The Bible

 

Genesis 19

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1 And at nightfall the two angels came to Sodom; and Lot was seated at the way into the town: and when he saw them he got up and came before them, falling down on his face to the earth.

2 And he said, My masters, come now into your servant's house and take your rest there for the night, and let your feet be washed; and early in the morning you may go on your way. And they said, Not so, but we will take our night's rest in the street.

3 But he made his request more strongly, so they went with him into his house; and he got food ready for them, and made unleavened bread, of which they took.

4 But before they had gone to bed, the men of the town, all the men of Sodom, came round the house, young and old, from every part of the town;

5 And crying out to Lot, they said, Where are the men who came to your house this night? Send them out to us, so that we may take our pleasure with them.

6 And Lot went out to them in the doorway, shutting the door after him.

7 And he said, My brothers, do not this evil.

8 See now, I have two unmarried daughters; I will send them out to you so that you may do to them whatever seems good to you: only do nothing to these men, for this is why they have come under the shade of my roof.

9 And they said, Give way there. This one man, they said, came here from a strange country, and will he now be our judge? now we will do worse to you than to them; and pushing violently against Lot, they came near to get the door broken in.

10 But the men put out their hands and took Lot into the house to them, shutting the door again.

11 But the men who were outside the door they made blind, all of them, small and great, so that they were tired out with looking for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, Are there any others of your family here? sons-in-law or sons or daughters, take them all out of this place;

13 For we are about to send destruction on this place, because a great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.

14 And Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were married to his daughters, Come, let us go out of this place, for the Lord is about to send destruction on the town. But his sons-in-law did not take him seriously.

15 And when morning came, the angels did all in their power to make Lot go, saying, Get up quickly and take your wife and your two daughters who are here, and go, for fear that you come to destruction in the punishment of the town.

16 But while he was waiting, the men took him and his wife and his daughters by the hand, for the Lord had mercy on them, and put them outside the town.

17 And when they had put them out, he said, Go for your life, without looking back or waiting in the lowland; go quickly to the mountain or you will come to destruction.

18 And Lot said to them, Not so, O my Lord;

19 See now, your servant has had grace in your eyes and great is your mercy in keeping my life from destruction, but I am not able to get as far as the mountain before evil overtakes me and death;

20 This town, now, is near, and it is a little one: O, let me go there (is it not a little one?) so that my life may be safe.

21 And he said, See, I have given you your request in this one thing more: I will not send destruction on this town.

22 Go there quickly, for I am not able to do anything till you have come there. For this reason, the town was named Zoar.

23 The sun was up when Lot came to Zoar.

24 Then the Lord sent fire and flaming smoke raining down from heaven on Sodom and Gomorrah.

25 And he sent destruction on those towns, with all the lowland and all the people of those towns and every green thing in the land.

26 But Lot's wife, looking back, became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had been talking with the Lord:

28 And looking in the direction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the lowland, he saw the smoke of the land going up like the smoke of an oven.

29 So it came about that when God sent destruction on the towns of the lowland, he kept his word to Abraham, and sent Lot safely away when he put an end to the towns where he was living.

30 Then Lot went up out of Zoar to the mountain, and was living there with his two daughters, for fear kept him from living in Zoar: and he and his daughters made their living-place in a hole in the rock.

31 And the older daughter said to her sister, Our father is old, and there is no man to be a husband to us in the natural way:

32 Come, let us give our father much wine, and we will go into his bed, so that we may have offspring by our father,

33 And that night they made their father take much wine; and the older daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.

34 And on the day after, the older daughter said to the younger, Last night I was with my father; let us make him take much wine this night again, and do you go to him, so that we may have offspring by our father.

35 And that night again they made their father take much wine; and the younger daughter went into his bed; and he had no knowledge of when she went in or when she went away.

36 And so the two daughters of Lot were with child by their father.

37 And the older daughter had a son, and she gave him the name Moab: he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

38 And the younger had a son and gave him the name Ben-ammi: from him come the children of Ammon to this day.

   

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Arcana Coelestia #2312

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2312. Genesis 19

1. And the two angels came to Sodom in the evening; and Lot was sitting in the gateway of Sodom. And Lot saw and rose up to meet them, and bowed down with his face towards the ground.

2. And he said, Behold now, my Lords, turn aside now to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet. And in the morning you may rise up and go your way. And they said, No, for we will spend the night in the street.

3. And he urged them strongly; and they turned aside to him and came to his house. And he made a feast for them and baked unleavened bread; and they ate.

4. Scarcely had they lain down when the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from boy even to old man, all the people from furthest away.

5. And they cried out to Lot, and said to him, Where are the men who came to you in the night? Bring them out to us and let us know them.

6. And Lot went out to them to the door (janua) and shut the door (ostium) behind him.

7. And he said, No, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

8. Behold now, I have two daughters, who have not known a man; let me now bring them out to you and you may do to them as is good in your eyes; only do nothing to those men, for they have come under the shadow of my roof.

9. And they said, Stand back. And they said, Did not this one come to sojourn, and will he surely judge? Now we will do more harm to you than to them. And they pressed on the man, on Lot forcefully, and came near to break down the door (ostium).

10. And the men reached out their hand and brought Lot into the house to them and shut the door.

11. And the men who were at the door of the house they struck with blindness, both small and great; and these strove to find the door (janua).

12. And the men said to Lot, Whom have you here still? Son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and everyone you have in the city - bring [them] out of the place.

13. For we are destroying this place, for their cry has become great before Jehovah; and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it.

14. And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law who were marrying his daughters, and said, Rise up, go out of this place, for Jehovah is destroying the city. But he was in the eyes of his sons-in-law like one who was jesting.

15. As dawn ascended the angels pressed Lot to hurry, saying, Rise up, take your wife and your two daughters found [here], lest you are consumed in the iniquity of the city.

16. And he lingered; and the men grasped his hand, and his wife's hand, and his daughters' hands, because of Jehovah's compassion for him, and they led him away, and placed him outside the city.

17. And so it was, when they were leading them away outside, that [one of the two] said, Escape for your life 1 ; do not look back behind you, and do not halt in all the plain; escape into the mountain, lest you are consumed.

18. And Lot said to them, Not so, my Lords.

19. Behold now, your 2 servant has found grace in your eyes, and you have magnified your mercy which you have shown to me in causing my soul to live. But I shall not be able to escape into the mountain in case the evil clings to me and I die.

20. Behold now, this city is near to flee to it, and it is small. Let me, I beg you, escape to it (is it not small?) and let my soul live.

21. And he said to him, Behold, I have accepted you 3 as regards this matter also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

22. Make haste, escape to it, for I cannot do anything until you come to it. Therefore he called the name of the city Zoar.

23. The sun had gone forth over the earth, and Lot came to Zoar.

24. And Jehovah rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Jehovah out of heaven.

25. And He overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew in the ground.

26. And his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27. And Abraham rose up in the early morning, [and went] to the place where he had stood before Jehovah.

28. And he looked out towards the face of Sodom and Gomorrah, and towards the whole face of the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

29. And so it was, when God was destroying the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot away out of the midst of the overthrowing when He was overthrowing the cities in which Lot dwelt.

30. And Lot went up out of Zoar and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him, for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar. And he dwelt in a cave - he, and his two daughters.

31. And the firstborn said to the younger, Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to come to us, according to the way of all the earth.

32. Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him, and let us keep seed alive by our father.

33. And they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down and when she rose up.

34. And so it was on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine again tonight, and come, lie with him, and let us keep seed alive by our father.

35. And they made their father drink wine that night also; and the younger rose up and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down and when she rose up.

36. And the two daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

37. And the firstborn gave birth to a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of Moab even to this day.

38. And the younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Benammi; he is the father of the children of Ammon even to this day.

CONTENTS

In this chapter 'Lot' describes, in the internal sense, the state of the spiritual Church in which good flowing from charity exists but the worship of which is external - how in course of time that Church falls away.

Footnotes:

1. literally, soul

2. In this verse you and your are singular. Lot is presumably addressing the one who spoke in verse 17 and does so again in verse 21.

3. literally, your face

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