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Genesis 18

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1 And Jehovah appeared to him by the oaks of Mamre. And he sat at the tent-door in the heat of the day.

2 And he lifted up his eyes and saw, and behold, three men standing near him. And when he saw [them], he ran to meet them from the tent-door, and bowed himself to the earth,

3 and said, Lord, if now I have found favour in thine eyes, pass not away, I pray thee, from thy servant.

4 Let now a little water be fetched, that ye may wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.

5 And I will fetch a morsel of bread; and refresh yourselves; after that ye shall pass on; for therefore have ye passed on towards your servant. And they said, So do as thou hast said.

6 And Abraham hastened into the tent to Sarah, and said, Knead quickly three seahs of wheaten flour, and make cakes.

7 And Abraham ran to the herd, and took a calf tender and good, and gave [it] to the attendant; and he hasted to dress it.

8 And he took thick and sweet milk, and the calf that he had dressed, and set [it] before them; and he stood before them under the tree, and they ate.

9 And they said to him, Where is Sarah thy wife? And he said, Behold, in the tent.

10 And he said, I will certainly return to thee at [this] time of the year, and behold, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah was listening at the tent-door, which was behind him.

11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old [and] advanced in age: it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.

12 And Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am become old, shall I have pleasure, and my lord old?

13 And Jehovah said to Abraham, Why is this, that Sarah laughs, saying, Shall I indeed bear, when I am become old?

14 Is [any] matter too wonderful for Jehovah? At the time appointed I will return to thee, at [this] time of the year, and Sarah shall have a son.

15 And Sarah denied, saying, I did not laugh; for she was afraid. And he said, No; but thou didst laugh.

16 And the men rose up thence, and looked toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them to conduct them.

17 And Jehovah said, Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing?

18 Since Abraham shall indeed become a great and mighty nation; and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him.

19 For I know him that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of Jehovah, to do righteousness and justice, in order that Jehovah may bring upon Abraham what he hath spoken of him.

20 And Jehovah said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and their sin is very grievous,

21 I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me; and if not, I will know [it].

22 And the men turned thence, and went towards Sodom; and Abraham remained yet standing before Jehovah.

23 And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also cause the righteous to perish with the wicked?

24 There are perhaps fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not forgive the place for the sake of the fifty righteous that are therein?

25 Far be it from thee to do so, to slay the righteous with the wicked, that the righteous should be as the wicked -- far be it from thee! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?

26 And Jehovah said, If I find at Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will forgive all the place for their sakes.

27 And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak unto the Lord; I, who am dust and ashes.

28 Perhaps there may want five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city on account of the five? And he said, If I shall find forty-five there, I will not destroy [it].

29 And he continued yet to speak with him, and said, Perhaps there may be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for the forty's sake.

30 And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have ventured to speak with the Lord. Perhaps there may be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for the twenty's sake.

32 And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry, that I speak yet but this time! Perhaps there may be ten found there. And he said, I will not destroy [it] for the ten's sake.

33 And Jehovah went away when he had ended speaking to Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2258

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2258. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment? That this signifies that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good, is evident from the signification of the “Judge of all the earth,” as also from the signification of “judgment.” The “Judge of all the earth,” signifies in the internal sense the good itself from which comes truth; which also in the representative Church was represented by the priests who were at the same time judges; for as priests they represented the Divine good, and as judges the Divine truth; but the “Judge of all the earth” means both, and this from the signification of “earth,” as explained in several places in Part First. But to prove these things now from the representatives of that church would be too tedious. “Judgment,” however, signifies truth (as shown above,n. 2235). From these significations, and at the same time from the series of things in the internal sense, it is evident that “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do judgment?” signifies that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good.

[2] In order to understand these things, be it known that there are two things which constitute the order of the universal heaven, and thence in the universe, namely, Good and Truth. Good is the essential of order, all the things of which are mercies. Truth is the secondary of order, all the things of which are truths. The Divine good adjudges all to heaven, but the Divine truth condemns all to hell; and therefore unless the Lord’s Mercy, which is of good, were eternal, all men, however many, would be condemned. This is what is signified by the statement that the Divine good cannot do this after the manner of truth separated from good. (See also (1728) what is said concerning this in Part First,n. 1728.)

[3] That the evil are nevertheless condemned to hell, is not because the Divine good is separated from the Divine truth, but because the man separates himself from the Divine good. For the Lord in no case sends anyone down into hell, but the man sends himself, as has been already stated a number of times. In the following respect also the Divine good is conjoined with the Divine truth: that unless the evil were separated from the good, the evil would do harm to the good, and would be continually endeavoring to destroy order: thus that the good may not be harmed, is of Mercy. This stands just as in the kingdoms of the earth. If evils were not punished, the whole kingdom would be infected with evils, and so would perish; for which reason kings and judges show more mercy in punishing evils and in expelling from society those guilty of them, than by exercising in their behalf an unseasonable clemency.

  
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Thanks to the Swedenborg Foundation for the permission to use this translation.