Back to all lyrics
Artwork for Smoke over the Plain

Genesis 18:1-19:38

Smoke over the Plain

Lyrics · Genesis

Smoke over the Plain

Genesis 18:1-19:38

Lyrics

About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the Genesis collection. One recording is available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
Genesis
Collection
Genesis
Musical styles
Electronic
[Verse 1] Three visitors stood beneath the trees of Mamre in the heat, Bread was laid, a calf prepared, and promise shared the meal. Sarah laughed behind the tent at what the year would bring, But nothing was too hard for God, not age, not barren spring. [Pre-Chorus] The road then turned toward Sodom, And Abraham stood pleading in the way. [Chorus] Smoke rose over the plain, Fire answered violence and shame. Mercy pulled a household through the gate, But no one could turn backward from the judgment of that day. [Verse 2] The angels entered Sodom and the city struck the door, Blindness fell upon the mob while evil demanded more. At dawn they seized Lot's family, urging every foot to flee, And brimstone crossed the heavens over every wicked street. [Bridge] Lot's wife looked behind her and became a pillar there, Abraham saw the furnace smoke ascending through the air. The cave beyond the ruins held a family bent by fear, And Moab and Ben-ammi marked what followed in the years. [Final Chorus] Smoke rose over the plain, Fire answered violence and shame. Mercy led the willing from the flame, But no one could turn backward from the judgment of that day. [Outro] The promise laughed beneath the trees, While judgment burned beyond the hills.

Named in this songSarahSodomAbrahamLot

About the passage

Genesis 18: A promised birth and an appeal for a city

Genesis 18 begins with speed around a meal and ends with patience inside an argument. Abraham runs to feed unexpected visitors, Sarah laughs behind a tent door at a promise she cannot imagine her body fulfilling, and the LORD repeats the appointed time rather than softening the claim. The scene then looks toward Sodom. Abraham's calling to teach justice is placed beside the report of a city's grave wrongdoing, and he moves from host to petitioner. His question, "Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?", does not deny Sodom's guilt. It presses the distinction between righteous and wicked and asks whether the presence of a few might preserve many. The numbers fall from fifty to ten, yet the concern never changes. Genesis closes without explaining why Abraham stops, leaving the next chapter to test the conditions against the city itself.

Study Genesis 18 in depth

Genesis 19: A city exposed and a household brought out

Genesis 19 brings the discussion about Sodom inside the city and lets conduct answer what numbers alone could not. Lot welcomes the arriving angels, but the house is soon surrounded by men demanding sexual violence against the guests. Lot's own response exposes another failure when he offers his daughters, and the supposed visitors must rescue the host. Warning then meets disbelief and delay. Lot lingers until the angels take the family by the hand, while a smaller refuge is granted at Zoar. Destruction follows, Lot's wife looks back, and Abraham sees only smoke from the place where he had interceded. Genesis explicitly links Lot's rescue with God's remembrance of Abraham. Yet escape is not a clean ending. The family moves into a cave, and the chapter closes with incest, pregnancy, and the ancestry of Moab and Ammon. Rescue from a corrupt city does not erase damage within the household.

Study Genesis 19 in depth