Chapter 3: The Rot Within

Prosperity has a shadow. And it was spreading across the cities of the plain.

The people of Sodom and Gomorrah had more food than they could eat, more comfort than they could enjoy. But abundance without gratitude turns sour.

Pride came first. The wealthy walked through the streets as if they had created the harvests themselves. They forgot the valley had been a gift.

WEALTHY MAN“We built this. We owe nothing to anyone — not even the gods.”

Then came the hardness. The poor knocked on doors and found them shut. Widows begged and received silence. Strangers who once found hospitality now found hostility.

GOMORRAH ELDER“Why should we share what is ours with people who are not our own?”

Then came the immorality. Men abandoned the natural way and pursued unnatural desires openly. What was once shameful became celebrated. What was once hidden was paraded through the streets.

The strong exploited the weak. The judges protected the guilty. Every kind of wickedness found a home within those walls.

The cries of the oppressed rose from the valley — day after day, month after month.

And those cries reached heaven.