Genesis Chapter 19
Showing all 38 verses for Genesis Chapter 19.
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"And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground; "
"That evening, two angels arrived at Sodom. Lot was sitting at the city gate, and when he saw them, he got up, went to meet them, and bowed low with his face to the ground."
Lot's posture at the gate and his immediate respect for strangers show goodness surviving even in a corrupt environment. Wherever you find yourself, even in a place that doesn't reflect your values, you can still choose to be a person of genuine welcome and integrity.
"And he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night. "
"Lot said, "Please, my lords, come to your servant's house. Stay the night, wash your feet, then get up early and go on your way." They replied, "No, we'll spend the night in the town square.""
Lot presses his hospitality even when the visitors initially decline. Real care sometimes means not taking the first 'no' as final, especially when you sense someone's safety may depend on your persistence.
"And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat. "
"Lot urged them strongly, so they went with him into his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate."
Lot brings the visitors fully into his home and provides for them generously. Protecting people who are vulnerable sometimes means bringing them close rather than keeping them at arm's length; full welcome is safer than half-hearted concern.
"But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter: "
"Before they had gone to bed, the men of the city — young and old, from every part of Sodom — surrounded Lot's house."
The scale of the mob outside reveals just how deeply wrong the whole community had become. Don't assume that widespread agreement makes something right; a crowd's consensus is never a substitute for genuine goodness.
"And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them. "
"They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them.""
The demand made here is a grotesque violation of hospitality and human dignity. Take seriously how seriously God takes cruelty and violation of the vulnerable; this kind of harm was never something He looked past.
"And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him, "
"Lot went outside to them and shut the door behind him."
Lot steps outside to face the mob directly, putting himself between danger and his guests. Real courage often means placing yourself between harm and the people you're responsible for protecting, even when it's frightening to do so.
"And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly. "
"He said, "Please, my friends, don't do this terrible thing.""
Lot names the evil plainly: 'do not so wickedly.' Don't be afraid to call wrongdoing exactly what it is, plainly and directly, even to a crowd that clearly doesn't want to hear it.
"Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof. "
""Look, I have two daughters who haven't slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you want with them. Just don't do anything to these men — they are guests under my protection.""
Lot's offer of his daughters here is a desperate, deeply flawed decision under extreme pressure, not a model to follow. Even people trying to do right can make devastating choices under fear and pressure; this moment is recorded honestly as a warning about the cost of compromised judgement, not as an example of wisdom.
"And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door. "
"But they said, "Get out of the way!" And they added, "This man came here as an outsider, and now he wants to tell us how to behave? We'll treat you worse than them." They pushed hard against Lot and moved in to break down the door."
The mob turns on Lot himself the moment he resists them. Standing for what's right sometimes draws hostility even from people you live peacefully among; don't let that hostility be proof you were wrong to stand.
"But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door. "
"But the two men reached out, pulled Lot back inside the house, and shut the door."
The angels physically intervene to protect Lot at the last possible moment. When you're doing what's right and it still feels like you're about to be overwhelmed, trust that God's help can arrive in the moment you most need it, not necessarily before.
"And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door. "
"Then they struck the men at the door of the house — young and old alike — with blindness, so that they couldn't find their way to the door."
The mob is supernaturally blinded, stopped from carrying out their intended harm. Real evil, however powerful it looks in the moment, is never actually beyond God's ability to stop; let that give you hope in situations that currently feel unstoppable.
"And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place: "
"The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here — sons-in-law, sons, daughters, anyone belonging to you in the city? Get them out of this place,"
The angels widen their concern beyond Lot to his whole extended family. When you're offered rescue or safety, think of who else you might be able to bring with you rather than securing only your own escape.
"For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. "
"because we are about to destroy this place. The outcry against its people has grown so great before the LORD that he has sent us to destroy it.""
The reason given for the coming judgement is that the 'cry' of the city's wickedness reached God directly. Trust that the suffering caused by real wrongdoing does not go unnoticed by God, even when it feels like no one else is paying attention.
"And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law. "
"So Lot went out and spoke to the men who were engaged to marry his daughters. He said, "Get up, get out of this place — the LORD is about to destroy this city!" But they thought he was joking."
Lot's warning to his daughters' fiancés is dismissed as a joke. Don't be discouraged when a genuine warning you offer out of love is mocked or ignored; your responsibility is to speak the truth faithfully, not to control how it's received.
"And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city. "
"At daybreak, the angels urged Lot on, saying, "Hurry — take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.""
The angels press Lot to act urgently, aware that hesitation could cost him everything. When God's direction is urgent and clear, don't let attachment to what you're leaving behind slow your obedience to what matters more.
"And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the LORD being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city. "
"But Lot hesitated. So the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters — because the LORD was being merciful to them — and led them out of the city."
Lot lingers, and it's God's mercy, not Lot's own decisiveness, that ultimately gets him to safety. When you find yourself frozen or hesitant in a moment that calls for action, trust that God's mercy can still move you forward even when your own will falters.
"And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed. "
"As soon as they had brought them outside, one of them said, "Run for your life! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away.""
The instruction is stark: don't look back, don't stop, keep moving towards safety. When God calls you out of a destructive situation, resist the pull to linger over what you're leaving; full obedience, not partial retreat, is what real safety requires.
"And Lot said unto them, Oh, not so, my LORD: "
"But Lot said to them, "No, please, my lord —"
Even mid-rescue, Lot pushes back on the specific plan being offered to him. It's alright to be honest with God about your fears, even while you're actively being rescued by Him; He can handle your negotiation as much as your obedience.
"Behold now, thy servant hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy, which thou hast shewed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape to the mountain, lest some evil take me, and I die: "
"your servant has found favour with you, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I can't run all the way to the mountains — disaster might catch me there and I'd die."
Lot names his fear plainly: he doesn't believe he can make it to the mountains. Naming your limitations honestly to God, rather than pretending a false confidence, is itself an act of trust; He responds to honesty, not performance.
"Behold now, this city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape thither, (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live. "
"Look, this town nearby is small enough to run to — please let me escape there instead. It's only a small place, isn't it? Then I'll survive.""
Lot asks for an easier path, and it's granted. God's instructions aren't always rigid to the smallest detail; there is often more flexibility and compassion in His plans for you than you might assume.
"And he said unto him, See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow this city, for the which thou hast spoken. "
"He replied, "Very well, I will grant you this request too — I won't destroy the town you're talking about."
The angel's willingness to adjust the plan for Lot's sake shows real, personal mercy, not just a fixed procedure. Let this shape how you see God's care for you: personal and responsive, not a one-size-fits-all formula applied without regard for your specific fears.
"Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come thither. Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar. "
"Hurry, escape there, because I can't act until you reach it." That is why the town was named Zoar (meaning "small")."
The judgement itself waits until Lot is safe, God's timing bending around his rescue. Trust that God's larger plans can accommodate the specific, personal safety of the people He loves; you are never just a detail in something bigger than you.
"The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot entered into Zoar. "
"The sun had come up over the land by the time Lot reached Zoar."
Lot reaches safety just as the sun rises, a new day breaking right as disaster approaches the old one. Even in the middle of loss, watch for the new beginning God may already be bringing, arriving right alongside the ending.
"Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; "
"Then the LORD rained down burning sulphur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah — sent from the LORD, out of the sky."
The judgement that falls on Sodom and Gomorrah is total and unmistakable. Take seriously that persistent, unrepentant wrongdoing has real consequences; God's patience is real, but it is not infinite tolerance for harm that continues unchecked.
"And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground. "
"He destroyed those cities and the whole plain — everyone who lived in the cities, and everything that grew there."
The destruction described here is comprehensive, sparing nothing in its path. Let the weight of this account keep you sober about how seriously entrenched evil is treated by God, even while His mercy towards individuals, like Lot, remains real within it.
"But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt. "
"But Lot's wife looked back as she was leaving, and she turned into a pillar of salt."
Lot's wife looks back and is lost in that very moment of hesitation. Be wary of the pull to keep looking back at a life or a way of living that God has clearly called you out of; full-hearted forward movement matters more than nostalgia for what's behind you.
"And Abraham gat up early in the morning to the place where he stood before the LORD: "
"Early the next morning, Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood in the LORD's presence the day before."
Abraham returns early to the place where he'd interceded, anxious to see the outcome of his prayers. Stay engaged with the outcomes of your own prayers and concern for others, rather than praying once and then losing interest in what becomes of them.
"And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace. "
"He looked out towards Sodom and Gomorrah and across the whole plain, and he saw thick smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace."
Abraham sees the smoke and understands the scale of what has happened. Some outcomes are hard to witness even when you understand why they happened; let yourself feel the weight of loss honestly, even loss that came through justice.
"And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in the which Lot "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"So it was that when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the disaster that overturned the cities where Lot had been living."
Lot's rescue is explicitly tied to God remembering Abraham, not to anything Lot had done to deserve it. Sometimes you are protected and cared for because of someone else's faithfulness and intercession on your behalf; be grateful for the people whose prayers may be covering you even now.
"And Lot went up out of Zoar, and in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he in a cave, he and his two daughters. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"Lot left Zoar and went to live in the mountains with his two daughters, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar. So he and his daughters lived in a cave."
Fear drives Lot even further from the community and safety he might have had in Zoar. Isolation born from fear can lead you into more danger, not less; be wary of retreating so far from others that you lose the support and accountability you actually need.
"And the firstborn said unto the younger, Our father is old, and there is not a man in the earth to come in unto us after the manner of all the earth: "
"One day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man anywhere on earth to come and give us children the normal way."
Lot's daughters interpret their isolated situation as more desperate than it may have actually been. Extreme isolation can distort your sense of what options are truly available to you; try to stay connected enough to reality, and to other wise voices, to avoid that kind of desperate miscalculation.
"Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. "
"Come, let's get our father drunk on wine and sleep with him, so that we can preserve our family line through our father.""
The daughters' plan is a serious moral failure born of fear and isolation, not a model for anyone to follow. Scripture records this honestly, without approval, as an example of how desperation can lead people to devastating choices; let it be a caution rather than an excuse.
"And they made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. "
"So that night they got their father drunk on wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of her lying down or getting up."
Lot's incapacity here removes any possibility of his informed consent to what happened. This account preserves the reality of exploitation even within a family; take seriously that vulnerability, including through intoxication, is never something to exploit, and never something a victim is responsible for.
"And it came to pass on the morrow, that the firstborn said unto the younger, Behold, I lay yesternight with my father: let us make him drink wine this night also; and go thou in, and lie with him, that we may preserve seed of our father. "
"The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I slept with my father. Let's get him drunk again tonight, and you go and sleep with him too, so we can preserve our family line through our father.""
The plan is repeated a second time, compounding the wrong of the first. However far a bad decision has already gone, repeating it only deepens the harm; there is always a better moment to stop than to continue.
"And they made their father drink wine that night also: and the younger arose, and lay with him; and he perceived not when she lay down, nor when she arose. "
"So that night too they got their father drunk, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again, he was not aware of her lying down or getting up."
The pattern from the first night is mirrored exactly on the second. Notice how repeated wrongdoing so easily becomes routine once the first line has been crossed; guard the first boundary carefully, because it's often the hardest one to hold.
"Thus were both the daughters of Lot with child by their father. "
"So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father."
Both daughters become pregnant as a direct result of these events. This story doesn't celebrate the outcome; it records it honestly as part of a broken, painful chapter in a family already reeling from catastrophic loss.
"And the first born bare a son, and called his name Moab: the same is the father of the Moabites unto this day. "
"The older daughter had a son and named him Moab; he became the ancestor of the Moabite people, who still exist to this day."
Moab's birth is recorded plainly, tracing forward into a whole nation's history. Even a story that begins in real brokenness doesn't end all meaning there; God's larger story continues to move forward even through deeply painful human chapters.
"And the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Benammi: the same is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day. "
"The younger daughter also had a son and named him Ben-Ammi; he became the ancestor of the Ammonite people, who still exist to this day."
Ben-ammi's birth closes this difficult chapter, marking the start of another nation's history. However painful your own family's story might be in places, trust that God is still able to write something meaningful forward from it, even when the beginning was marked by real brokenness.