The Lord Visits Abraham

The Lord appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre
while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent
in the heat of the day.
Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby.
When he saw them,
he hurried from the entrance of his tent to meet them
and bowed low to the ground.

. . . When the men got up to leave,
they looked down toward Sodom,
and Abraham walked along with them
to see them on their way.
Then the Lord said,
"Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?"

. . . Then the Lord said,
"The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great
and their sin so grievous
that I will go down and see
if what they have done is as bad
as the outcry that has reached Me.
If not, I will know.

The men turned away and went toward Sodom,
but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

(Genesis 18:1-2, 16-17, 20-22)