Angels warned Lot that Sodom would be destroyed because of the people’s wickedness

19 That evening, the two angels arrived in Sodom. Lot was sitting at the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to greet them, and prostrated himself with his face on the ground. 2 He said to them, “Gentlemen, please stay in my house tonight. You can wash your feet, and tomorrow you can continue your journey.” But they said, “No, we will just sleep in the city square.” 3 But Lot kept insisting strongly that they sleep in his house. So they entered his house with him, and he prepared a meal for them. He baked some bread without yeast, and they ate it. 4 After they finished eating, before they went to bed, the men of Sodom city, all of them, from the young ones to the old ones, surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to your house this evening? Bring them out, so that we can have sex with them!” [EUP] 6 Lot went outside the house and shut the door behind him, so that they could not go inside. 7 He said to them, “My friends, don’t do such an evil thing! 8 Listen to me. I have two daughters who have never had sex with any man. Let me bring them out to you now, and you can do with them whatever pleases you. But don’t do anything to these men, because they are guests in my house, so I must protect them!” 9 But they replied, “Get out of our way! You are a foreigner; so you have no right to tell us what is right! If you don’t get out of our way, we will do worse things to you than we will do to them!” Then they lunged towards Lot, and tried forcefully to break down the door. 10 But the two angels opened the door carefully, reached out their hands, and pulled Lot to them inside the house. Then they quickly shut the door. 11 Then they caused all the men who were outside the door of the house, young and old, to become blind, so that they could not find the door. 12 Then the two angels said to Lot, “Who else is with you here? If you have sons or sons-in-law or daughters or anyone else in the city who is related to you, take them out of the city, 13 because we are the ones who are going to destroy this place. Yahweh considers that these people are so evil that he sent us to destroy the city.” 14 So Lot went and spoke to the men who had pledged to marry his daughters. He said to them, “Hurry! Get out of this city, because Yahweh is about to destroy it!” But his future sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 As it was about to dawn the next morning, the two angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up quickly! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here with you and leave! If you don’t, you will die when we destroy/Yahweh destroys the city!” 16 When Lot hesitated, the angels grasped his hand and his wife’s hand and the hands of his two daughters. They led them outside the city safely. The angels did that because Yahweh was acting mercifully toward them. 17 When they were outside the city, one of the angels said, “If you want to remain alive, run away quickly! Don’t look back! And don’t stop anywhere in the valley! Flee to the hills! If you don’t, you will die!” 18 But Lot said to one of the angels, “No, sir, don’t make me do that! 19 Please, listen. You have been pleased with me and have been very kind to me and spared my life. But I cannot flee to the mountain. If I try to do that, I will die in this disaster [PRS]. 20 But listen to me. There is a town nearby. Let me run to that small town. Let me go there now. It is a small town, but our lives will be saved if we go there.” 21 One of the angels said to Lot, “I will allow you to do what you have requested [MTY]. I will not destroy the little town you are speaking about. 22 But hurry! Run there, because I cannot destroy anything until you arrive there.” People later called the name of the town Zoar which means ‘small’, because Lot said it was small.