Genesis 18 - Simple English

1The LORD appeared to Abraham on the plains of Mamre. Abraham was sitting in the door of his tent in the heat of the day.

2He looked up, and there were three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them, and bowed down to the ground.

3He said, "My Lord, if I have found favour in your sight, please do not pass by your servant."

4"Let a little water be brought, please, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree."

5"I will bring a piece of bread, and you can refresh yourselves. After that you may go on your way. For this is why you have come to your servant." They said, "Do as you have said."

6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, "Quickly, get three measures of fine flour ready. Knead it, and make cakes on the hearth."

7Abraham ran to the herd and took a calf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

8He took butter and milk and the calf which he had prepared, and set it before them. He stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9They said to him, "Where is Sarah your wife?" He said, "There, in the tent."

10And he said, "I will certainly come back to you about this time next year. And look, Sarah your wife shall have a son." Sarah was listening at the tent door, which was behind him.

11Now Abraham and Sarah were old, far on in years, and Sarah was past the age of bearing children.

12So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, "Now that I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, and my lord is old too?"

13And the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh and say, 'Shall I really have a child, when I am old?'"

14"Is anything too hard for the LORD? At the time I have said I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son."

15Then Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And he said, "No, but you did laugh."

16Then the men got up from there and looked toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way.

17And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do,"

18"since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?"

19"For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD, and to do justice and judgment. Then the LORD may bring upon Abraham what he has promised him."

20And the LORD said, "The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very grievous."

21"I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether as the cry of it, which has come to me. And if not, I will know."

22The men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.

23Abraham came near and said, "Will you destroy the righteous along with the wicked?"

24"Suppose there are fifty righteous people inside the city. Will you still destroy it? Will you not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?"

25"Far be it from you to do such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous are treated like the wicked. Far be it from you. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

26And the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous people inside the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27Abraham answered and said, "Look, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord, though I am only dust and ashes."

28"Suppose the fifty righteous are five short. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it."

29He spoke to him yet again and said, "Suppose forty are found there." And he said, "I will not do it for the sake of the forty."

30And he said to him, "Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." And he said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31And he said, "Look now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."

32And he said, "Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak just this once more. Suppose ten are found there." And he said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."

33As soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, the LORD went his way, and Abraham returned to his place.