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Old Testament:  Genesis 18-19

Genesis 18

A Son Is Promised to Sarah
 1  The LORD appeared again to Abraham near the oak grove belonging to Mamre. One day Abraham was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day.  2  He looked up and noticed three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran to meet them and welcomed them, bowing low to the ground.
   3  "My lord," he said, "if it pleases you, stop here for a while.  4  Rest in the shade of this tree while water is brought to wash your feet.  5  And since you've honored your servant with this visit, let me prepare some food to refresh you before you continue on your journey."
  "All right," they said. "Do as you have said."
   6  So Abraham ran back to the tent and said to Sarah, "Hurry! Get three large measures [6]  of your best flour, knead it into dough, and bake some bread."  7  Then Abraham ran out to the herd and chose a tender calf and gave it to his servant, who quickly prepared it.  8  When the food was ready, Abraham took some yogurt and milk and the roasted meat, and he served it to the men. As they ate, Abraham waited on them in the shade of the trees.
   9  "Where is Sarah, your wife?" the visitors asked.
  "She's inside the tent," Abraham replied.
   10  Then one of them said, "I will return to you about this time next year, and your wife, Sarah, will have a son!"
  Sarah was listening to this conversation from the tent.  11  Abraham and Sarah were both very old by this time, and Sarah was long past the age of having children.  12  So she laughed silently to herself and said, "How could a worn-out woman like me enjoy such pleasure, especially when my master—my husband—is also so old?"
   13  Then the LORD said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Why did she say, `Can an old woman like me have a baby?'  14  Is anything too hard for the LORD? I will return about this time next year, and Sarah will have a son."
   15  Sarah was afraid, so she denied it, saying, "I didn't laugh."
  But the LORD said, "No, you did laugh."

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom
 16  Then the men got up from their meal and looked out toward Sodom. As they left, Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
   17  "Should I hide my plan from Abraham?" the LORD asked.  18  "For Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.  19  I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just. Then I will do for Abraham all that I have promised."
   20  So the LORD told Abraham, "I have heard a great outcry from Sodom and Gomorrah, because their sin is so flagrant.  21  I am going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard. If not, I want to know."
   22  The other men turned and headed toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham.  23  Abraham approached him and said, "Will you sweep away both the righteous and the wicked?  24  Suppose you find fifty righteous people living there in the city—will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?  25  Surely you wouldn't do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn't do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?"
   26  And the LORD replied, "If I find fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will spare the entire city for their sake."
   27  Then Abraham spoke again. "Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but dust and ashes.  28  Suppose there are only forty-five righteous people rather than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?"
  And the LORD said, "I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous people there."
   29  Then Abraham pressed his request further. "Suppose there are only forty?"
  And the LORD replied, "I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty."
   30  "Please don't be angry, my Lord," Abraham pleaded. "Let me speak—suppose only thirty righteous people are found?"
  And the LORD replied, "I will not destroy it if I find thirty."
   31  Then Abraham said, "Since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?"
  And the LORD replied, "Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty."
   32  Finally, Abraham said, "Lord, please don't be angry with me if I speak one more time. Suppose only ten are found there?"
  And the LORD replied, "Then I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten."
   33  When the LORD had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on his way, and Abraham returned to his tent.

Genesis 19

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
 1  That evening the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom. Lot was sitting there, and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them. Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground.  2  "My lords," he said, "come to my home to wash your feet, and be my guests for the night. You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again."
  "Oh no," they replied. "We'll just spend the night out here in the city square."
   3  But Lot insisted, so at last they went home with him. Lot prepared a feast for them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate.  4  But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.  5  They shouted to Lot, "Where are the men who came to spend the night with you? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them!"
   6  So Lot stepped outside to talk to them, shutting the door behind him.  7  "Please, my brothers," he begged, "don't do such a wicked thing.  8  Look, I have two virgin daughters. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them as you wish. But please, leave these men alone, for they are my guests and are under my protection."
   9  "Stand back!" they shouted. "This fellow came to town as an outsider, and now he's acting like our judge! We'll treat you far worse than those other men!" And they lunged toward Lot to break down the door.
   10  But the two angels [10]  reached out, pulled Lot into the house, and bolted the door.  11  Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
   12  Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. "Do you have any other relatives here in the city?" they asked. "Get them out of this place—your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else.  13  For we are about to destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has reached the LORD, and he has sent us to destroy it."
   14  So Lot rushed out to tell his daughters' fiancés, "Quick, get out of the city! The LORD is about to destroy it." But the young men thought he was only joking.
   15  At dawn the next morning the angels became insistent. "Hurry," they said to Lot. "Take your wife and your two daughters who are here. Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city!"
   16  When Lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters and rushed them to safety outside the city, for the LORD was merciful.  17  When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered, "Run for your lives! And don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley! Escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away!"
   18  "Oh no, my lord!" Lot begged.  19  "You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have shown such great kindness. But I cannot go to the mountains. Disaster would catch up to me there, and I would soon die.  20  See, there is a small village nearby. Please let me go there instead; don't you see how small it is? Then my life will be saved."
   21  "All right," the angel said, "I will grant your request. I will not destroy the little village.  22  But hurry! Escape to it, for I can do nothing until you arrive there." (This explains why that village was known as Zoar, which means "little place.")
   23  Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon.  24  Then the LORD rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.  25  He utterly destroyed them, along with the other cities and villages of the plain, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation.  26  But Lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and she turned into a pillar of salt.
   27  Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where he had stood in the LORD's presence.  28  He looked out across the plain toward Sodom and Gomorrah and watched as columns of smoke rose from the cities like smoke from a furnace.
   29  But God had listened to Abraham's request and kept Lot safe, removing him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plain.

Lot and His Daughters
 30  Afterward Lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there, and he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.  31  One day the older daughter said to her sister, "There are no men left anywhere in this entire area, so we can't get married like everyone else. And our father will soon be too old to have children.  32  Come, let's get him drunk with wine, and then we will have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father."
   33  So that night they got him drunk with wine, and the older daughter went in and had intercourse with her father. He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
   34  The next morning the older daughter said to her younger sister, "I had sex with our father last night. Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight, and you go in and have sex with him. That way we will preserve our family line through our father."  35  So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger daughter went in and had intercourse with him. As before, he was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
   36  As a result, both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father.  37  When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab. [37]  He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Moabites.  38  When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben-ammi. [38]  He became the ancestor of the nation now known as the Ammonites.
<<  18:6 Hebrew 3 seahs, about 15 quarts or 18 liters.
<<  19:10 Hebrew men; also in 19:12, 16.
<<  19:37 Moab sounds like a Hebrew term that means "from father."
<<  19:38 Ben-ammi means "son of my kinsman."

New Testament:  Matthew 6:1-18

Matthew 6 : 1-18

Teaching about Giving to the Needy
 1  "Watch out! Don't do your good deeds publicly, to be admired by others, for you will lose the reward from your Father in heaven."  2  When you give to someone in need, don't do as the hypocrites do—blowing trumpets in the synagogues and streets to call attention to their acts of charity! I tell you the truth, they have received all the reward they will ever get.  3  But when you give to someone in need, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing.  4  Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Teaching about Prayer and Fasting
 5  "When you pray, don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners and in the synagogues where everyone can see them. I tell you the truth, that is all the reward they will ever get.  6  "But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you."    7  "When you pray, don't babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again.  8  Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!  9  Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,
  may your name be kept holy.
 10  "May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven."  11  Give us today the food we need, [11] 
 12  and forgive us our sins,
  as we have forgiven those who sin against us.
 13  And don't let us yield to temptation, [13] 
  but rescue us from the evil one. [13] 

   14  "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you."  15  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
   16  "And when you fast, don't make it obvious, as the hypocrites do, for they try to look miserable and disheveled so people will admire them for their fasting. I tell you the truth, that is the only reward they will ever get.  17  But when you fast, comb your hair and wash your face.  18  Then no one will notice that you are fasting, except your Father, who knows what you do in private. And your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

<<  6:11 Or Give us today our food for the day; or Give us today our food for tomorrow.
<<  6:13a Or And keep us from being tested. 6:13b Or from evil. Some manuscripts add For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

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