1 Abraham camped for some time near the big trees that belonged to a man called Mamreh. One day, God came to Abraham there. It happened like this. Abraham was sitting in the doorway of his tent, at the hottest part of the day, 2 and he looked up and saw 3 men standing nearby. He got up quickly, and he ran to meet them, and he got down on his knees and put his face near the ground to show them respect.[a] 3 Abraham said, “Sirs, please come and sit at my place for a while. Let me look after you. 4 I will get a work-man to bring water so that you can wash your feet, and then you can rest in the shade of this tree. 5 And I will get some food for you, so that you will be strong enough to keep walking to the place where you are going. I really want to do that for you.”

The 3 men said, “All right. We will rest here while you do that.”

6 Then Abraham went quickly into the tent to tell Sarah, and he said, “Quick, get a big bag of really good flour and make some damper for our visitors.”

7 Then he ran to his mob of cows and picked out a really good young cow. He gave it to one of his work-men and said, “Quick, kill this young cow, and cook it for our visitors.” 8 Then Abraham gave the men that cooked meat, and some cheese and milk. And Abraham stood near them in the shade of that tree, and he looked after them while they ate that food.

9 Then they said to Abraham, “Where is your wife, Sarah?”

Abraham said, “She is right here, in our tent.”

10 You know, one of those men was God, but he made himself to be like a man when he talked to Abraham. He said, “I will come back to you at this time next year, and Sarah will have a baby boy.”[b]

Sarah was at the doorway of the tent, and she listened to them talking. 11 Abraham and Sarah were both very old. She knew she was too old to have a baby, 12 so when she heard him say that, she laughed quietly and said to herself, “I am too old and worn out to have a baby, and my good boss, my husband, he is old too. If I had a baby, I would be really happy. But I’m too old for that now.”[c]

13 God said, “Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say to herself, ‘I can’t have a baby now, I am too old’? 14 I’m telling you, nothing is too hard for me. I am God, and my name is Yahweh. Just like I said, at this time next year, I will come back, and Sarah will have a baby boy.”[d]

15 Sarah was frightened, and so she lied and said, “I didn’t laugh.”

But God said, “That’s not true. You did laugh.”

16 Then the 3 men got up to leave, and Abraham went with them for a little while to say goodbye. They went to a hill where they looked down at the town called Sodom. 17 God said, “Maybe I will tell Abraham what I am going to do. 18 You know, Abraham’s family will be a big and powerful nation one day, and I will use his family to do good things for all the nations in the world.[e] 19 I have picked him out so that he can teach his family to live my way, and do what is good and right. Then I will keep my promise to him.”

20 So God said, “Abraham, I heard about all the really bad things that people do in those 2 towns down there, called Sodom and Gomorrah. A lot of people are telling me that those people are always doing bad things. 21 I will go down and find out if they are really doing those bad things that I heard about.” That’s what the man said, the one that was God.

22 Then the other 2 men turned and walked towards Sodom. They left Abraham standing in front of God.

23 Abraham went up close to God and asked him, “Are you going to kill all the good people, as well as the bad people? 24 There might be 50 good people that live the right way down there in that town. Will you still finish up that town? Or will you save that town to save those 50 good people? 25 I don’t think you will kill 50 good people. I know that you are the judge of everybody in the world, and you always do what is right. I don’t think you will kill the good people with the bad people.”

26 God said, “If I find 50 good people in Sodom, I will not finish up that town. I will save that town so that I can save those 50 good people.”

27 Then Abraham said, “Look, I know that I am just a man and you are God, but I’m being brave and I’m talking to you. I want to ask you another question. 28 What if you find only 45 good people in that town, will you still finish up that town?”

God said, “If I find 45 good people there, I will not finish up that town.”

29 Then Abraham asked God again, he said, “What if you find only 40 good people there?”

God said, “If I find 40 good people there, I will not finish up that town.”

30 Then Abraham said, “God, please don’t get angry with me, but I will say a little bit more. What if you find only 30 good people in that town?”

God said, “If I find 30 good people there, I will not finish up that town.”

31 Then Abraham said, “I know that I am being brave to talk to God like this, but what if you find only 20 good people in that town?”

God said, “If I find 20 good people there, I will not finish up that town.”

32 Then Abraham said, “God, please don’t get angry with me, but I will ask one more question. What if you find only 10 good people in that town?”

God said, “If I find 10 good people there, I will not finish up that town.”

33 Then they finished talking, and God left Abraham, and Abraham went back to his camp.

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