NIV 2011
Abraham's Encounter at Mamre: A Story of Faith and Justice
18 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. 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.
3 He said, “If I have found favor in your eyes, my lord, do not pass your servant by. 4 Let a little water be brought, and then you may all wash your feet and rest under this tree. 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.”
6 So Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah. “Quick,” he said, “get three seahs of the finest flour and knead it and bake some bread.”
7 Then he ran to the herd and selected a choice, tender calf and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. 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.
9 “Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked him.
“There, in the tent,” he said.
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. 11 Abraham and Sarah were already very old, and Sarah was past the age of childbearing. 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?”
13 Then the Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, now that I am old?’ 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.”
15 Sarah was afraid, so she lied and said, “I did not laugh.”
But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
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. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him. 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.”
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous 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.”
22 The men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? 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?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
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, 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, 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. What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.
WYC 1382
Abraham's Encounter at Mamre: A Story of Faith and Justice
18 Forsooth in the valley of Mamre the Lord appeared to Abraham, (as he was) sitting in the door of his tabernacle, in that heat of the day. 2 And when Abraham had raised up his eyes, three men appeared to him, and stood nigh [to] him. And when he had seen them, he ran from the door of his tabernacle into the meeting of them, and he worshipped on [the] earth,
3 and said, Lord (My lords), if I have found grace in thine eyes, pass thou not (by) thy servant, 4 but I shall bring (thee) a little water, and your feet (can) be washed, and (so) rest ye (yourselves) under the tree; 5 and I shall set (before you) a morsel of bread, and your heart (shall) be comforted; (and) afterward ye shall pass [forth]; for therefore (be) ye bowed (aside) to your servant.
Which said, Do thou as thou hast spoken.
6 (And) Abraham hasted into the tabernacle, to Sarah, and said to her, Haste thou, mix (up) three half bushels of clean flour; and make thou loaves baken under ashes.
7 Forsooth (then) he ran to the drove of beasts, and took thereof a calf most tender and best, and gave (it) to a servant, which hasted, and seethed the calf (and boiled the calf); 8 and (then) he took butter, and milk, and the calf which he had sodden, and set (it) before them; forsooth Abraham stood beside them under the tree. And when they had eaten,
9 they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife?
He answered, Lo! she is in the tabernacle).
10 To whom the Lord said, I shall turn again, and I shall come to thee in this time, if I live; and Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son. When this was heard, Sarah laughed behind the door of the tabernacle. 11 Forsooth both were old, and of great age, and woman’s terms ceased to be made to Sarah.12 And (so) she laughed, saying privily, After that I (have) waxed eld, and my lord is eld, shall I give diligence to lust?
13 Forsooth the Lord said to Abraham, Why laughed Sarah, thy wife, saying, Whether I an eld woman shall bear a child verily? 14 whether anything is hard to God? By the promise I shall turn again to thee in this same time, if I live; and Sarah shall have a son.
15 (And) Sarah was afeared for dread, and denied (it), saying, I laughed not.
Forsooth the Lord said, It is not so, but thou laughedest.
Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 Therefore when the men had risen (up) from thence, they (ad)dressed the eyes against Sodom (they directed their eyes toward Sodom); and Abraham went together (with them), leading them forth. 17 And the Lord said, Whether I may cover from Abraham what things I shall do, 18 since he shall be into a great folk and most strong, and all nations of [the] earth shall be blessed in him?
19 For I know that Abraham shall command his children, and his house(hold) after him, that they keep the way of the Lord, and that they do rightfulness and doom, that the Lord bring for Abraham all things which he spake to Abraham .
20 And so the Lord said, The cry of men of Sodom and of men of Gomorrah is multiplied, and their sin is egregious greatly; 21 I shall come down, and see whether they have [ful]filled in work the cry that came to me, that I know whether it is not so.
22 And they turned them[selves] from thence, and went to Sodom. Abraham soothly stood yet before the Lord, 23 and nighed, and said, Whether thou shalt lose a just man with the wicked?
24 if fifty just men be in the city, shall they perish together, and shalt thou not spare that place for fifty just men, if they be therein? 25 Far be it from thee that thou do this thing, and slay the just with the wicked, and that a just man be made as a wicked man; this is not thine that deemest all [the] earth; thou shalt not make this doom.
26 And the Lord said to him, If I shall find in Sodom fifty just men in the midst of the city, I shall forgive to all the place for them.
27 Abraham answered and said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord, since I am (but) dust and ashes; 28 what if less than fifty just men by five be, shalt thou do away all the city for five and forty? And the Lord said, I shall not do away,
if I shall find five and forty there.
29 And again Abraham said to him, But if forty be there, what shalt thou do?
The Lord said, I shall not smite for forty).
30 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, take thou (it) not into indignation, if I speak (again); what if thirty be found there?
The Lord answered, I shall not do (it), if I shall find thirty there.
31 Abraham said, For I began once, I shall speak to my Lord; what if twenty be found there?
The Lord said, I shall not slay for twenty.
32 Abraham said, Lord, I beseech, be thou not wroth, if I speak yet once (more); what if ten be found there? The Lord said,
I shall not do away for ten.
33 The Lord went forth, after that he [had] ceased to speak to Abraham, and Abraham turned again into his place.
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