1Samme aften ankom de to engle til Sodoma. Lot sad på torvet lige inden for byporten, og da han fik øje på dem, gik han dem straks i møde og bøjede sig ærbødigt for dem.2„Mine herrer,” sagde han, „kom hjem til mig og få vasket støvet af jeres fødder. I skal være mine gæster, og i morgen tidlig kan I så begive jer videre på rejsen.” „Nej tak,” svarede de. „Vi vil hellere tilbringe natten her på torvet.”3Men Lot pressede på, og til sidst gik de med ham hjem. Han fik bagt noget brød i en fart, selv om der ingen surdej var i huset, og han serverede et måltid mad for dem.4Efter måltidet, da de skulle til at gå til ro, blev huset omringet af byens mænd, både unge og gamle.5De råbte til Lot: „Hvor er de mænd, som kom for at overnatte hos dig? Bring dem ud til os, så vi kan have sex med dem!”6Men Lot gik ud til dem og lukkede døren efter sig.7„Rolig, venner!” sagde han. „Gør jer ikke skyldig i noget så ondt!8Jeg har to døtre, som endnu er jomfruer. Dem kan jeg bringe ud til jer. Så kan I gøre med dem, hvad I vil. Men I må lade disse mænd i fred. De er mine gæster og under min beskyttelse.”9„Flyt dig!” råbte de. „Hvad bilder du dig ind? Vi gav dig lov til at bo iblandt os, og så vil du fortælle os, hvad vi skal gøre eller ikke gøre! Bare vent til vi får fat i dig, så skal vi behandle dig værre end dine gæster!” De nærmede sig truende Lot, parate til at brække døren op om nødvendigt.10Da rakte de to mænd hænderne ud efter Lot, trak ham ind i huset og lukkede døren.11Samtidig gjorde de mændene udenfor blinde, så de ikke kunne finde døren.12„Har du nogen pårørende her i byen, Lot, svigersønner, sønner, døtre eller andre, som hører til din familie?” spurgte englene, „så sørg for at få dem ud af byen hurtigst muligt!13Vi har nemlig fået ordre til at tilintetgøre dette sted! Synden her er blevet så himmelråbende, at Herren har besluttet at ødelægge byen.”14Lot skyndte sig af sted til de mænd, der var forlovet med hans døtre. „I må forlade byen hurtigst muligt!” sagde han. „For Herren vil ødelægge den!” Men de troede, det var hans spøg.
Sodoma og Gomorra ødelægges
15Ved daggry næste morgen, skyndede englene på Lot. „Få fat i din kone og dine to døtre og kom af sted, så I ikke skal miste livet på grund af byens synd.”16Da Lot tøvede, tog englene ham og hans kone og de to døtre ved hånden og førte dem skyndsomst uden for byen, for Herren ville redde dem.17„Løb for livet!” sagde englene. „Se jer ikke tilbage og stands ikke nogen steder i Jordandalen. Flygt op i bjergene, hvis I vil redde livet!”18Men Lot indvendte: „Åh nej, herre!19I skal have mange tak, fordi I har vist os den nåde at frelse os fra ødelæggelsen. Men vi kan ikke nå op i bjergene, før ulykken indhenter os, og vi dør.20Se den lille by derovre. Det er jo bare en lille landsby, som I ikke behøver at ødelægge. Kan vi ikke flygte derhen? Den er jo ikke ret langt væk.”21„Godt,” svarede englen, „jeg vil gå ind på dit forslag. Jeg vil sørge for, at den landsby ikke bliver ødelagt.22Men skynd dig! Jeg kan nemlig ikke gå i gang, før I er i sikkerhed i landsbyen.” Derfor kom landsbyen til at hedde Zoar.[1]23Solen var kommet et stykke op, før Lot ankom til Zoar.24Med det samme lod Herren ild og svovl regne ned fra himlen over Sodoma og Gomorra.25Han ødelagde byerne totalt tillige med hele Jordandalen, alle der boede der, og alt, hvad der voksede på markerne.26Men på vej bort fra byen, havde Lots kone set sig tilbage, og i det samme hun gjorde det, stivnede hun og blev til en saltstøtte.27Den næste morgen skyndte Abraham sig ud til det sted, hvor han havde stået og talt med Herren.28Da han kiggede ud over sletten i retning af Sodoma og Gomorra, så han en tyk røg stige til vejrs over hele området.29Men Gud havde hørt Abrahams bøn og frelst Lot ved at redde ham fra den katastrofe, som ødelagde byerne i dalen.
Lot og hans døtre
30Senere forlod Lot Zoar, for han var bange for at blive boende der. I stedet tog han op i bjergene med sine to døtre og indrettede sig i en bjerghule.31En dag sagde den ældste søster til den yngste: „Der findes ingen mænd i dette øde område, som vi kan gifte os med. Desuden er vores far snart for gammel til selv at avle børn.32Lad os få ham til at drikke sig fuld og så ligge med ham, så hans slægt kan fortsætte.”33Så drak de ham fuld, og samme nat lå den ældste søster med sin far, men han sansede intet—hverken at hun lagde sig, eller at hun stod op.34Næste morgen sagde hun til den yngste: „Jeg lå hos vores far i nat. Lad os drikke ham fuld igen i aften, så du kan gøre det samme. Det er den eneste måde, slægten kan overleve på.”35Så drak de ham fuld, og derefter gik den yngste søster ind og lå hos ham, og han sansede hverken, at hun lagde sig, eller at hun stod op igen.36Sådan gik det til, at begge døtre blev gravide ved deres far.37Den ældste fødte en søn, som hun kaldte Moab.[2] Han blev stamfar til moabitterne.38Den yngste fødte også en søn, som kom til at hedde Ben-Ammi.[3] Han blev stamfar til ammonitterne.
1The 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 (1.Mos 18,22)2and said, “My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” (1.Mos 18,4; Dom 4,18; Luk 24,28; Heb 13,2)3But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.4But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house.5And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us, that we may know them.” (1.Mos 13,13; Dom 19,22; Es 3,9; Rom 1,24; Rom 1,27; Judas 1,7)6Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him,7and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly.8Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” (Dom 19,24)9But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow came to sojourn, and he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. (1.Mos 13,12; 2.Mos 2,14)10But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door.11And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door. (2.Kong 6,18; Ap G 13,11)12Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. (2.Pet 2,7; 2.Pet 2,9; Åb 18,4)13For 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.” (1.Mos 18,20)14So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting. (4.Mos 16,21; 4.Mos 16,26; 4.Mos 16,45; Jer 51,6)15As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”16But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. (Salm 34,22)17And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” (1.Mos 13,10; 1.Mos 19,26; Matt 24,16)18And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords.19Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die.20Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!”21He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.22Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.[1] (1.Mos 14,2)
God Destroys Sodom
23The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar.24Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. (5.Mos 29,23; Jer 20,16; Jer 50,40; Klag 4,6; Amos 4,11; Zef 2,9; Luk 17,29; 2.Pet 2,6)25And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.26But Lot’s wife, behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. (Luk 17,32)27And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord. (1.Mos 18,22)28And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.29So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived. (1.Mos 8,1)
Lot and His Daughters
30Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. (1.Mos 19,17; 1.Mos 19,19)31And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth.32Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”33So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did not know when she lay down or when she arose.34The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.”35So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.36Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father.37The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.[2] He is the father of the Moabites to this day. (5.Mos 2,9)38The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi.[3] He is the father of the Ammonites to this day. (5.Mos 2,19)