Genesis 18:16-33

Isaac's Birth Promised

¹⁶ Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. ¹⁷ The Lord said, _c "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, ¹⁸ seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be _d blessed in him? ¹⁹ For I have _e chosen ₁ him, that he may command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him." ²⁰ Then the Lord said, "Because _f the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grave, ²¹ _g I will go down to see whether they have done altogether ₂ according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, _h I will know."

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

²² _i So the men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham _j still stood before the Lord. ²³ Then Abraham drew near and said, _k "Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, _l so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! _m Shall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?" ²⁶ And the Lord said, _n "If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

²⁷ Abraham answered and said, _o "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" And he said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there." ²⁹ Again he spoke to him and said, "Suppose forty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of forty I will not do it." ³⁰ Then he said, "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there." He answered, "I will not do it, if I find thirty there." ³¹ He said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there." He answered, "For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it." ³² Then he said, _p "Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ten are found there." He answered, "For the sake of ten I will not destroy it." ³³ And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

1. Cross References
   Psalms 25:14
   The friendship of the Lord is for those who fear him, and he makes known to them his covenant.
   Amos 3:7
   For the Lord God does nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.
   John 15:15
   No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
   
2. Cross References
   Genesis 12:3
   I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.
   Genesis 22:18
   And in your offspring shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.
   Genesis 26:4
   I will multiply your offspring as the stars of heaven and will give to your offspring all these lands. And in your offspring all the nations of the earth shall be blessed.
   Acts 3:25
   You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, 'And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
   Galatians 3:8
   And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed.
   
3. Cross References
   Amos 3:2
   You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.
   
4. Cross References
   Genesis 4:10
   And the Lord said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.
   Genesis 19:13
   For we are about to destroy this place, because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.
   Isaiah 3:9
   For the look on their faces bears witness against them; they proclaim their sin like Sodom; they do not hide it. Woe to them! For they have brought evil on themselves.
   Ezekiel 16:49 - 50
   Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy.
   James 5:4
   Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts.
   
5. Cross References
   Genesis 11:5
   And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built.
   Genesis 11:7
   Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another's speech.
   Exodus 3:8
   And I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the place of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
   
6. Cross References
   Joshua 22:22
   The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows; and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in breach of faith against the Lord, do not spare us today
   
7. Cross References
   Genesis 18:16
   Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way.
   Genesis 19:1
   The two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth
   
8. Cross References
   Genesis 18:1
   And the Lord appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day.
   Psalms 106:23
   Therefore he said he would destroy them - had not Moses, his chosen one, stood in the breach before him, to turn away his wrath from destroying them.
   Jeremiah 18:20
   Should good be repaid with evil? Yet they have dug a pit for my life. Remember how I stood before you to speak good for them, to turn away your wrath from them.
   
9. Cross References
   Genesis 20:4
   Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, "Lord, will you kill an innocent people?
   Numbers 16:22
   And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?
   2 Samuel 24:17
   Then David spoke to the Lord when he saw the angel who was striking the people, and said, "Behold, I have sinned, and I have done wickedly. But these sheep, what have they done? Please let your hand be against me and against my father's house.
   
10. Cross References
    Job 8:20
    Behold, God will not reject a blameless man, nor take the hand of evildoers.
    
11. Cross References
    Deuteronomy 32:4
    The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he.
    Job 8:3
    Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right?
    Job 34:10
    Therefore, hear me, you men of understanding: far be it from God that he should do wickedness, and from the Almighty that he should do wrong.
    Romans 3:5 - 6
    But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say? That God is unrighteous to inflict wrath on us? ( I speak in a human way.)
    
12. Cross References
    Jeremiah 5:1
    Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, look and take note! Search her squares to see if you can find a man, one who does justice and seeks truth, that I may pardon her.
    Ezekiel 22:30
    And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.
    Isaiah 65:8
    Thus says the Lord : "As the new wine is found in the cluster, and they say, 'Do not destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,' so I will do for my servants' sake, and not destroy them all.
    
13. Cross References
    Luke 18:1
    And he told them a parable to the effect that they ought always to pray and not lose heart.
    
14. Cross References
    Judges 6:39
    Then Gideon said to God, "Let not your anger burn against me; let me speak just once more. Please let me test just once more with the fleece. Please let it be dry on the fleece only, and on all the ground let there be dew.