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Genesis 18

The LORD Promises Abraham a Son

   "Thank you very much," they answered. "We accept your offer."

    ⁶Abraham quickly went to his tent and said to Sarah, "Hurry! Get a large sack of flour and make some bread." ⁷After saying this, he rushed off to his herd of cattle and picked out one of the best calves, which his servant quickly prepared. ⁸He then served his guests some yogurt and milk together with the meat.

   While they were eating, he stood near them under the trees, ⁹and they asked, "Where is your wife Sarah?"

   "She is right there in the tent," Abraham answered.

    ¹⁰One of the guests was the LORD, and he said, "I'll come back about this time next year, and when I do, Sarah will already have a son."

   Sarah was behind Abraham, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹Abraham and Sarah were very old, and Sarah was well past the age for having children. ¹²So she laughed and said to herself, "Now that I am worn out and my husband is old, will I really know such happiness?" ^{[a] 13}The LORD asked Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh? Does she doubt that she can have a child in her old age? ¹⁴I am the LORD! There is nothing too difficult for me. I'll come back next year at the time I promised, and Sarah will already have a son."

    ¹⁵Sarah was so frightened that she lied and said, "I didn't laugh."

   "Yes, you did!" he answered.

Abraham Prays for Sodom

    ¹⁷The LORD said to himself, "I should tell Abraham what I am going to do, ¹⁸since his family will become a great and powerful nation that will be a blessing to all other nations on earth. ^{[b] 19}I have chosen him to teach his family to obey me forever and to do what is right and fair. Then I will give Abraham many descendants, just as I promised." ²⁰The LORD said, "Abraham, I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are doing all kinds of evil things. ²¹Now I am going down to see for myself if those people really are that bad. If they aren't, I want to know about it."

    ²²The men turned and started toward Sodom. But the LORD stayed with Abraham, ²³who asked, "LORD, when you destroy the evil people, are you also going to destroy those who are good? ²⁴Wouldn't you spare the city if there are only fifty good people in it? ²⁵You surely wouldn't let them be killed when you destroy the evil ones. You are the judge of all the earth, and you do what is right."

    ²⁶The LORD replied, "If I find fifty good people in Sodom, I will save the city to keep them from being killed."

    ²⁷Abraham answered, "I am nothing more than the dust of the earth. Please forgive me, LORD, for daring to speak to you like this. ²⁸But suppose there are only forty-five good people in Sodom. Would you still wipe out the whole city?"

   "If I find forty-five good people," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."

    ²⁹"Suppose there are just forty good people?" Abraham asked.

   "Even for them," the LORD replied, "I won't destroy the city."

    ³⁰Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, LORD, if I ask you what you will do if there are only thirty good people in the city."

   "If I find thirty," the LORD replied, "I still won't destroy it."

    ³¹Then Abraham said, "I don't have any right to ask you, LORD, but what would you do if you find only twenty?"

   "Because of them, I won't destroy the city," was the LORD's answer.

    ³²Finally, Abraham said, "Please don't get angry, LORD, if I speak just once more. Suppose you find only ten good people there."

   "For the sake of ten good people," the LORD told him, "I still won't destroy the city."

    ³³After speaking with Abraham, the LORD left, and Abraham went back home.

Genesis 19

The Evil City of Sodom

    ⁶Lot went outside and shut the door behind him. ⁷Then he said, "Friends, please don't do such a terrible thing! ⁸I have two daughters who have never been married. I'll bring them out, and you can do what you want with them. But don't harm these men. They are guests in my home."

    ⁹"Don't get in our way," the crowd answered. "You're an outsider. What right do you have to order us around? We'll do worse things to you than we're going to do to them."

   The crowd kept arguing with Lot. Finally, they rushed toward the door to break it down. ¹⁰But the two angels in the house reached out and pulled Lot safely inside. ¹¹Then they struck everyone in the crowd blind, and none of them could even find the door.

    ^12-13The two angels said to Lot, "The LORD has heard many terrible things about the people of Sodom, and he has sent us here to destroy the city. Take your family and leave. Take every relative you have in the city, as well as the men your daughters are going to marry."

    ¹⁴Lot went to the men who were engaged to his daughters and said, "Hurry and get out of here! The LORD is going to destroy this city." But they thought he was joking, and they laughed at him.

    ¹⁵Early the next morning the two angels tried to make Lot hurry and leave. They said, "Take your wife and your two daughters and get out of here as fast as you can! If you don't, every one of you will be killed when the LORD destroys the city." ¹⁶At first, Lot just stood there. But the LORD wanted to save him. So the angels took Lot, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city. ¹⁷When they were outside, one of the angels said, "Run for your lives! Don't even look back. And don't stop in the valley. Run to the hills, where you will be safe."

    ^18-19Lot answered, "You have done us a great favor, sir. You have saved our lives, but please don't make us go to the hills. That's too far away. The city will be destroyed before we can get there, and we will be killed when it happens. ²⁰There's a town near here. It's only a small place, but my family and I will be safe, if you let us go there."

    ²¹"All right, go there," he answered. "I won't destroy that town. ²²Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you are safely there."

   The town was later called Zoar ^[f] because Lot had said it was small.

Sodom and Gomorrah Are Destroyed

    ²⁶On the way, Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a block of salt.

    ²⁷That same morning Abraham got up and went to the place where he had stood and spoken with the LORD. ²⁸He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and saw smoke rising from all over the land--it was like a flaming furnace.

    ²⁹When God destroyed the cities of the valley where Lot lived, he remembered his promise to Abraham and saved Lot from the terrible destruction.

Moab and Ammon

    ³⁴The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with my father last night. We'll get him drunk again tonight, so you can go to bed with him, and we can each have a child." ³⁵That night they got their father drunk, and this time the younger sister slept with him. But once again he was too drunk even to know she was there.

    ³⁶That's how Lot's two daughters had their children. ³⁷The older daughter named her son Moab, ^[g] and he is the ancestor of the Moabites. ³⁸The younger daughter named her son Benammi, ^[h] and he is the ancestor of the Ammonites.

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Matthew 6

Giving

    ²When you give to the poor, don't blow a loud horn. That's what show-offs do in the meeting places and on the street corners, because they are always looking for praise. I can assure you that they already have their reward.

    ³When you give to the poor, don't let anyone know about it. ^{[a] 4}Then your gift will be given in secret. Your Father knows what is done in secret, and he will reward you.

Prayer

(Luke 11.2-4)

    ⁶When you pray, go into a room alone and close the door. Pray to your Father in private. He knows what is done in private, and he will reward you.

    ⁷When you pray, don't talk on and on as people do who don't know God. They think God likes to hear long prayers. ⁸Don't be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask.

    ⁹You should pray like this:

   Our Father in heaven,

   help us to honor

   your name.

    ¹⁰Come and set up

   your kingdom,

   so that everyone on earth

   will obey you,

   as you are obeyed

   in heaven.

    ¹¹Give us our food for today. ^{[b] 12}Forgive us for doing wrong,

   as we forgive others.

    ¹³Keep us from being tempted

   and protect us from evil. ^{[c] 14}If you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, your Father in heaven will forgive you. ¹⁵But if you don't forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Worshiping God by Going without Eating