The LORD said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place for their sake.”
Abraham answered, “See now, I have taken it on myself to speak to the Lord, although I am dust and ashes.
What if there will lack five of the fifty righteous?
Will you destroy all the city for lack of five?”
He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
He spoke to him yet again, and said, “What if there are forty found there?”
He said, “I will not do it for the forty’s sake.”