=Sec.5. Abraham's Treatment of Lot= (Gen. 13)
And Abraham went out of Egypt, he, and his wife, and all that he had,
and Lot with him, into the South. And Abraham was very rich in cattle,
in silver, and in gold. And he went on his journeys from the South even
to Beth-el, unto the place where his tent had been at the beginning,
between Beth-el and Ai; unto the place of the altar, which he had made
there at the first: and there Abraham called on the name of the Lord.
And Lot also, who went with Abraham, had flocks, and herds, and tents.
And the land was not able to bear them, that they might dwell together:
for their substance was great, so that they could not dwell together.
And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abraham's cattle and the
herdmen of Lot's cattle.
And Abraham said unto Lot, "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between
me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we are
brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? separate thyself, I pray
thee, from me: if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the
right; or if thou take the right hand, then I will go to the left."
And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the Plain of Jordan, that it
was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and
Gomorrah, like the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou
goest unto Zoar. So Lot chose him all the Plain of Jordan; and Lot
journeyed east: and they separated themselves the one from the other.
Abraham dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the
Plain, and moved his tent as far as Sodom. Now the men of Sodom were
wicked and sinners against the Lord exceedingly.
And the Lord said unto Abraham, after that Lot was separated from him,
"Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art,
northward and southward and eastward and westward: for all the land
which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever. And
I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can
number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of
it; for unto thee will I give it."
And Abraham moved his tent, and came and dwelt by the oaks of Mamre,
which are in Hebron, and built there an altar unto the Lord.
=Sec.6. Abraham's Deliverance of Lot= (Gen. 14:10-24)
And there came five kings from the East and made war against the kings
of Sodom and Gomorrah. And the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and
they fell there, and they that remained fled to the mountain. And they
took all the goods of Sodom and Gomorrah, and all their victuals, and
went their way. And they took Lot, Abraham's brother's son, who dwelt in
Sodom, and his goods, and departed.
And there came one that had escaped, and told Abraham the Hebrew: now he
dwelt by the oaks of Mamre the Amorite, brother of Eshcol, and brother
of Aner; and these were confederate with Abraham. And when Abraham heard
that his brother was taken captive, he led forth his trained men, born
in his house, three hundred and eighteen, and pursued as far as Dan. And
he divided himself against them by night, he and his servants, and smote
them, and pursued them unto Hobah, which is on the left hand of
Damascus. And he brought back all the goods, and also brought again his
brother Lot, and his goods, and the women also, and the people.
And the king of Sodom went out to meet him, after his return from the
slaughter of the kings. And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth
bread and wine: and he was priest of God Most High. And he blessed him
and said, "Blessed be Abraham of God Most High, possessor of heaven and
earth: and blessed be God Most High, which hath delivered thine enemies
into thy hand." And he gave him a tenth of all.
And the king of Sodom said unto Abraham, "Give me the persons, and take
the goods to thyself."
And Abraham said to the king of Sodom, "I have lifted up mine hand unto
the Lord, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth, that I will not
take a thread nor a shoelatchet nor aught that is thine, lest thou
shouldst say, I have made Abraham rich: save only that which the young
men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me; Aner,
Eshcol, and Mamre, let them take their portion."
=Sec.7. Abraham's Prayer for Sodom= (Gen. 18:17-32; 19:29)
And the Lord said, "Shall I hide from Abraham that which I do; seeing
that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the
nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? For I have known him, to
the end that he may command his children and his household after him,
that they may keep the way of the Lord, to do righteousness and justice;
to the end that the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath
spoken of him."
And the Lord said, "Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and
because their sin is very grievous; I will go down now, and see whether
they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto
me; and if not, I will know."
And Abraham drew near, and said, "Wilt thou consume the righteous with
the wicked? Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city:
wilt thou consume and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that
are therein? That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the
righteous with the wicked, that so the righteous should be as the
wicked; that be far from thee: shall not the Judge of all the earth do
right?"
And the Lord said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city,
then I will spare all the place for their sake."
And Abraham answered and said, "Behold now, I have taken upon me to
speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes: peradventure there
shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city
for lack of five?"