Genesis 19:12-29

¹²The two angels said to Lot, “Do you have any other family members here? Do you have sons-in-law, sons, daughters or any other relatives in the city? Get them out of here! ¹³We are going to destroy this place. Many have cried out to the Lord against the people of this city. So he has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law. They had promised to marry his daughters. He said, “Hurry up! Get out of this place! The Lord is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. ¹⁵The sun was coming up. So the angels tried to get Lot to leave. They said, “Hurry up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out! If you don’t, you will be swept away when the city is destroyed.” ¹⁶Lot didn’t move right away. So the men grabbed him by the hand. They also took hold of the hands of his wife and two daughters. They led all of them safely out of the city. The Lord had mercy on them. ¹⁷As soon as the angels had brought them out, one of them spoke. He said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back! Don’t stop anywhere in the valley! Run to the mountains! If you don’t, you will be swept away!” ¹⁸But Lot said to them, “No, my lords! Please! ¹⁹You have done me a big favor. You have been very kind to me by sparing my life. But I can’t run to the mountains. I won’t be able to escape this horrible thing that’s going to happen. And then I’ll die. ²⁰Look, here’s a town near enough to run to. It’s small. Let me run to it. It’s very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.” ²¹The Lord said to Lot, “All right. I will also give you what you are asking for. I will not destroy the town you are talking about. ²²But run there quickly. I can’t do anything until you reach it.” The town was named Zoar. Zoar means Small. ²³By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴Then the Lord sent down burning sulfur. It came down like rain on Sodom and Gomorrah. It came from the Lord. It came out of the sky. ²⁵The Lord destroyed these cities and the whole valley. All the people who were living in the cities were wiped out. So were the plants in the land. ²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back. When she did, she became a pillar made out of salt. ²⁷Early the next morning Abraham got up. He returned to the place where he had stood in front of the Lord. ²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley. He saw thick smoke rising from the land. It looked like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the valley, he showed concern for Abraham. He brought Lot out safely when he destroyed the cities where Lot had lived.