Lot lifted his eyes and carefully surveyed the land around him all the way to Zoar. He noticed that the Jordan Valley was fertile and well-watered (this was before Yahweh had destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah). It looked beautiful, like the garden of Yahweh, or like Egypt.
These four kings went to war against five kings: Bera king of Sodom, Birsha king of Gomorrah, Shinab king of Admah, Shemeber king of Zeboiim, and the king of Bela, which is Zoar.
“The loud cries of Heshbon are heard as far as Elealeh and Jahaz. Cries from Zoar are heard in Horonaim and Eglath Shelishiyah. The brook of Nimrim has dried up.
Here is what Yahweh says: “As new wine is found in the cluster, and someone says, ‘Don’t destroy it, for there is a blessing in it,’ that’s what I will do for my servants’ sake. I will not destroy them all.
My heart cries out for the people of Moab, for her fugitives who flee to Zoar and to Eglath-shelishiyah. Weeping, they climb the upward road to Luhith. Their loud cries of anguish are heard all along the way to Horonaim.