Genesis 18:21

Justice

¹⁹ For I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the way of the LORD, to do justice and judgment; that the LORD may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of him.

²⁰ And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;

I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

²² And the men turned their faces from thence, and went toward Sodom: but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

²³ And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
KJV: I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
WEB: I will go down now, and see whether their deeds are as bad as the reports which have come to me. If not, I will know.”
ASV: I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.
DARBY: I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come to me; and if not, I will know [it].
BLB: I will go down now and see whether the outcry against it that has come to Me they have done completely—and if not, I will know.”

ÅB: Jeg vil stige ned og se om de i alt har båret seg slik at som det lyder det rop som er nådd opp til meg, og hvis ikke, så vil jeg vite det.
OTB: Jeg vil nå dra ned og se om det de har gjort er så ille som ropet som har nådd meg. Hvis ikke, vil jeg vite det.”
B1930: Jeg vil stige ned og se om de i alt har båret sig slik at som det lyder det rop som er nådd op til mig, og hvis ikke, så vil jeg vite det.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Exodus 3:8
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites.
Read in context
Genesis 11:5
And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
Read in context
Joshua 22:22
The LORD God of gods, the LORD God of gods, he knoweth, and Israel he shall know; if it be in rebellion, or if in transgression against the LORD, (save us not this day,)
Read in context
Zephaniah 1:12
And it shall come to pass at that time, that I will search Jerusalem with candles, and punish the men that are settled on their lees: that say in their heart, The LORD will not do good, neither will he do evil.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 8:2
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 13:3
Thou shalt not hearken unto the words of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams: for the LORD your God proveth you, to know whether ye love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul.
Read in context
Genesis 11:7
Go to, let us go down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand one another’s speech.
Read in context
Jeremiah 17:10
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Read in context