Genesis 19:24-28

19:24 Then the Lord rained down ¹  sulfur and fire ²  on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord. ³  19:25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region, ⁴  including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew ⁵  from the ground. 19:26 But Lot’s ⁶  wife looked back longingly ⁷  and was turned into a pillar of salt.

19:27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went ⁸  to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 19:28 He looked out toward ⁹  Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region. ¹⁰  As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace. ¹¹ 

¹ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of the next scene and highlights God’s action.

² tn Or “burning sulfur” (the traditional “fire and brimstone”).

³ tn Heb “from the Lord from the heavens.” The words “It was sent down” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁴ tn Or “and all the plain”; Heb “and all the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

⁵ tn Heb “and the vegetation of the ground.”

⁶ tn Heb “his”; the referent (Lot) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn The Hebrew verb means “to look intently; to gaze” (see 15:5).

⁸ tn The words “and went” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

⁹ tn Heb “upon the face of.”

¹⁰ tn Or “all the land of the plain”; Heb “and all the face of the land of the circle,” referring to the “circle” or oval area of the Jordan Valley.

¹¹ tn Heb “And he saw, and look, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.”