Genesis 18; Genesis 19; Matthew 6:1-18

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Genesis 18

1 Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day.

2 He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground.

3 Then he said, "My lord, if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant.

4 Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree.

5 I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant's [way]. Later, you can continue on." "Yes," they replied, "do as you have said."

6 So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick! Knead three measures of fine flour and make bread."

7 Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it.

8 Then Abraham took curds and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set [them] before the men. He served them as they ate under the tree.

9 "Where is your wife Sarah?" they asked him. "There, in the tent," he answered.

10 The Lord said, "I will certainly come back to you in about a year's time, and your wife Sarah will have a son!" Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

11 Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years. Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.

12 So she laughed to herself: "After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight?"

13 But the Lord asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Can I really have a baby when I'm old?'

14 Is anything impossible for the Lord? At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son."

15 Sarah denied it. "I did not laugh," she said, because she was afraid. But He replied, "No, you did laugh."

16 The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off.

17 Then the Lord said, "Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?

18 Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.

19 For I have chosen him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him."

20 Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious.

21 I will go down to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out."

22 The men turned from there and went toward Sodom while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.

23 Abraham stepped forward and said, "Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

24 What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it?

25 You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won't the Judge of all the earth do what is just?"

26 The Lord said, "If at Sodom I find 50 righteous people in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake."

27 Then Abraham answered, "Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord-even though I am dust and ashes-

28 suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?" He replied, "I will not destroy [it] if I find 45 there."

29 Then he spoke to Him again, "Suppose 40 are found there?" He answered, "I will not do [it] on account of 40."

30 Then he said, "Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there?" He answered, "I will not do [it] if I find 30 there."

31 Then he said, "Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there?" He replied, "I will not destroy [it] on account of 20."

32 Then he said, "Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time. Suppose 10 are found there?" He answered, "I will not destroy [it] on account of 10."

33 When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Genesis 19

1 The two angels entered Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom's gate. When Lot saw [them], he got up to meet them. He bowed [with his] face to the ground

2 and said, "My lords, turn aside to your servant's house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way." "No," they said. "We would rather spend the night in the square."

3 But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

4 Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house.

5 They called out to Lot and said, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them!"

6 Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him.

7 He said, "Don't do [this] evil, my brothers.

8 Look, I've got two daughters who haven't had sexual relations with a man. I'll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want to them. However, don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof."

9 "Get out of the way!" they said, adding, "This one came here as a foreigner, but he's acting like a judge! Now we'll do more harm to you than to them." They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door.

10 But the angels reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

11 They struck the men who were at the door of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the door.

12 Then the angels said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place,

13 for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it."

14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry his daughters. "Get up," he said. "Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15 At the crack of dawn the angels urged Lot on: "Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment of the city."

16 But he hesitated, so because of the Lord's compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters. And they brought him out and left him outside the city.

17 As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them said, "Run for your lives! Don't look back and don't stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away!"

18 But Lot said to them, "No, Lord -please.

19 Your servant has indeed found favor in Your sight, and You have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can't run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die.

20 Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there-it's only a small place, isn't it?-so that I can survive."

21 And he said to him, "All right, I'll grant your request about this matter too, and will not overthrow the town you mentioned.

22 Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.

23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar.

24 Then the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of the sky.

25 He overthrew these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground.

26 But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

27 Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.

28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace.

29 So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.

30 Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave.

31 Then the firstborn said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us [as is] the custom of all the land.

32 Come, let's get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father's line."

33 So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

34 The next day the firstborn said to the younger, "Look, I slept with my father last night. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father's line."

35 That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father.

37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today.

38 The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.

Matthew 6:1-18

1 "Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.

2 So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

3 But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing,

4 so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

5 "Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

6 But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

7 When you pray, don't babble like the idolaters, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.

8 Don't be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him.

9 "Therefore, you should pray like this: Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy.

10 Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today our daily bread.

12 And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors.

13 And do not bring us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. [For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.]

14 "For if you forgive people their wrongdoing, your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.

15 But if you don't forgive people, your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing.

16 "Whenever you fast, don't be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They've got their reward!

17 But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,

18 so that you don't show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.

Genesis 18; Genesis 19; Matthew 6:1-18

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Genesis 18

Genesis 19

Matthew 6:1-18