The Doom of Sodom

19 Now the ^(A)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. When ^(B)Lot saw them, he stood up to meet them and ^[a]bowed down with his face to the ground. ² And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said, “No, but we shall spend the night in the public square.” ³ Yet he strongly urged them, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; ^(C)and he prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴ Before they lay down, ^(D)the men of the city—the men of Sodom—surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people ^[b]from every quarter; ⁵ and they called to Lot and said to him, “^(E)Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may ^[c]have relations with them.” ⁶ But Lot went out to them at the doorway, and shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly. ⁸ Now look, ^(F)I have two daughters who have not ^[d]had relations with any man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them ^[e]whatever you like; only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the ^[f]shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Get out of the way!” They also said, “This one came in ^[g]as a foreigner, and already ^(G)he is acting like a judge; now we will treat you worse than them!” So they pressed hard against ^[h]Lot and moved forward to break the door. ¹⁰ But ^(H)the men reached out their ^[i]hands and brought Lot into the house ^[j]with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then ^(I)they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from the small to the great, so that they became weary of trying to find the doorway.

¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else do you have here? A son-in-law and your sons and daughters, and whomever you have in the city, bring them out of the place; ¹³ for we are about to destroy this place, because ^(J)their outcry has become so great before the Lord that ^(K)the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who ^[k]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, ^(L)get out of this place, for the Lord is destroying the city.” ^(M)But he appeared to his sons-in-law ^[l]to be joking.

¹⁵ When morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the ^[m]punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men ^(N)grasped his hand and the hand of his wife and the ^[n]hands of his two daughters, because ^(O)the compassion of the Lord was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city. ¹⁷ When they had brought them outside, ^[o]one said, “^(P)Escape for your life! ^(Q)Do not look behind you, and do not stay ^[p]anywhere in the ^(R)surrounding area; escape to ^(S)the ^[q]mountains, or you will be swept away.” ¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords! ¹⁹ Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your compassion, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the ^[r]mountains, for the disaster will overtake me and I will die; ²⁰ now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) ^[s]so that my life may be saved.” ²¹ And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this ^[t]request also, not to overthrow the town of which you have spoken. ²² Hurry, escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” Therefore the town was named ^[u](T)Zoar.

²³ The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord ^(U)rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven, ²⁵ and ^(V)He overthrew those cities, and all the surrounding area, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But ^[v]Lot’s wife, from behind him, ^(W)looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

²⁷ Now Abraham got up early in the morning and went to ^(X)the place where he had stood before the Lord; ²⁸ and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the surrounding area; and ^[w]behold, he saw ^(Y)the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a ^[x]furnace.

²⁹ So it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the surrounding area, that ^(Z)God remembered Abraham, and ^(AA)sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

³⁰ Now Lot went up from Zoar with his two daughters and ^(AB)stayed in the ^[y]mountains, because he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters. ³¹ Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man ^[z]on earth to ^[aa](AC)have relations with us according to the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, ^(AD)let’s make our father drink wine, and let’s sleep with him so that we may keep ^[ab]our family alive through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept last night with my father; let’s make him drink wine tonight too, then you go in and sleep with him, so that we may keep ^[ac]our family alive through our father.” ³⁵ So they had their father drink wine that night too, and the younger got up and slept with him; and he did not know when she lay down or got up. ³⁶ And so both of the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn gave birth to a son, and named him ^(AE)Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also gave birth to a son, and named him Ben-ammi; he is the father of ^[ad]the sons of ^(AF)Ammon to this day.

Abraham’s Treachery

20 Now Abraham journeyed from ^(AG)there toward the land of ^(AH)the ^[ae]Negev, and ^[af]settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he lived for a time in ^(AI)Gerar. ² And Abraham said of his wife Sarah, “^(AJ)She is my sister.” So ^(AK)Abimelech king of Gerar sent men and took Sarah. ^3 (AL)But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night, and said to him, “Behold, ^(AM)you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is ^[ag]married.” ⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “Lord, ^(AN)will You kill a nation, even though ^[ah]blameless? ⁵ Did he himself not say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she ^(AO)herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In ^(AP)the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my ^[ai]hands I have done this.” ⁶ Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also ^[aj](AQ)kept you from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her. ⁷ Now then, return the man’s wife, for ^(AR)he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, know that you will certainly die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech got up early in the morning and called all his servants, and told all these things in their ^[ak]presence; and the people were greatly frightened. ^9 (AS)Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And ^[al]how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom ^(AT)a great sin? You have done to me ^[am]things that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What have you ^[an]encountered, that you have done this thing?” ¹¹ Abraham said, “Because I thought, surely there is no ^(AU)fear of God in this place, and ^(AV)they will kill me because of my wife. ¹² Besides, she actually is my sister, the daughter of my father, but not the daughter of my mother; and she became my wife; ¹³ and it came about, when ^(AW)God caused me to wander from my father’s house, that I said to her, ‘This is ^[ao]the kindness which you will show to me: ^[ap]everywhere we go, ^(AX)say of me, “He is my brother.”’” ^14 (AY)Abimelech then took sheep and oxen and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned his wife Sarah to him. ¹⁵ Abimelech said, “^(AZ)Behold, my land is before you; ^[aq]settle wherever ^[ar]you please.” ¹⁶ To Sarah he said, “Look, I have given your ^(BA)brother a thousand pieces of silver. ^[as]It is ^[at]your vindication before all who are with you, and before everyone you are cleared.” ¹⁷ Then ^(BB)Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech and his wife and his female slaves, so that they gave birth to children. ^18 (BC)For the Lord had completely closed all the wombs of the household of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

Followers of Tradition

7 ^(A)The Pharisees and some of the scribes *gathered to Him after they came ^(B)from Jerusalem, ² and saw that some of His disciples were eating their bread with ^[a](C)unholy hands, that is, unwashed. ³ (For the Pharisees and all the other Jews do not eat unless they ^[b]carefully wash their hands, thereby holding firmly to the ^(D)tradition of the elders; ⁴ and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they ^[c]completely cleanse themselves; and there are many other things which they have received as traditions to firmly hold, such as the ^[d]washing of ^(E)cups, pitchers, and copper pots.) ⁵ And the Pharisees and the scribes *asked Him, “Why do Your disciples not walk in accordance with the ^(F)tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with ^(G)[e]unholy hands?” ⁶ But He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written:

⁸ Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the ^(J)tradition of men.”

⁹ He was also saying to them, “You are experts at setting aside the commandment of God in order to keep your ^(K)tradition. ¹⁰ For Moses said, ‘^(L)Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘^(M)The one who speaks evil of father or mother, is ^[f]certainly to be put to death’; ¹¹ but you say, ‘If a person says to his father or his mother, whatever I have that would help you is ^(N)Corban (that is, ^[g]given to God),’ ¹² you no longer allow him to do anything for his father or his mother; ¹³ thereby invalidating the word of God by your ^(O)tradition which you have handed down; and you do many things such as that.”

The Heart of Man

¹⁴ After He called the crowd to Him again, He began saying to them, “Listen to Me, all of you, and understand: ¹⁵ there is nothing outside the person which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which come out of the person are what defile the person^[h].”

¹⁷ And when He later entered a house, away from the crowd, ^(P)His disciples asked Him about the parable. ¹⁸ And He *said to them, “Are you so lacking in understanding as well? Do you not understand that whatever goes into the person from outside cannot defile him, ¹⁹ because it does not go into his heart, but into his stomach, and ^[i]is eliminated?” (Thereby He declared ^(Q)all foods ^(R)clean.) ²⁰ And He was saying, “^(S)That which comes out of the person, that is what defiles the person. ²¹ For from within, out of the ^[j]hearts of people, come the evil thoughts, acts of sexual immorality, thefts, murders, acts of adultery, ²² deeds of greed, wickedness, deceit, indecent behavior, ^[k](T)envy, slander, ^[l]pride, and foolishness. ²³ All these evil things come from within and defile the person.”

The Syrophoenician Woman

^24 (U)Now Jesus got up and went from there to the region of ^(V)Tyre^[m]. And when He had entered a house, He wanted no one to know about it; and yet He could not escape notice. ²⁵ But after hearing about Him, a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately came and fell at His feet. ²⁶ Now the woman was a ^[n]Gentile, of Syrophoenician descent. And she repeatedly asked Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. ²⁷ And He was saying to her, “Let the children be satisfied first, for it is not ^[o]good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the ^[p]dogs.” ²⁸ But she answered and *said to Him, “Yes, Lord, but even the dogs under the table feed on the children’s crumbs.” ²⁹ And He said to her, “Because of this ^[q]answer, go; the demon has gone out of your daughter.” ³⁰ And after going back to her home, she found the child ^[r]lying on the bed, and the demon gone.

^31 (W)Again He left the region of ^(X)Tyre and came through Sidon to ^(Y)the Sea of Galilee, within the region of ^(Z)Decapolis. ³² And they *brought to Him one who was deaf and had difficulty speaking, and they *begged Him to ^(AA)lay His hand on him. ³³ And Jesus ^(AB)took him aside from the crowd, by himself, and put His fingers in his ears, and after ^(AC)spitting, He touched his tongue with the saliva; ³⁴ and looking up to heaven with a deep ^(AD)sigh, He *said to him, “Ephphatha!” that is, “Be opened!” ³⁵ And his ears were opened, and the ^[s]impediment of his tongue was ^[t]removed, and he began speaking plainly. ³⁶ And ^(AE)He gave them orders not to tell anyone; but the more He ordered them, the more widely they ^(AF)continued to proclaim it. ³⁷ And they were utterly astonished, saying, “He has done all things well; He makes even those who are deaf hear, and those who are unable to talk, speak.”

BOOK 1

The Righteous and the Wicked Contrasted.