Sodom and Gomorrah

Sodom and Gomorrah were cities of the plain that the Lord destroyed with brimstone and fire for their wickedness, after Abraham interceded and Lot was brought out. Christian traditions differ on what the sin of Sodom chiefly was: Genesis 19 records the men of the city demanding to know Lot's guests, Ezekiel names pride, fulness of bread and neglect of the poor and needy, and Jude names fornication and going after strange flesh.

The wickedness of Sodom

• Genesis 13:12-13
  ¹²Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom.Abram lived in the land of Canaan, but Lot settled in the cities of the plain and pitched his tent toward Sodom. ¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the LORD.
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• Genesis 18:20-21
  ²⁰And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grievous;Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, ²¹I 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.I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.”
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Abraham intercedes

• Genesis 18:23-26
  ²³And Abraham drew near, and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴Peradventure there be fifty righteous within the city: wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are therein?What if there are fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? ²⁵That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked: and that the righteous should be as the wicked, that be far from thee: Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” ²⁶And the Lord said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.”
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• Genesis 18:32
  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.Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.”
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The angels at Lot's house

• Genesis 19:1-3
  ¹And there came two angels to Sodom at even; and Lot sat in the gate of Sodom: and Lot seeing them rose up to meet them; and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground;Now 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 he said, Behold now, my lords, turn in, I pray you, into your servant’s house, and tarry all night, and wash your feet, and ye shall rise up early, and go on your ways. And they said, Nay; but we will abide in the street all night.and 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.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³And he pressed upon them greatly; and they turned in unto him, and entered into his house; and he made them a feast, and did bake unleavened bread, and they did eat.But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
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• Genesis 19:4-11
  ⁴But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the house round, both old and young, all the people from every quarter:Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. ⁵And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night? bring them out unto us, that we may know them.They 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!” ⁶And Lot went out at the door unto them, and shut the door after him,Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him. ⁷And said, I pray you, brethren, do not so wickedly.“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing! ⁸Behold now, I have two daughters which have not known man; let me, I pray you, bring them out unto you, and do ye to them as is good in your eyes: only unto these men do nothing; for therefore came they under the shadow of my roof.Look, 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.” ⁹And they said, Stand back. And they said again, This one fellow came in to sojourn, and he will needs be a judge: now will we deal worse with thee, than with them. And they pressed sore upon the man, even Lot, and came near to break the door.“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. ¹⁰But the men put forth their hand, and pulled Lot into the house to them, and shut to the door.But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹And they smote the men that were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great: so that they wearied themselves to find the door.And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door.
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• Genesis 19:12-13
  ¹²And the men said unto Lot, Hast thou here any besides? son in law, and thy sons, and thy daughters, and whatsoever thou hast in the city, bring them out of this place:Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³For 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.because 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.”
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The destruction and Lot's wife

• Genesis 19:15-17
  ¹⁵And when the morning arose, then the angels hastened Lot, saying, Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters, which are here; lest thou be consumed in the iniquity of the city.At daybreak the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶And while he lingered, the men laid hold upon his hand, and upon the hand of his wife, and upon the hand of his two daughters; the Lord being merciful unto him: and they brought him forth, and set him without the city.But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them. ¹⁷And it came to pass, when they had brought them forth abroad, that he said, Escape for thy life; look not behind thee, neither stay thou in all the plain; escape to the mountain, lest thou be consumed.As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!”
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• Genesis 19:24-26
  ²⁴Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven;Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground.Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground. ²⁶But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
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• Luke 17:28-32
  ²⁸Likewise also as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold, they planted, they builded;It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. ²⁹But the same day that Lot went out of Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all. ³⁰Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed.It will be just like that on the day the Son of Man is revealed. ³¹In that day, he which shall be upon the housetop, and his stuff in the house, let him not come down to take it away: and he that is in the field, let him likewise not return back.On that day, let no one on the housetop come down to retrieve his possessions. Likewise, let no one in the field return for anything he has left behind. ³²Remember Lot’s wife.Remember Lot’s wife!
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The sin of Sodom

• Ezekiel 16:49-50
  ⁴⁹Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.Now this was the iniquity of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed, and complacent; they did not help the poor and needy. ⁵⁰And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.Thus they were haughty and committed abominations before Me. Therefore I removed them, as you have seen.
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• Jude 1:7
  Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
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• 2 Peter 2:6-8
  ⁶And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ⁷And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—
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• Isaiah 3:9
  The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; and they declare their sin as Sodom, they hide it not. Woe unto their soul! for they have rewarded evil unto themselves.The expression on their faces testifies against them, and like Sodom they flaunt their sin; they do not conceal it. Woe to them, for they have brought disaster upon themselves.
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• Jeremiah 23:14
  I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem an horrible thing: they commit adultery, and walk in lies: they strengthen also the hands of evildoers, that none doth return from his wickedness: they are all of them unto me as Sodom, and the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah.And among the prophets of Jerusalem I have seen a horrible thing: They commit adultery and walk in lies. They strengthen the hands of evildoers, so that no one turns his back on wickedness. They are all like Sodom to Me; the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”
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An example of judgment

• Matthew 10:15
  Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.
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• Matthew 11:23-24
  ²³And thou, Capernaum, which art exalted unto heaven, shalt be brought down to hell: for if the mighty works, which have been done in thee, had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day.And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to heaven? No, you will be brought down to Hades! For if the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day. ²⁴But I say unto you, That it shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, than for thee.But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”
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• Deuteronomy 29:23
  And that the whole land thereof is brimstone, and salt, and burning, that it is not sown, nor beareth, nor any grass groweth therein, like the overthrow of Sodom, and Gomorrah, Admah, and Zeboim, which the Lord overthrew in his anger, and in his wrath:All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the LORD overthrew in His fierce anger.
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See also

• Abraham
• Homosexuality
• Judgment
• Wrath of God

Notes

1. Verses are quoted in the translation chosen in the Translation menu at the top of the page. See Translations for sources and copyright notices.
2. Each reference links to the full chapter so the verse can be read in context.