Atlas Biblica

    Genesis · 33 verses

    Genesis 18

    Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.

    The chapter

    What happens here

    Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.

    Three men arrive, a lavish meal appears where “a bit of bread” was promised, and before the chapter is done three have become two without the text pausing to explain the arithmetic.

    Bread, calf, and a laugh behind the tentvv. 1–15

    The LORD appears to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre, and Abraham greets three men with astonishing speed: water, shade, bread, flour, a tender calf, curds, and milk. The modest “bit of bread” has become a considerable table, while Abraham stands by under the tree as the men eat. Then Sarah is promised a son within a year. She laughs quietly at the prospect, is challenged about it, denies laughing, and is told—rather neatly—that she did laugh.

    The count begins at fiftyvv. 16–33

    The men rise and look toward Sodom, and here the chapter performs its curious vanishing act: two men turn toward the city, while Abraham remains before the LORD. The LORD says the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, but will go down to see whether the actions justify it—an investigation conducted with strikingly careful procedure. Abraham then bargains for the city by tens: fifty, forty-five, forty, thirty, twenty, and finally ten. Each time, the LORD agrees not to destroy the place for the sake of the righteous number proposed; then the LORD departs, and Abraham returns home.

    The text

    Read it

    Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.

    1. Gen 18:1Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent.

    2. Gen 18:2And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground.

    3. Gen 18:3“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by.

    4. Gen 18:4Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

    5. Gen 18:5And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.”

    6. Gen 18:6So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.”

    7. Gen 18:7Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it.

    8. Gen 18:8Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate.

    9. Gen 18:9“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied.

    10. Gen 18:10Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent.

    11. Gen 18:11And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

    12. Gen 18:12So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?”

    13. Gen 18:13And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’

    14. Gen 18:14Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.”

    15. Gen 18:15But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.”

    16. Gen 18:16When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off.

    17. Gen 18:17And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

    18. Gen 18:18Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed.

    19. Gen 18:19For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.”

    20. Gen 18:20Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous,

    21. Gen 18:21I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”

    22. Gen 18:22And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the LORD.

    23. Gen 18:23Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

    24. Gen 18:24What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there?

    25. Gen 18:25Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?”

    26. Gen 18:26So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”

    27. Gen 18:27Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes—

    28. Gen 18:28suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.”

    29. Gen 18:29Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.”

    30. Gen 18:30Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”

    31. Gen 18:31And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.”

    32. Gen 18:32Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”

    33. Gen 18:33When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

    01 — Also here

    Who else the chapter reaches

    Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.

    Named in the Hebrew or Greek somewhere in this chapter, under a form the English renders differently — the registry's Ludim against the translation's Ludites — so there is no word in the sentence to hang the link on.

    Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.

    02 — Read alongside

    Where this is echoed

    Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 342 passages were voted onto 32 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.

    • 14Luke 1:37For no word from God will ever fail.”
    • 14Matthew 19:26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
    • 14Mark 10:27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God. For all things are possible with God.”
    • 14Jeremiah 32:27“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too difficult for Me?
    • 14Ephesians 3:20Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,
    • 14Job 42:2“I know that You can do all things and that no plan of Yours can be thwarted.
    • 14Philippians 4:13I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.
    • 14Romans 4:21being fully persuaded that God was able to do what He had promised.
    • 14Numbers 11:23The LORD answered Moses, “Is the LORD’s arm too short? Now you will see whether or not My word will come to pass.”
    • 142 Kings 4:16And Elisha declared, “At this time next year, you will hold a son in your arms.” “No, my lord,” she said. “Do not lie to your maidservant, O man of God.”
    • 191 Timothy 3:4–5An overseer must manage his own household well and keep his children under control, with complete dignity.
    • 19Deuteronomy 6:6–7These words I am commanding you today are to be upon your hearts.
    • 14Deuteronomy 7:21Do not be terrified by them, for the LORD your God, who is among you, is a great and awesome God.
    • 19Ephesians 6:4Fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath; instead, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
    • 2Hebrews 13:2Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
    • 14Zechariah 8:6This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “If this is impossible in the eyes of the remnant of this people in these days, should it also be impossible in My eyes?” declares the LORD of Hosts.

    Onward

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