Chapter 20
I will arise early and continue my journey.
39. And the young woman went into the house and fetched the man bread and water to eat and drink.
40. And this affair became known to the people of Admah, and they assembled and brought the young woman before the judges, that they should judge her for this act.
41. And the judge said the judgment of death must pass upon this woman because she transgressed our law, and this therefore is the decision concerning her.
42. And the people of those cities assembled and brought out the young woman, and anointed her with honey from head to foot, as the judge had decreed, and they placed her before a swarm of bees which were then in their hives, and the bees flew up on her and stung her that her whole body was swelled.
43. And the young woman cried out on account of the bees, but no one took notice of her or pitied her, and her cries ascended to heaven.
44. And the Lord was provoked at this and at all the works of the cities of Sodom, for they had abundance of food and had tranquility amongst them, and still would not sustain the poor and the needy, and in those days their evil doings and sins became great before the Lord.
45. And the Lord sent for two of the angels that had come to Abraham's house, to destroy Sodom and its cities.
46. And the angels rose up from the door of Abraham's tent, after they had eaten and drunk, and they reached Sodom in the evening, and Lot was then sitting in the gate of Sodom, and when he saw them he rose to meet them and he bowed down to the ground.
47. And he pressed them greatly and brought them into his house, and he gave them victuals which they ate, and they abided all night in his house.
48. And the angels said to Lot: Arise, go forth from this place, thou and all belonging to thee, lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of this city, for the Lord will destroy this place.
49. And the angels laid hold upon the hand of Lot and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hands of his children, and all belonging to him, and they brought him forth and set him beyond the cities.
50. And they said to Lot, escape for thy life, and he fled and all belonging to him.
51. Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah and up on all these cities brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven.
52. And he overthrew these cities, all the plain and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground; and Ado, the wife of Lot, looked back to see the destruction of the cities, for her compassion was moved on account of her daughters who remained in Sodom, for they did not go with her.
53. And when she looked back she became a pillar of salt, and it is yet in that place unto this day.
54. And the oxen which stood in that place daily licked up the salt to the extremities of their feet, and in the morning it would spring forth afresh, and they again licked it up unto this day.
55. And Lot and two of his daughters, that remained with him, fled and escaped to the cave of Adullam, and they remained there for some time.
56. And Abraham rose up early in the morning to see what had been done to the cities of Sodom; and he looked and beheld the smoke of the cities going up like the smoke of a furnace.
57. And Lot and his two daughters remained in the cave, and they made their father drink wine, and they lay with him, for they said there was no man upon earth that could raise up seed from them, for they thought that the whole earth was destroyed.
58. And they both lay with their father, and they conceived and bare sons, and the firstborn called the name of her son Moab, saying, from my father did I conceive him; he is the father of the Moabites unto this day.
59. And the younger also called her son Benami; he is the father of the children of Ammon unto this day.
60. And after this Lot and his two daughters went away from there, and he dwelt on the other side of the Jordan with his two daughters and their sons, and the sons of Lot grew up, and they went and took themselves wives from the land of Canaan, and they begat children and they were fruitful and multiplied.
1. AND at that time Abraham journeyed from the plain of Mamre, and he went to the land of the Philistines, and he dwelt in Gerar; it was in the twenty fifth year of Abraham's being in the land of Canaan, and the hundreth year of the life of Abraham, that he came to 54 . Gerar in the land of the Philistines.
2. And when they entered the land he said to Sarah his wife, say thou art my sister, to anyone that shall ask thee, in order that we may escape the evil of the inhabitants of the land.
3. And as Abraham was dwelling in the land of the Philistines, the servants of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, saw that Sarah was exceedingly beautiful, and they asked Abraham concerning her, and he said, she is my sister.
4. And the servants of Abimelech went to Abimelech, saying, a man from the land of Canaan is come to dwell in the land, and he has a sister that is exceeding fair.
5. And Abimelech heard the words of his servants who praised Sarah to him, and Abimelech sent his officers, and they brought Sarah to the king.
6. And Sarah came to the house of Abimelech, and the king saw that Sarah was beautiful, and she pleased him exceedingly.
7. And he approached her and said to her, what is that man to thee with whom thou didst come to our land? And Sarah answered and said he is my brother, and we came from the land of Canaan to dwell wherever we could find a place .
8. And Abimelech said to Sarah, behold my land is before thee, place thy brother in any part of this land that pleases thee, and it will be our duty to exalt and elevate him above all the people of the land since he is thy brother.
9. And Abimelech sent for Abraham, and Abraham came to Abimelech.
10. And Abimelech said to Abraham, behold I have given orders that thou shalt be honored as thou desirest on account of thy sister Sarah.
11. And Abraham went forth from the king, and the king's present followed him.
12. As at evening time, before men lie down to rest, the king was sitting upon his throne, and a deep sleep fell upon him, and he lay upon the throne and slept till morning.
13. And he dreamed that an angel of the Lord came to him with a drawn sword in his hand, and the angel stood over Abimelech, and wished to slay him with the sword, and the king was terrified in his dream, and said to the angel, in what have I sinned against thee that thou comest to slay me with thy sword?
14. And the angel answered and said to Abimelech: Behold thou diest on account of the woman which thou didst yesternight bring to thy house, for she is a married woman, the wife of Abraham who came to thy house; now therefore return that man his wife, for she is his wife; and shouldst thou not return her, know that thou wilt surely die, thou and all belonging to thee.
15. And on that night there was a great outcry in the land of the Philistines, and the inhabitants of the land saw the figure of a man standing with a drawn sword in his hand, and he smote the inhabitants of the land with the sword, yea he continued to smite them.
16. And the angel of the Lord smote the whole land of the Philistines on that night, and there was a great confusion on that night and on the following morning.
17. And every womb was closed, and all their issues, and the hand of the Lord was upon them on account of Sarah, wife of Abraham, whom Abimelech had taken.
18. And in the morning Abimelech rose with terror and confusion and with a great dread, and he sent and had his servants called in, and he related his dream to them, and the people were much frightened.
19. And one man standing amongst the servants of the king answered the king, saying, sovereign king, restore this woman to her husband, for he is her husband, for the like happened to the king of Egypt when this man came to Egypt.
20. And he said concerning his wife, she is my sister, for such is his manner of doing when he cometh to dwell in the land in which he is a stranger.
21. And Pharaoh sent and took this woman for a wife, and the Lord brought upon him grievous plagues until he returned the woman to her husband.
22. Now therefore, sovereign king, know what happened yesternight to the whole land, for there was a very great consternation and great pain and lamentation, and we know that this was on account of the woman which thou didst take. 23a. Now therefore, restore this woman to her husband, lest it should befall us as it did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his subjects, and that we may not die. 23b. And Abimelech hastened and called and had Sarah called for, and she came before him, and he had Abraham called for, and he came before him.
24. And Abimelech said to them, what is this work you have been doing in saying you are brother and sister, and I took this woman for a wife?
25. And Abraham said, because I thought I should suffer death on account of my wife; and Abimelech took flocks and herds, and men servants and maid servants, and a thousand pieces of silver, and he gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah to him.
26. And Abimelech said to Abraham, behold the whole land is be-