Lot Welcomes the Angels
Lot sees the visitors, bows before them, and presses them to spend the night in his house. His welcome is deliberate and urgent, marked by food, shelter, and protection.
N1ow the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown, 2and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” 3But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Verse 1The two angels arrive at Sodom in the evening, and Lot rises from the city gate to meet them with deep respect.
It introduces the visitors and places Lot as the first human response to them.
Verse 2Lot urges them to stay in his house for the night, offering washing and rest before they continue their journey.
It begins Lot’s effort to bring them under his protection.
Verse 3When they hesitate, Lot presses them until they come in, and he prepares a feast with unleavened bread for them.
It emphasizes the urgency and fullness of Lot’s hospitality.
The men of Sodom surround the house and demand the visitors. Lot goes out to restrain them and offers his daughters instead, but the crowd turns on him and moves to break down the door.
4Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. 5They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!” 6Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him. 7“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing! 8Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door.
Verse 4Before the guests can sleep, the men of Sodom from every age gather around Lot’s house.
It turns the scene from welcome to threat.
Verse 5The crowd demands that Lot bring out the men who came to him so they can violate them.
It states plainly the violence at the center of the scene.
Verse 6Lot steps outside to face the crowd and closes the door behind him.
It shows him placing himself between the mob and his guests.
Verse 7He pleads with the men not to commit this wicked act.
It marks Lot’s attempt to restrain the violence.
Verse 8Lot offers his daughters to the crowd instead, asking that the visitors be spared because they are under his roof.
It shows the distorted desperation of Lot’s protection.
Verse 9The crowd rejects Lot, mocks him as a foreigner acting like a judge, and surges forward to break down the door.
It intensifies the threat and turns it against Lot himself.
The visitors pull Lot back inside, shut the door, and strike the men outside with blindness. Even then the mob keeps groping for the entrance.
10But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
Verse 10The men inside reach out, pull Lot back into the house, and shut the door.
It reverses Lot’s exposed position and places him under their protection.
Verse 11They strike the men outside with blindness, yet the crowd keeps exhausting itself trying to find the door.
It seals the scene by joining judgment with the mob’s persistent frenzy.
A quiet block diagram: each row is one authored paragraph movement, with verse numbers kept visible for scanning and deeper work.
- vv. 1-3
Lot sees the visitors, bows before them, and presses them to spend the night in his house. His welcome is deliberate and urgent, marked by food, shelter, and protection.
It opens the scene by setting Lot’s hospitality against the danger gathering around them. - vv. 4-9
The men of Sodom surround the house and demand the visitors. Lot goes out to restrain them and offers his daughters instead, but the crowd turns on him and moves to break down the door.
It reveals the city’s violence and shows how desperate and compromised Lot has become within it. - vv. 10-11
The visitors pull Lot back inside, shut the door, and strike the men outside with blindness. Even then the mob keeps groping for the entrance.
It closes the confrontation by showing the visitors’ authority and the crowd’s unrelenting blindness.