and whomsoever thou hast in the city;
bring them out of the place: for we will destroy this place, because
the cry of them has grown great before the Lord; and the Lord hath
sent us to destroy it."

{33}{34}
[Illustration]
THE DEAD SEA

The five "Cities of the Plain" are supposed to have been situated to
the north of the Dead Sea. The Dead Sea is 47 miles long, with an
extreme breadth of about 10 miles. It lies 1290 feet below the sea
level and is itself 1300 feet deep in the deepest part. (See note on
page 257)
[End illustration]

{35}

And Lot went out, and spoke to his sons in law, which married his
daughters, and said, "Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will
destroy the city." But he seemed to his sons in law as one who mocked.

And when the morning came, then the angels hastened Lot, saying,
"Arise, take thy wife, and thy two daughters who are here; lest thou
be consumed in the iniquity of the city."

But he lingered; and 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.

And 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."

And Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord: behold now, thy servant
hath found grace in thy sight, and thou hast magnified thy mercy,
which thou hast showed unto me in saving my life; and I cannot escape
to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die: behold now, this
city is near to flee unto, and it is a little one: Oh, let me escape
thither (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."

And he said unto him, "See, I have accepted thee concerning this thing
also, that I will not overthrow the city of which thou hast spoken.
Haste thee, escape thither; for I cannot do anything till thou be come
thither." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar, that is,
"Little."

The sun was risen upon the earth when Lot came to Zoar. Then the Lord
rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah {36} brimstone and fire from the
Lord out of heaven; and he overthrew those cities, and all the Plain
and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the
ground. But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a
pillar of salt.

And Abraham got up early in the