---
title: "Genesis 18 – Catholic Bible (CPDV) & Latin Vulgate · Bless"
url: https://blessbible.app/bible/genesis/18/
description: "Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac. Abraham's… Genesis 18 in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin Vulgate."
---

# Genesis 18

Genesis 18 is chapter 18 of 50 in the Book of Genesis. Here are all 33 verses in the Catholic Public Domain Version, with the Latin of the Clementine Vulgate beside them.

> Angels are entertained by Abraham. They foretell the birth of Isaac. Abraham's prayer for the men of Sodom.
>
> — Bp. Richard Challoner, chapter summary

## Genesis 18 (Catholic Public Domain Version)

1. Then the Lord appeared to him, in the steep valley of Mamre, when he was sitting at the door of his tent, in the very heat of the day.
2. And when he had lifted up his eyes, there appeared to him three men, standing near him. When he had seen them, he ran to meet them from the door of his tent, and he reverenced them on the ground.
3. And he said: “If I, O lord, have found grace in your eyes, do not pass by your servant.
4. But I will bring a little water, and you may wash your feet and rest under the tree.
5. And I will set out a meal of bread, so that you may strengthen your heart; after this you will pass on. It is for this reason that you have turned aside to your servant.” And they said, “Do as you have spoken.”
6. Abraham hurried into the tent to Sarah, and he said to her, “Quickly, mix together three measures of the finest wheat flour and make loaves baked under the ashes.”
7. In truth, he himself ran to the herd, and he took a calf from there, very tender and very good, and he gave it to a servant, who hurried and boiled it.
8. Likewise, he took butter and milk, and the calf which he had boiled, and he placed it before them. Yet truly, he himself stood near them under the tree.
9. And when they had eaten, they said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” He answered, “Behold, she is in the tent.”
10. And he said to him, “When returning, I will come to you at this time, with life as a companion, and your wife Sarah will have a son.” Hearing this, Sarah laughed behind the door of the tent.
11. Now they were both old, and in an advanced state of life, and it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.
12. And she laughed secretly, saying, “After I have grown old, and my lord is elderly, shall I give myself to the work of delight?”
13. Then the Lord said to Abraham: “Why did Sarah laugh, saying: ‘How can I, an old woman, actually give birth?’
14. Is anything difficult for God? According to the announcement, he will return to you at this same time, with life as a companion, and Sarah will have a son.”
15. Sarah denied it, saying, “I did not laugh.” For she was terribly afraid. But the Lord said, “It is not so; for you did laugh.”
16. Therefore, when the men had risen up from there, they directed their eyes against Sodom. And Abraham traveled with them, leading them.
17. And the Lord said: “How could I hide what I am about to do from Abraham,
18. since he will become a great and very robust nation, and in him all the nations of the earth will be blessed?
19. For I know that he will instruct his sons, and his household after him, to keep to the way of the Lord, and to act with judgment and justice, so that, for the sake of Abraham, the Lord may bring about all the things that he has spoken to him.”
20. And so the Lord said, “The outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah has been multiplied, and their sin has become exceedingly grievous.
21. I will descend and see whether they have fulfilled the work of the outcry that has reached me, or whether it is not so, in order that I may know.”
22. And they turned themselves from there, and they went toward Sodom. Yet in truth, Abraham still stood in the sight of the Lord.
23. And as they drew near, he said: “Will you destroy the just with the impious?
24. If there were fifty of the just in the city, will they perish with the rest? And will you not spare that place for the sake of fifty of the just, if they were in it?
25. Far be it from you to do this thing, and to kill the just with the impious, and for the just to be treated like the impious. No, this is not like you. You judge all the earth; you would never make such a judgment.”
26. And the Lord said to him, “If I find in Sodom fifty of the just in the midst of the city, I will release the entire place because of them.”
27. And Abraham responded by saying: “Since now I have begun, I will speak to my Lord, though I am dust and ashes.
28. What if there were five less than fifty of the just? Would you, despite the forty-five, eliminate the entire city?” And he said, “I will not eliminate it, if I find forty-five there.”
29. And again he said to him, “But if forty were found there, what would you do?” He said, “I will not strike, for the sake of the forty.”
30. “I ask you,” he said, “not to be angry, Lord, if I speak. What if thirty were found there?” He responded, “I will not act, if I find thirty there.”
31. “Since now I have begun,” he said, “I will speak to my Lord. What if twenty were found there?” He said, “I will not put to death, for the sake of the twenty.”
32. “I beg you,” he said, “not to be angry, Lord, if I speak yet once more. What if ten were found there?” And he said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33. And the Lord departed, after he had ceased speaking to Abraham, who then returned to his place.

## Genesis 18 in Latin (Clementine Vulgate, 1592)

1. Apparuit autem ei Dominus in convalle Mambre sedenti in ostio tabernaculi sui in ipso fervore diei.
2. Cumque elevasset oculos, apparuerunt ei tres viri stantes prope eum: quos cum vidisset, cucurrit in occursum eorum de ostio tabernaculi, et adoravit in terram.
3. Et dixit: Domine, si inveni gratiam in oculis tuis, ne transeas servum tuum:
4. sed afferam pauxillum aquæ, et lavate pedes vestros, et requiescite sub arbore.
5. Ponamque buccellam panis, et confortate cor vestrum: postea transibitis: idcirco enim declinastis ad servum vestrum. Qui dixerunt: Fac ut locutus es.
6. Festinavit Abraham in tabernaculum ad Saram, dixitque ei: Accelera, tria sata similæ commisce, et fac subcinericios panes.
7. Ipse vero ad armentum cucurrit, et tulit inde vitulum tenerrimum et optimum, deditque puero: qui festinavit et coxit illum.
8. Tulit quoque butyrum et lac, et vitulum quem coxerat, et posuit coram eis: ipse vero stabat juxta eos sub arbore.
9. Cumque comedissent, dixerunt ad eum: Ubi est Sara uxor tua? Ille respondit: Ecce in tabernaculo est.
10. Cui dixit: Revertens veniam ad te tempore isto, vita comite, et habebit filium Sara uxor tua. Quo audito, Sara risit post ostium tabernaculi.
11. Erant autem ambo senes, provectæque ætatis, et desierant Saræ fieri muliebria.
12. Quæ risit occulte dicens: Postquam consenui, et dominus meus vetulus est, voluptati operam dabo?
13. Dixit autem Dominus ad Abraham: Quare risit Sara, dicens: Num vere paritura sum anus?
14. Numquid Deo quidquam est difficile? juxta condictum revertar ad te hoc eodem tempore, vita comite, et habebit Sara filium.
15. Negavit Sara, dicens: Non risi, timore perterrita. Dominus autem: Non est, inquit, ita: sed risisti.
16. Cum ergo surrexissent inde viri, direxerunt oculos contra Sodomam: et Abraham simul gradiebatur, deducens eos.
17. Dixitque Dominus: Num celare potero Abraham quæ gesturus sum:
18. cum futurus sit in gentem magnam, ac robustissimam, et benedicendæ sint in illo omnes nationes terræ?
19. Scio enim quod præcepturus sit filiis suis, et domui suæ post se ut custodiant viam Domini, et faciant judicium et justitiam: ut adducat Dominus propter Abraham omnia quæ locutus est ad eum.
20. Dixit itaque Dominus: Clamor Sodomorum et Gomorrhæ multiplicatus est, et peccatum eorum aggravatum est nimis.
21. Descendam, et videbo utrum clamorem qui venit ad me, opere compleverint; an non est ita, ut sciam.
22. Converteruntque se inde, et abierunt Sodomam: Abraham vero adhuc stabat coram Domino.
23. Et appropinquans ait: Numquid perdes justum cum impio?
24. si fuerint quinquaginta justi in civitate, peribunt simul? et non parces loco illi propter quinquaginta justos, si fuerint in eo?
25. Absit a te ut rem hanc facias, et occidas justum cum impio, fiatque justus sicut impius, non est hoc tuum: qui judicas omnem terram, nequaquam facies judicium hoc.
26. Dixitque Dominus ad eum: Si invenero Sodomis quinquaginta justos in medio civitatis, dimittam omni loco propter eos.
27. Respondensque Abraham, ait: Quia semel cœpi, loquar ad Dominum meum, cum sim pulvis et cinis.
28. Quid si minus quinquaginta justis quinque fuerint? delebis, propter quadraginta quinque, universam urbem? Et ait: Non delebo, si invenero ibi quadraginta quinque.
29. Rursumque locutus est ad eum: Sin autem quadraginta ibi inventi fuerint, quid facies? Ait: Non percutiam propter quadraginta.
30. Ne quæso, inquit, indigneris, Domine, si loquar: quid si ibi inventi fuerint triginta? Respondit: Non faciam, si invenero ibi triginta.
31. Quia semel, ait, cœpi loquar ad Dominum meum: quid si ibi inventi fuerint viginti? Ait: Non interficiam propter viginti.
32. Obsecro, inquit, ne irascaris, Domine, si loquar adhuc semel: quid si inventi fuerint ibi decem? Et dixit: Non delebo propter decem.
33. Abiitque Dominus, postquam cessavit loqui ad Abraham: et ille reversus est in locum suum.

## Catechism of the Catholic Church

Paragraph numbers and the Catechism's own section headings (never quoted); text at vatican.va.
- cf. CCC ¶ 706: God's Spirit and Word in the Time of the Promises ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 2571: In the Old Testament ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 489: "Conceived By the Power of the Holy Spirit and Born of the Virgin Mary" ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 148: The Obedience of Faith ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))
- cf. CCC ¶ 1867: The Proliferation of Sin ([vatican.va index](https://www.vatican.va/archive/ENG0015/_INDEX.HTM))

## Bishop Challoner's notes

Bp. Richard Challoner, notes on the Douay-Rheims (1750); they comment on its older wording.
- Verse 21: The Lord here accommodates his discourse to the way of speaking and acting amongst men; for he knoweth all things, and needeth not to go anywhere for information. Note here, that two of the three angels went away immediately for Sodom; whilst the third, who represented the Lord, remained with Abraham.

## Read at Mass (US)

- Sat, Jun 26, 2027 (computed): Saturday of the Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Genesis 18:1-15
- Mon, Jun 28, 2027 (computed): St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr — First Reading, Genesis 18:16-33
- Sun, Jul 23, 2028 (computed): Sixteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Genesis 18:1-10a
- Sun, Jul 30, 2028 (computed): Seventeenth Sunday in Ordinary Time — First Reading, Genesis 18:20-32

Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.

Source: Catholic Public Domain Version (Ronald L. Conte Jr., 2009), public domain; Latin: Clementine Vulgate (1592).