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
NIV Footnotes
Or eyes, Lord
That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
Or will use his name in blessings (see 48:20)
Masoretic Text; an ancient Hebrew scribal tradition but the LORD remained standing before Abraham
Or forgive; also in verse 26
NIV

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For more information on this translation, see the NIV Preface.

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