²² The men^(A) turned away and went toward Sodom,^(B) but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{[a](C) 23} Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?^{(D) 24} What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[b] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?^{(E) 25} Far be it from you to do such a thing^(F)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous^(G) and the wicked alike.^(H) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge^(I) of all the earth do right?”^(J)

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.^(K)”

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,^{(L) 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.”

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.”

³⁰ Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,^(M) but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

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.”

³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.^(N) What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten,^(O) I will not destroy it.”

³³ When the Lord had finished speaking^(P) with Abraham, he left,^(Q) and Abraham returned home.^(R)

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away^(A) when the city is punished.^(B)”

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters^(C) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.^{(D) 17} As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!^(E) Don’t look back,^(F) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!^(G) Flee to the mountains^(H) or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,^[a] please! ¹⁹ Your^[b] servant has found favor in your^[c] eyes,^(I) and you^[d] have shown great kindness^(J) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;^(K) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹ He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request^(L) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.^[e](M))

²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar,^(N) the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur^(O) on Sodom and Gomorrah^(P)—from the Lord out of the heavens.^{(Q) 25} Thus he overthrew those cities^(R) and the entire plain,^(S) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.^(T)

⁶ if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,^(A) and made them an example^(B) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{(C) 7} and if he rescued Lot,^(D) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^(E)