^{20 Ref} And the Lord said, Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is very great, and their sin is very evil,

^{21 Ref} I will go down now, and see if their acts are as bad as they seem from the outcry which has come to me; and if they are not, I will see.

^{22 Ref} And the men, turning from that place, went on to Sodom: but Abraham was still waiting before the Lord.

^{23 Ref} And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners?

^{24 Ref} If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men?

^{25 Ref} Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right?

^{26 Ref} And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them.

^{27 Ref} And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord:

^{28 Ref} If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five.

^{29 Ref} And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty.

^{30 Ref} And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty.

^{31 Ref} And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty.

^{32 Ref} And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.

^{33 Ref} And the Lord went on his way when his talk with Abraham was ended, and Abraham went back to his place.