²⁰ So the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very flagrant, ²¹ I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.”

²² The two men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached him and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep them away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ You would never do such a thing, killing the righteous along with the wicked, treating the righteous the same as the wicked. You would never do such a thing. The Judge of all the earth should do right, shouldn’t he?”

²⁶ The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people within the city of Sodom, then I will spare the entire place for their sake.”

²⁷ Abraham answered, “See now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it on myself to speak to my Lord. ²⁸ What if there are five fewer than fifty righteous? Will you destroy the entire city if the number is five short?”

He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

²⁹ He spoke to him yet again and said, “What if only forty are found there?”

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

³⁰ He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak again. What if thirty are found there?”

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

³¹ He said, “See now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”

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

³² He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”

He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”

The Lord’s Prayer

11 On another occasion, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”

² He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven,^[a] hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.^{[b] 3} Give us each day our daily bread. ⁴ Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.^[c] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”^[d]

Keep Praying

⁵ He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, ⁶ because a friend of mine who is on a journey has come to me, and I do not have anything to set before him.’ ⁷ And the one inside replies, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you.’ ⁸ I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his bold persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.

⁹ “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.

¹¹ “What father among you, if your son asks for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of a fish? ¹² Or if he asks for an egg, would give him a scorpion? ¹³ If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”

Reconciled Through Christ’s Death

²¹ At one time, you were alienated from God and hostile in your thinking as expressed through your evil deeds. ²² But now Christ reconciled you in his body of flesh through death, in order to present you holy, blameless, and faultless before him— ²³ if you continue steadfast and firm in faith, without being moved away from the hope of the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a minister.

Paul’s Service in Preaching the Gospel

²⁴ Now I rejoice in my sufferings on your behalf, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church. ²⁵ I became a minister of the church for your benefit when God gave me the task of fully proclaiming the word of God, ²⁶ namely, the mystery that was hidden for past ages and generations, but now has been revealed to his saints. ²⁷ God wanted to make known to them what is the wealth of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles—this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

²⁸ We proclaim him as we admonish and teach everyone with all wisdom, so that we might present everyone perfect in Christ. ²⁹ This is the goal I am laboring to reach, striving with his strength, which is powerfully at work in me.