17 And the Lord said, 'Shall I hide from Abraham what I will do?'

18 Surely from Abraham shall come forth a great and mighty nation, and in him shall all the nations of the earth be blessed,

19 For I have chosen him to command his sons, and his household after him, to walk in the way of the Lord, doing righteousness and justice; and the LORD will do to Abraham all that he said concerning him.

20 And the Lord said, 'The cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and their sin is very heavy;

21 I will go down and see if they do exactly as the cry that goes up to me is against them, or not. Know.

22 And the men turned from thence and went to Sodom; Abraham was still standing before the Lord.

23 And Abraham came and said, 'Wilt thou destroy the righteous with the wicked?'

24 Perhaps there are fifty righteous men in this city? Wilt thou destroy and not spare this place for the sake of the fifty righteous men?

25 It cannot be that thou didst do such a thing that thou shouldest destroy the righteous with the wicked, that it should be the same with the righteous as with the wicked. it cannot be from Thee! Will the judge of all the earth do wrong?

26 And the Lord said, 'If I find fifty righteous men in the city of Sodom, I will spare [the whole city and] the whole place for their sake.'

27 Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have made up my mind to speak to the Lord, I am dust and ashes,

28 Perhaps five of the fifty righteous shall be lacking, and for the lack of five Thou wilt destroy the whole city? And he said, I will not destroy it, if I find forty-five there.

29 Abraham continued to speak to Him, and said, "Shall there be forty found there?" He said, "I will not do this for the sake of forty."

30 And Abraham said, Let not the Lord be angry, that I should say, Perhaps thirty shall be found there? He said, "I will not do it if there are thirty there."