Genesis 18:30

28 Peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty and five, I will not destroy it.

29 And he spake unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.

31 And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord: Peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

32 And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

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
Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.”
KJV
And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
WEB
He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak. What if there are thirty found there?” He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
ASV
And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it, if I find thirty there.
DARBY
And he said, Oh, let not the Lord be angry that I speak! Perhaps there may be thirty found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.
BLB
And he said, “Please, may the Lord not be hot, and I will speak. Suppose there should be found thirty.” And He said, “I will not do [it] if I find there thirty.”
ÅB
Men han sa: Herre, bli ikke vred om jeg taler! Kanskje det finnes tretti. Han svarte: Jeg skal ikke gjøre det dersom jeg finner tretti der.
OTB
Da sa han, “Måtte Herren ikke bli sint, men la meg tale; anta at det finnes tretti der?” Han svarte, “Jeg vil ikke gjøre det hvis jeg finner tretti der.”
B1930
Men han sa: Herre, bli ikke vred om jeg taler! Kanskje det finnes tretti. Han svarte: Jeg skal ikke gjøre det dersom jeg finner tretti der.

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

  • Psalms 10:17

    LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

    Read in context
  • Job 40:4

    Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 55:8–9

    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.

    Read in context
  • Hebrews 12:28–29

    Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear:

    Read in context
  • Psalms 89:7

    God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

    Read in context
  • Psalms 9:12

    When he maketh inquisition for blood, he remembereth them: he forgetteth not the cry of the humble.

    Read in context
  • Esther 4:11–16

    All the king’s servants, and the people of the king’s provinces, do know, that whosoever, whether man or woman, shall come unto the king into the inner court, who is not called, there is one law of his to put him to death, except such to whom the king shall hold out the golden sceptre, that he may live: but I have not been called to come in unto the king these thirty days.

    Read in context
  • Isaiah 6:5

    Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.

    Read in context