1 Now the Lord came to him by the holy tree of Mamre, when he was seated in the doorway of his tent in the middle of the day;2 And lifting up his eyes, he saw three men before him; and seeing them, he went quickly to them from the door of the tent, and went down on his face to the earth;3 And said, My Lord, if now I have grace in your eyes, do not go away from your servant:4 Let me get water for washing your feet, and take your rest under the tree:5 And let me get a bit of bread to keep up your strength, and after that you may go on your way: for this is why you have come to your servant. And they said, Let it be so.6 Then Abraham went quickly into the tent, and said to Sarah, Get three measures of meal straight away and make cakes.7 And running to the herd, he took a young ox, soft and fat, and gave it to the servant and he quickly made it ready;8 And he took butter and milk and the young ox which he had made ready and put it before them, waiting by them under the tree while they took food.9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah your wife? And he said, She is in the tent.10 And he said, I will certainly come back to you in the spring, and Sarah your wife will have a son. And his words came to the ears of Sarah who was at the back of the tent-door.11 Now Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was past the time for giving birth.12 And Sarah, laughing to herself, said, Now that I am used up am I still to have pleasure, my husband himself being old?13 And the Lord said, Why was Sarah laughing and saying, Is it possible for me, being old, to give birth to a child?14 Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child.15 Then Sarah said, I was not laughing; for she was full of fear. And he said, No, but you were laughing.16 And the men went on from there in the direction of Sodom; and Abraham went with them on their way.17 And the Lord said, Am I to keep back from Abraham the knowledge of what I do;18 Seeing that Abraham will certainly become a great and strong nation, and his name will be used by all the nations of the earth as a blessing?19 For I have made him mine so that he may give orders to his children and those of his line after him, to keep the ways of the Lord, to do what is good and right: so that the Lord may do to Abraham as he has said.20 And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,21 I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see.22 And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.23 And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?24 If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?25 Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?26 And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them.27 And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:28 If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.29 And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.30 And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.31 And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.32 And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.33 And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place.

1 Apparuit autem ei Dominus in convalle Mambre sedenti in ostio tabernaculi sui in ipso fervore diei. 2 Cumque elevasset oculos, apparuerunt ei tres viri stantes prope eum : quos cum vidisset, cucurrit in occursum eorum de ostio tabernaculi, et adoravit in terram. 3 Et dixit : Domine, si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, ne transeas servum tuum : 4 sed afferam pauxillum aqu, et lavate pedes vestros, et requiescite sub arbore. 5 Ponamque buccellam panis, et confortate cor vestrum : postea transibitis : idcirco enim declinastis ad servum vestrum. Qui dixerunt : Fac ut locutus es. 6 Festinavit Abraham in tabernaculum ad Saram, dixitque ei : Accelera, tria sata simil commisce, et fac subcinericios panes. 7 Ipse vero ad armentum cucurrit, et tulit inde vitulum tenerrimum et optimum, deditque puero : qui festinavit et coxit illum. 8 Tulit quoque butyrum et lac, et vitulum quem coxerat, et posuit coram eis : ipse vero stabat juxta eos sub arbore.9 Cumque comedissent, dixerunt ad eum : Ubi est Sara uxor tua ? Ille respondit : Ecce in tabernaculo est. 10 Cui dixit : Revertens veniam ad te tempore isto, vita comite, et habebit filium Sara uxor tua. Quo audito, Sara risit post ostium tabernaculi. 11 Erant autem ambo senes, provectque tatis, et desierant Sar fieri muliebria. 12 Qu risit occulte dicens : Postquam consenui, et dominus meus vetulus est, voluptati operam dabo ? 13 Dixit autem Dominus ad Abraham : Quare risit Sara, dicens : Num vere paritura sum anus ? 14 Numquid Deo quidquam est difficile ? juxta condictum revertar ad te hoc eodem tempore, vita comite, et habebit Sara filium. 15 Negabit Sara, dicens : Non risi, timore perterrita. Dominus autem : Non est, inquit, ita : sed risisti.16 Cum ergo surrexissent inde viri, direxerunt oculos contra Sodomam : et Abraham simul gradiebatur, deducens eos. 17 Dixitque Dominus : Num celare potero Abraham qu gesturus sum : 18 cum futurus sit in gentem magnam, ac robustissimam, et benedicend sint in illo omnes nationes terr ? 19 Scio enim quod prcepturus sit filiis suis, et domui su post se ut custodiant viam Domini, et faciant judicium et justitiam : ut adducat Dominus propter Abraham omnia qu locutus est ad eum. 20 Dixit itaque Dominus : Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrh multiplicatus est, et peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis. 21 Descendam, et videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me, opere compleverint ; an non est ita, ut sciam. 22 Converteruntque se inde, et abierunt Sodomam : Abraham vero adhuc stabat coram Domino. 23 Et appropinquans ait : Numquid perdes justum cum impio ? 24 si fuerint quinquaginta justi in civitate, peribunt simul ? et non parces loco illi propter quinquaginta justos, si fuerint in eo ? 25 Absit a te ut rem hanc facias, et occidas justum cum impio, fiatque justus sicut impius, non est hoc tuum : qui judicas omnem terram, nequaquam facies judicium hoc. 26 Dixitque Dominus ad eum : Si invenero Sodomis quinquaginta justos in medio civitatis, dimittam omni loco propter eos. 27 Respondensque Abraham, ait : Quia semel cpi, loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis. 28 Quid si minus quinquaginta justis quinque fuerint ? delebis, propter quadraginta quinque, universam urbem ? Et ait : Non delebo, si invenero ibi quadraginta quinque. 29 Rursumque locutus est ad eum : Sin autem quadraginta ibi inventi fuerint, quid facies ? Ait : Non percutiam propter quadraginta. 30 Ne quso, inquit, indigneris, Domine, si loquar : quid si ibi inventi fuerint triginta ? Respondit : Non faciam, si invenero ibi triginta. 31 Quia semel, ait, cpi loquar ad Dominum meum : quid si ibi inventi fuerint viginti ? Ait : Non interficiam propter viginti. 32 Obsecro, inquit, ne irascaris, Domine, si loquar adhuc semel : quid si inventi fuerint ibi decem ? Et dixit : Non delebo propter decem. 33 Abiitque Dominus, postquam cessavit loqui ad Abraham : et ille reversus est in locum suum.