So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
- KJV And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.
- NKJV So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”
- NASB So the Lord said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the entire place on their account.”
- NLT And the Lord replied, “If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The LORD promises to spare all Sodom if fifty righteous are found in it.
Overview
God's willingness shows his mercy and his readiness to relent for the sake of the righteous. The dialogue reveals a God who delights to spare rather than to destroy. It teaches that God's judgments are tempered by patience and that he honors the prayers of his people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 7
- Jer 5:1“Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem. Look now and take note; search her squares. If you can find a single person, anyone who acts justly, anyone who seeks the truth, then I will forgive the city.
- Matt 24:22If those days had not been cut short, nobody would be saved. But for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short.
- Isa 65:8This is what the LORD says: “As the new wine is found in a cluster of grapes, and men say, ‘Do not destroy it, for it contains a blessing,’ so I will act on behalf of My servants; I will not destroy them all.
- Ezek 22:30I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.
- Isa 6:13And though a tenth remains in the land, it will be burned again. As the terebinth and oak leave stumps when felled, so the holy seed will be a stump in the land.”
- Isa 19:24In that day Israel will join a three-party alliance with Egypt and Assyria—a blessing upon the earth.
- Isa 10:22Though your people, O Israel, be like the sand of the sea, only a remnant will return. Destruction has been decreed, overflowing with righteousness.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
From the first promise that the seed of the woman would crush the serpent (3:15), through Abraham's blessing to all nations and Judah's coming ruler, Genesis sows every seed that flowers in Christ — the true offspring, the better Adam, the ram caught for Isaac.
How Genesis 18:26 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.