Lost Books of the Bible (90 page)

29 And all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah wondered how this man could bear starvation for so many days.

30 And they said to each other, This can only be because he eats and drinks, for no man can bear starvation for so many days or live as this man has, without even his countenance changing. Three men concealed themselves in a place where the poor man was stationed to know who it was that brought him bread to eat.

31 Paltith daughter of Lot went forth that day to fetch water and she put bread into her pitcher of water; she went to draw water by the poor man's place and  took out the bread from the pitcher and gave it to the poor man and he ate it.

32 And the three men saw what Paltith did to the poor man, and they said to her, It is you then who have supported him, and therefore he has not starved, nor changed in appearance nor died like the rest.

33 The three men went out of the place in which they were concealed, and they seized Paltith and the bread which was in the poor man's hand.

34 They took Paltith and brought her before their judges, and they said to them, Thus did she do, and it is she who supplied the poor man with bread, therefore he did not die all this time; now therefore declare to us the punishment due to this woman for having gone contrary to our law.

35 And the people of Sodom and Gomorrah assembled and set ablaze a fire in the street of the city, and they took the woman and cast her into the fire and she was burned to ashes.

36 In the city of Admah there was a woman to whom they did the same.

37 For a traveler came into the city of Admah to stay there all night, with the intention of going home in the morning.  He sat opposite the door of the house of the young woman's father, to remain there, as the sun had set when he had reached that place; the young woman saw him sitting by the door of the house.

38 He asked her for a drink of water and she said to him, Who art you? And he said to her, I was this day going on the road, and reached here when the sun set, so I will stay here all night, and in the morning 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 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 on this woman because she went contrary to our law, and this therefore is the decision concerning her.

42 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 on her and stung her that her whole body was swelled.

43 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 among them, and still would not sustain the poor and the needy.  In those days their evil doings and sins became great before the Lord.

45 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.  When he saw them he rose to meet them, and he bowed down to the ground.

47 He welcomed them greatly and brought them into his house, and he gave them food which they ate, and they stayed all night in his house.

48 And the angels said to Lot, Arise, go forth from this place, you and all belonging to you, that you not be consumed in the iniquity of this city, for the Lord will destroy this place.

49 The angels laid hold on the hand of Lot and on the hand of his wife, and on the hands of his children, and all belonging to him, and they brought him forth and set him outside of the cities.

50 And they said to Lot, Escape for your life.   He fled and all belonging to him.

51 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah and 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 on the ground; 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 to this day.

54 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 to this day.

55 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 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 on earth that could produce descendants from them, for they thought that the whole earth was destroyed.

58 They both lay with their father and conceived and gave birth to sons.  The first born called the name of her son Moab, saying, From my father did I conceive him; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

59 And the younger also called her son Benami; he is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

60 After this Lot and his two daughters went away from there, and he lived 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 had children and they were prolific and multiplied.

CHAPTER 20

1 At that time Abraham journeyed from the plain of Mamre and he went to the land of the Philistines, and he lived in Gerar; it was in the twenty-fifth year of Abraham's being in the land of Canaan, and the hundredth year of the life of Abraham, that he came to Gerar in the land of the Philistines.

2 And when they entered the land he said to Sarah his wife, Say you are my sister, to any one that shall ask you, in order that we may escape the evil of the inhabitants of the land.

3 As Abraham was dwelling in the land of the Philistines, the servants of Abimelech, king of the Philistines, saw that Sarah was greatly 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 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; the king saw that Sarah was beautiful, and she pleased him greatly.

7 And he approached her and said to her, What is that man to you with whom you did 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 Abimelech said to Sarah, Behold my land is before you, place your brother in any part of this land that pleases you, and it will be our duty to exalt and elevate him above all the people of the land since he is your brother.

9 And Abimelech sent for Abraham, and Abraham came to Abimelech.

10 Abimelech said to Abraham, Behold I have given orders that you shall be honored as you desire on account of your sister Sarah.

11 And Abraham went forth from the king, and the king's present followed him.

12 As at evening time, before men laid down to rest, the king was sitting on his throne, and a deep sleep fell on him, and he lay on the throne and slept till morning.

13 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 kill him with the sword;  the king was terrified in his dream and said to the angel, In what have I sinned against you that you come to kill me with your sword?

14 And the angel answered and said to Abimelech, Behold you die on account of the woman which  last night you brought to your house, for she is a married woman, the wife of Abraham who came to your house; now therefore return that man his wife, for she is his wife; should you not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all belonging to you.

15 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 struck the inhabitants of the land with the sword, yes, he continued to strike them.

16 And the angel of the Lord struck the whole land of the Philistines on that night, and there was a great confusion on that night and on the following morning.

17 Every womb was closed, and all their issues, and the hand of the Lord was on 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;  he sent and had his servants called in; he related his dream to them, and the people were greatly afraid.

19 One man standing among the servants of the king answered the king, saying, O sovereign king, restore this woman to her husband, for he is her husband, for the same happened to the king of Egypt when this man came to Egypt.

20 He said concerning his wife, She is my sister, for such is his manner of doing when he comes to dwell in the land in which he is a stranger.

21 Pharaoh sent and took this woman for a wife and the Lord brought on him grievous plagues until he returned the woman to her husband.

22 Now therefore, O sovereign king, know what happened last night to the whole land, for there was a very great consternation and great pain and lamentation, and we know that it was on account of the woman which you did take.

23 Now, therefore, restore this woman to her husband, that it should not happen to us as it did to Pharaoh king of Egypt and his subjects, and that we may not die.  Abimelech hurried  and had Sarah called for, and she came before him, and he had Abraham called for, and he came before him.

24 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 would 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 Abimelech said to Abraham, Behold the whole land is before you, dwell in it wherever you shall choose.

27 And Abraham and Sarah, his wife, went forth from the king's presence with honor and respect, and they lived in the land, even in Gerar.

28 All the inhabitants of the land of the Philistines and the king's servants were still in pain through the plague which the angel had inflicted on them the whole night on account of Sarah.

29 Abimelech sent for Abraham, saying, Pray now for your servants to the Lord your God, that he may put away this mortality from among us.

30 And Abraham prayed on account of Abimelech and his subjects, and the Lord heard the prayer of Abraham, and he healed Abimelech and all his subjects.

CHAPTER 21