Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Key: khaki:verbs, green:YHWH.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
BrLXXὍτι ἡμεῖς ἀπόλλυμεν τὸν τόπον τοῦτον· ὅτι ὑψώθη ἡ κραυγὴ αὐτῶν ἔναντι Κυρίου, καὶ ἀπέστειλεν ἡμᾶς Κύριος ἐκτρίψαι αὐτήν. (Hoti haʸmeis apollumen ton topon touton; hoti hupsōthaʸ haʸ kraugaʸ autōn enanti Kuriou, kai apesteilen haʸmas Kurios ektripsai autaʸn. )
BrTr[fn]For we are going to destroy this place; for their cry has been raised up before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy [fn]it.
ULTbecause we are destroying this place. For their outcry before Yahweh is great, so Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”
USTbecause we are about to destroy it. Yahweh has heard that the people of this city are guilty of serious sins, so he has sent us to destroy the city.”
BSBbecause we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.”
OEBfor we are about to destroy it, because great complaint concerning the people has come to the Lord and he has sent us to destroy it.’
WEBBEfor we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown so great before the LORD that the LORD has sent us to destroy it.”
NETbecause we are about to destroy it. The outcry against this place is so great before the Lord that he has sent us to destroy it.”
LSVfor we are destroying this place, for their cry has been great [before] the face of YHWH, and YHWH does send us to destroy it.”
FBVbecause we are about to destroy this place. The complaints that have reached the Lord about its people have become so bad that he has sent us to destroy it.”
T4Tbecause 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.”
LEBFor we are about to destroy this place, because their cry has become great before Yahweh. Yahweh sent us to destroy it.”
BBEFor we are about to send destruction on this place, because a great outcry against them has come to the ears of the Lord; and the Lord has sent us to put an end to the town.
JPSfor we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.'
ASVfor we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxed great before Jehovah; and Jehovah hath sent us to destroy it.
DRAFor we will destroy this place, because their cry is grown loud before the Lord, who hath sent us to destroy them.
YLTfor we are destroying this place, for their cry hath been great [before] the face of Jehovah, and Jehovah doth send us to destroy it.'
DrbyFor we are going to destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before Jehovah, and Jehovah has sent us to destroy it.
RVfor we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
WbstrFor we will destroy this place, because the cry of them has become great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it.
KJB-1769For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath sent us to destroy it. (For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD; and the LORD hath/has sent us to destroy it. )
KJB-1611[fn]For we will destroy this place, because the crie of them is waxen great before the face of the LORD: and the LORD hath sent vs to destroy it. (Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation and footnotes)
BshpsFor we wyl destroy this place, because the crye of them is great before the face of God: for the Lorde hath sent vs to destroy it. (For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before the face of God: for the Lord hath/has sent us to destroy it.)
GnvaFor we will destroy this place, because the crye of them is great before the Lord, and the Lord hath sent vs to destroy it. (For we will destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before the Lord, and the Lord hath/has sent us to destroy it. )
Cvdlfor we must destroye this place, because the crye of them is greate before the LORDE, which hath sent vs to destroye them. (for we must destroy this place, because the cry of them is great before the LORD, which hath/has sent us to destroy them.)
Wyclfor we schulen do a wey this place, for the cry of hem encreesside bifor the Lord, which sente vs that we leese hem. (for we should do a wey this place, for the cry of them encreesside before the Lord, which sent us that we leese them.)
LuthDenn wir werden diese Stätte verderben, darum daß ihr Geschrei groß ist vor dem HErr’s; der hat uns gesandt, sie zu verderben. (Because we/us become this/these Stätte verderben, therefore that you/their/her Geschrei large is before/in_front_of to_him LORD’s; the/of_the has us/to_us/ourselves sent, they/she/them to verderben.)
ClVgdelebimus enim locum istum, eo quod increverit clamor eorum coram Domino, qui misit nos ut perdamus illos. (delebimus because place that, eo that increverit clamor their coram Master, who he_sent we as perdamus illos. )
19:1-38 The Canaanites were an evil, corrupting people. God judged their morally bankrupt civilization and warned others against becoming like them. It was difficult to get Lot and his family out of Sodom; it was more difficult to get Sodom out of Lot and his family. This chapter helped later Israelites to understand the moral and spiritual threat of the peoples living in and around the Promised Land, such as the Canaanites and Lot’s descendants, the Moabites and the Ammonites (see Num 22–25; Deut 23:3-6; Josh 24:9; Judg 10:7-9; 11:4-5; 1 Sam 10:27; 1 Kgs 11:1-3; 2 Kgs 24:2).
that/for/because/then/when that/for/because/then/when become_great outcry,their DOM face/surface_of YHWH
See how you translated outcry in Gen 18:20-21. It may be necessary to translate this term in different ways, depending on the context. Also, make sure that your translation of their outcry refers to the people of Sodom, not Lot’s relatives who were the last ones referred to (verse 12). Alternate translation: “Yahweh has heard that the people of this city are guilty of terrible sins,” or “Yahweh has heard serious accusations against the people who live here”
Make sure the way you translate this phrase fits with how you translated the first part of this sentence. Alternate translation: “to destroy them and their city.”
Author’s note: This article assumes that Sodom, Gomorrah, and Bela (Zoar) were located at Bab edh-Dhra, Numeira, and Khirbat ash-Sheikh `Isa, respectively. The exact locations of the cities of the plain are widely debated, with the primary dispute centering around whether the cities are to be found in the northern area of the Dead Sea (since Lot headed east from Bethel [Genesis 13]) or the southern area (as the Medeba Map shows). It is beyond the scope of this article to present all the evidence to support a southern location, but many of them are well summarized here: “The Discovery of the Sin Cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.” In addition, Eusebius in his Onomasticon describes the Dead Sea as lying between Jericho and Zoar. This author has also recently found that Eusebius notes that Nebereim (Nimrim; see Isaiah 15:6 and Jeremiah 48:34) is located at a village called Bennamareim (likely the site of Gomorrah on this map), which he also says is north of Zoar. Thus, if Eusebius is correct, Zoar is clearly located in the southern area of the Dead Sea, which fits very well with the location shown on this map. Also, Lot’s relocation to Sodom after moving east to the plain of the Jordan suggests that Sodom was located on the east side of the Dead Sea.
The famous cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are first mentioned in Genesis 10:19 in a description of the territory of the Canaanites. The cities are mentioned again in chapter 13, which notes that while Abraham (then called Abram) was living near Bethel (also called Luz), tension began to grow between Abraham’s herders and the herders working for Abraham’s nephew Lot. To resolve the problem, Abraham suggested that he and Lot permanently part ways, and he offered Lot first choice of where to live. Lot chose to move east to the plain of the Jordan, because the land was well watered, and he eventually settled in the city of Sodom. Genesis 14 then describes how Lot was captured by four Mesopotamian kings as they attacked the cities of the plain, but Abraham rescued Lot. Sometime after this Abraham moved to the oaks of Mamre, near Hebron, and three visitors (one of whom is later called “the Lord,” and the other two “angels”) approached his tent. Abraham invited them to share a meal with him and then later accompanied them for the first part of their journey. Along the way the visitors revealed to Abraham that they were going to Sodom to destroy it for its wickedness. Abraham appealed to the Lord to spare the city if even a few righteous lived there, and the Lord agreed and went his way. The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening (Genesis 19:1), presumably the same day they left, although perhaps they actually took more than one day to travel to Sodom, because the distance from Mamre to Sodom is over 35 miles (56 km), and Scripture does not specifically note that it was the same day. The events that followed that evening are well known, and in the morning the angels compelled Lot and his family to flee the city before it was destroyed. The angels instructed them to flee to the hills, but Lot convinced them to allow him to take refuge in a small village on the plain and not destroy it. Genesis 19:23 seems to suggest that it took Lot’s family a full day and night to reach Zoar, which fits well with the 16 mile (25 km) distance from Sodom to Zoar. As they were reaching Zoar, the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur on Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboiim, completely destroying them. As Lot’s family was still fleeing, Lot’s wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. That same morning Abraham got up and went to where he had last spoken with the visitors, and when he looked out across the plain he saw columns of smoke rising from the destroyed cities. Later Lot and his daughters moved into the hills and lived in a cave, because they were afraid to remain in Zoar. Fearing they would never marry, Lot’s daughters both got their father drunk and conceived children by him, though he was unaware of it. These children became ancestors of the Moabites and the Ammonites.
