1Yahweh appeared to Abraham by the oak trees of Mamre while Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.
2Abraham looked up and saw three men standing across from him. When he saw them, he ran from his tent entrance to meet them and bowed down to the ground.
3He said, “My Lord, if I have found favor with you, please don’t pass by your servant.
4Let me get a little water so you can wash your feet and rest under the tree.
5I will bring a piece of bread so you can refresh yourselves. After that, you can continue on your way, since you have stopped by your servant’s place.” They said, “Very well, do as you have said.”
6Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quickly, get three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and make loaves of bread.”
7Abraham then ran to the herd, picked out a tender and good calf, and gave it to a servant, who quickly prepared it.
8He took butter, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, and he served it to them. He stood by them under the tree while they ate.
9They asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?” He said, “She’s in the tent.”
10He said, “I will certainly return to you about this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Sarah heard this from the tent entrance behind him.
11Now Abraham and Sarah were old and well past their prime. Sarah had stopped having her monthly periods.
12Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I am worn out, and my husband is old, will I now have this pleasure?”
13Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Will I really have a child, even though I am old?’
14Is anything too hard for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you next season, and Sarah will have a son.”
15Sarah then denied it, saying, “I didn’t laugh,” because she was afraid. But he said, “Yes, you did laugh.”
16The men got up from there and looked toward Sodom. Abraham walked with them to send them off.
17Yahweh said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I'm about to do?
18Abraham is surely going to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.
19I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his family after him to keep the way of Yahweh by doing what is right and just. This is so that Yahweh may bring about what he has promised Abraham."
20Yahweh also said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is extremely serious.
21I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the report that has come to me. If not, I will know."
22The men turned from there and headed toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before Yahweh.
23Abraham approached and said, "Will you really destroy the innocent along with the guilty?
24What if there are fifty innocent people in the city? Will you destroy it and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty innocent people who are in it?
25It would be wrong for you to do such a thing, to kill the innocent with the guilty, treating the innocent and the guilty alike. It would be wrong for you. Shouldn't the Judge of all the earth do what is right?"
26Yahweh said, "If I find fifty innocent people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake."
27Abraham answered, "Please understand, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord, even though I am mere dust and ashes.
28What if there are five less than the fifty innocent people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?" He said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there."
29Abraham spoke to him again and said, "What if only forty are found there?" He said, "I will not do it for the sake of the forty."
30Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak. What if thirty are found there?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."
31Abraham said, "Please understand, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord. What if twenty are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."
32Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak just one more time. What if ten are found there?" He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."
33As soon as Yahweh finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.