Abraham Pleads for Sodom

¹⁶ When the men^(A) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham^(B) what I am about to do?^{(C) 18} Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,^(D) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^{[a] 19} For I have chosen him^(E), so that he will direct his children^(F) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord^(G) by doing what is right and just,^(H) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”^(I)

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom^(J) and Gomorrah is so great^(K) and their sin so grievous^{(L) 21} that I will go down^(M) and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”

²² The men^(N) turned away and went toward Sodom,^(O) but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{[b](P) 23} Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?^{(Q) 24} What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?^{(R) 25} Far be it from you to do such a thing^(S)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous^(T) and the wicked alike.^(U) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge^(V) of all the earth do right?”^(W)

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.^(X)”

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,^{(Y) 28} what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”

²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”

He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”

³⁰ Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,^(Z) but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

³¹ Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”

He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”

³² Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.^(AA) What if only ten can be found there?”

He answered, “For the sake of ten,^(AB) I will not destroy it.”

³³ When the Lord had finished speaking^(AC) with Abraham, he left,^(AD) and Abraham returned home.^(AE)

Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed

19 The two angels^(AF) arrived at Sodom^(AG) in the evening, and Lot^(AH) was sitting in the gateway of the city.^(AI) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.^{(AJ) 2} “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet^(AK) and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”

“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”^(AL)

³ But he insisted^(AM) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.^(AN) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,^(AO) and they ate.^{(AP) 4} Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom^(AQ)—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”^(AR)

⁶ Lot went outside to meet them^(AS) and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”^(AT)

⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,^(AU) and now he wants to play the judge!^(AV) We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.

¹⁰ But the men^(AW) inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness^(AX) so that they could not find the door.

¹² The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?^(AY) Get them out of here, ¹³ because we^(AZ) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great^(BA) that he has sent us to destroy it.”^(BB)

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry^[d] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!^(BC)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.^(BD)

¹⁵ With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away^(BE) when the city is punished.^(BF)”

¹⁶ When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters^(BG) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.^{(BH) 17} As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!^(BI) Don’t look back,^(BJ) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!^(BK) Flee to the mountains^(BL) or you will be swept away!”

¹⁸ But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,^[e] please! ¹⁹ Your^[f] servant has found favor in your^[g] eyes,^(BM) and you^[h] have shown great kindness^(BN) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;^(BO) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. ²⁰ Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”

²¹ He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request^(BP) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. ²² But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.^[i](BQ))

²³ By the time Lot reached Zoar,^(BR) the sun had risen over the land. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur^(BS) on Sodom and Gomorrah^(BT)—from the Lord out of the heavens.^{(BU) 25} Thus he overthrew those cities^(BV) and the entire plain,^(BW) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.^{(BX) 26} But Lot’s wife looked back,^(BY) and she became a pillar of salt.^(BZ)

²⁷ Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.^{(CA) 28} He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.^(CB)

²⁹ So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,^(CC) he remembered^(CD) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe^(CE) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.^(CF)

The Golden Calf

32 When the people saw that Moses was so long in coming down from the mountain,^(A) they gathered around Aaron and said, “Come, make us gods^[a] who will go before^(B) us. As for this fellow Moses who brought us up out of Egypt, we don’t know what has happened to him.”^(C)

² Aaron answered them, “Take off the gold earrings^(D) that your wives, your sons and your daughters are wearing, and bring them to me.” ³ So all the people took off their earrings and brought them to Aaron. ⁴ He took what they handed him and made it into an idol^(E) cast in the shape of a calf,^(F) fashioning it with a tool. Then they said, “These are your gods,^[b](G) Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.”^(H)

⁵ When Aaron saw this, he built an altar in front of the calf and announced, “Tomorrow there will be a festival^(I) to the Lord.” ⁶ So the next day the people rose early and sacrificed burnt offerings and presented fellowship offerings.^(J) Afterward they sat down to eat and drink^(K) and got up to indulge in revelry.^(L)

⁷ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go down, because your people, whom you brought up out of Egypt,^(M) have become corrupt.^{(N) 8} They have been quick to turn away^(O) from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol^(P) cast in the shape of a calf.^(Q) They have bowed down to it and sacrificed^(R) to it and have said, ‘These are your gods, Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.’^(S)

⁹ “I have seen these people,” the Lord said to Moses, “and they are a stiff-necked^(T) people. ¹⁰ Now leave me alone^(U) so that my anger may burn against them and that I may destroy^(V) them. Then I will make you into a great nation.”^(W)

¹¹ But Moses sought the favor^(X) of the Lord his God. “Lord,” he said, “why should your anger burn against your people, whom you brought out of Egypt with great power and a mighty hand?^{(Y) 12} Why should the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that he brought them out, to kill them in the mountains and to wipe them off the face of the earth’?^(Z) Turn from your fierce anger; relent and do not bring disaster^(AA) on your people. ¹³ Remember^(AB) your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel, to whom you swore by your own self:^(AC) ‘I will make your descendants as numerous as the stars^(AD) in the sky and I will give your descendants all this land^(AE) I promised them, and it will be their inheritance forever.’” ¹⁴ Then the Lord relented^(AF) and did not bring on his people the disaster he had threatened.

⁴ When I heard these things, I sat down and wept.^(A) For some days I mourned and fasted^(B) and prayed before the God of heaven. ⁵ Then I said:

I was cupbearer^(P) to the king.

¹² When Esther’s words were reported to Mordecai, ¹³ he sent back this answer: “Do not think that because you are in the king’s house you alone of all the Jews will escape. ¹⁴ For if you remain silent^(A) at this time, relief^(B) and deliverance^(C) for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”^(D)

¹⁵ Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: ¹⁶ “Go, gather together all the Jews who are in Susa, and fast^(E) for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day. I and my attendants will fast as you do. When this is done, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish.”^(F)

¹⁷ So Mordecai went away and carried out all of Esther’s instructions.

Daniel’s Prayer

9 In the first year of Darius^(A) son of Xerxes^[a](B) (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian^[b] kingdom— ² in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy^(C) years. ³ So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,^(D) and in sackcloth and ashes.^(E)

⁴ I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:^(F)

The Seventy “Sevens”

²⁰ While I was speaking and praying, confessing^(BC) my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill^(BD)— ²¹ while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,^(BE) the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.^{(BF) 22} He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.^{(BG) 23} As soon as you began to pray,^(BH) a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.^(BI) Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:^(BJ)

²⁴ “Seventy ‘sevens’^[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city^(BK) to finish^[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone^(BL) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness,^(BM) to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.^[e]

²⁵ “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild^(BN) Jerusalem until the Anointed One,^[f](BO) the ruler,^(BP) comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.^{(BQ) 26} After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death^(BR) and will have nothing.^[g] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:^(BS) War will continue until the end, and desolations^(BT) have been decreed.^{(BU) 27} He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’^[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’^[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple^[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed^(BV) is poured out on him.^[k]”^[l]

Daniel’s Vision of a Man

10 In the third year of Cyrus^(A) king of Persia, a revelation was given to Daniel (who was called Belteshazzar).^(B) Its message was true^(C) and it concerned a great war.^[a] The understanding of the message came to him in a vision.

² At that time I, Daniel, mourned^(D) for three weeks. ³ I ate no choice food; no meat or wine touched my lips;^(E) and I used no lotions at all until the three weeks were over.

⁴ On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, as I was standing on the bank^(F) of the great river, the Tigris,^{(G) 5} I looked up^(H) and there before me was a man dressed in linen,^(I) with a belt of fine gold^(J) from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz,^(K) his face like lightning,^(L) his eyes like flaming torches,^(M) his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze,^(N) and his voice^(O) like the sound of a multitude.

⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it,^(P) but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone,^(Q) gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left,^(R) my face turned deathly pale^(S) and I was helpless.^{(T) 9} Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.^(U)

¹⁰ A hand touched me^(V) and set me trembling on my hands and knees.^{(W) 11} He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed,^(X) consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up,^(Y) for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

¹² Then he continued, “Do not be afraid,^(Z) Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble^(AA) yourself before your God, your words^(AB) were heard, and I have come in response to them.^{(AC) 13} But the prince^(AD) of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael,^(AE) one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. ¹⁴ Now I have come to explain^(AF) to you what will happen to your people in the future,^(AG) for the vision concerns a time yet to come.^(AH)”

¹⁵ While he was saying this to me, I bowed with my face toward the ground and was speechless.^{(AI) 16} Then one who looked like a man^[b] touched my lips, and I opened my mouth and began to speak.^(AJ) I said to the one standing before me, “I am overcome with anguish^(AK) because of the vision, my lord, and I feel very weak. ¹⁷ How can I, your servant, talk with you, my lord? My strength is gone and I can hardly breathe.”^(AL)

¹⁸ Again the one who looked like a man touched^(AM) me and gave me strength.^{(AN) 19} “Do not be afraid, you who are highly esteemed,”^(AO) he said. “Peace!^(AP) Be strong now; be strong.”^(AQ)

When he spoke to me, I was strengthened and said, “Speak, my lord, since you have given me strength.”^(AR)

²⁰ So he said, “Do you know why I have come to you? Soon I will return to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I go, the prince of Greece^(AS) will come; ²¹ but first I will tell you what is written in the Book of Truth.^(AT) (No one supports me against them except Michael,^(AU) your prince.

Jesus Prays to Be Glorified

17 After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven^(A) and prayed:

Jesus Prays for His Disciples

Jesus Prays for All Believers