And now, O Lord, let Your strength be exalted, as You spoke, saying,

Forgive this people their sin according to Your great mercy, as You were favorable to them from Egypt until now.

So they put sackcloth upon their loins, and put ropes upon their heads, and said to the king of Israel, Your servant the son of Hadad says, Let our souls live, I pray. And he said, Does he yet live? He is my brother.

And the men divined, and offered drink offerings; and they caught the word out of his mouth, and said, Your brother the son of Hadad. And he said, Go in and fetch him. And the son of Hadad went out to him, and they caused him to go up to him into the chariot.

Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, and come to an end [of the matter]!

And I would plead my own cause, and He would fill my mouth with arguments.

And the Lord said, If there should be in Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole city, and the whole place for their sakes.

And he continued to speak to Him still, and said, But if there should be found there forty? And He said, I will not destroy it for the forty's sake.