The Lord Promises Abraham a Son

18 One hot summer afternoon while Abraham was sitting by the entrance to his tent near the sacred trees of Mamre, the Lord appeared to him. ^2 (A) Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. He quickly ran to meet them, bowed with his face to the ground, ³ and said, “Please come to my home where I can serve you. ⁴ I'll have some water brought, so you can wash your feet, then you can rest under a tree. ⁵ Let me get you some food to give you strength before you leave. I would be honored to serve you.”

“Thank you very much,” they answered. “We accept your offer.”

⁶ Abraham went quickly to his tent and said to Sarah, “Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread.” ⁷ After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸ He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

While they were eating, he stood near them under the tree,

The Evil City of Sodom

19 That evening, while Lot was sitting near the city gate,^[a] the two angels^[b] arrived in Sodom. When Lot saw them, he got up, bowed down low, ² and said, “Gentlemen, I am your servant. Please come to my home. You can wash your feet, spend the night, and be on your way in the morning.”

They told him, “No, we'll spend the night in the city square.” ³ But Lot kept insisting, until they finally agreed and went home with him. He quickly baked some bread,^[c] cooked a meal, and they ate.