16. But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out, and put him outside the city.
17. When they had brought them outside, one said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away."
18. But Lot said to them, "Oh no, my lords!
19. Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die;
20. now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be saved."
21. He said to him, "Behold, I grant you this request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken.
22. Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.
23. The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.
24. Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven,
25. and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.
26. But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27. Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord;
28. and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a furnace.
29. Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.
30. Lot went up from Zoar, and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.
31. Then the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth.