25 Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that ^athe righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! ^bShall not the Judge of all the earth do right?”  ‡

26 So the Lord said, ^a“If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.”  ‡

28 Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?” So He said, “If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.”

29 And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose there should be forty found there?” So He said, “I will not do it for the sake of forty.”