God Rescues Lot

19 The ^(A)two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and bowed himself with his face to the earth ² and said, “My lords, ^(B)please turn aside to your servant's house and spend the night ^(C)and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, ^(D)“No; we will spend the night in the town square.” ³ But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

⁴ But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. ^5 (E)And they called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? ^(F)Bring them out to us, that we ^(G)may know them.” ⁶ Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, ⁷ and said, “I beg you, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. ^8 (H)Behold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow ^(I)came to sojourn, and ^(J)he has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. ¹¹ And they struck with ^(K)blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

¹² Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, ^(L)bring them out of the place. ¹³ For we are about to destroy this place, ^(M)because the outcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, ^(N)“Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

¹⁵ As morning dawned, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, ^(O)the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. ¹⁷ And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. ^(P)Do not look back or stop anywhere in the ^(Q)valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” ¹⁸ And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. ¹⁹ Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. ²⁰ Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” ²¹ He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. ²² Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” Therefore the name of the city was called ^(R)Zoar.^[a]

God Destroys Sodom

²³ The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. ²⁴ Then ^(S)the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵ And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. ²⁶ But Lot's wife, behind him, looked back, and she became ^(T)a pillar of salt.

²⁷ And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had ^(U)stood before the Lord. ²⁸ And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

²⁹ So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God ^(V)remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

In God I Trust

To the choirmaster: according to The Dove on Far-off Terebinths. A ^(A)Miktam^[a] of David, when the ^(B)Philistines seized him in Gath.

By Faith

11 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of ^(A)things not seen. ² For by it the people of old received their commendation. ³ By faith we understand that the universe was created by ^(B)the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of ^(C)things that are visible.

⁴ By faith ^(D)Abel offered to God ^(E)a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And ^(F)through his faith, though he died, he ^(G)still speaks. ⁵ By faith ^(H)Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him. Now before he was taken he was commended as having pleased God. ⁶ And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God ^(I)must believe that he exists and ^(J)that he rewards those who seek him. ⁷ By faith ^(K)Noah, being warned by God concerning ^(L)events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of ^(M)the righteousness that comes by faith.

⁸ By faith ^(N)Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place ^(O)that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. ⁹ By faith he went to live in ^(P)the land of promise, as in a foreign land, ^(Q)living in tents ^(R)with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise. ¹⁰ For he was looking forward to ^(S)the city that has ^(T)foundations, ^(U)whose designer and builder is God. ¹¹ By faith ^(V)Sarah herself received power to conceive, even when she was past the age, since she considered ^(W)him faithful who had promised. ¹² Therefore from one man, and ^(X)him as good as dead, were born descendants ^(Y)as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.

^27 (A)Do not work for the food that perishes, but for ^(B)the food that endures to eternal life, which ^(C)the Son of Man will give to you. For on ^(D)him God the Father has ^(E)set his seal.” ²⁸ Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing ^(F)the works of God?” ²⁹ Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, ^(G)that you believe in him whom ^(H)he has sent.” ³⁰ So they said to him, ^(I)“Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? ^31 (J)Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ^(K)‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” ³² Jesus then said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. ³³ For the bread of God is ^(L)he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” ³⁴ They said to him, ^(M)“Sir, give us this bread always.”

³⁵ Jesus said to them, ^(N)“I am the bread of life; ^(O)whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. ³⁶ But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. ^37 (P)All that ^(Q)the Father gives me will come to me, and ^(R)whoever comes to me I will never cast out. ³⁸ For ^(S)I have come down from heaven, not to do ^(T)my own will but ^(U)the will of him ^(V)who sent me. ³⁹ And ^(W)this is the will of him who sent me, ^(X)that I should lose nothing of ^(Y)all that he has given me, but ^(Z)raise it up on the last day. ⁴⁰ For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who ^(AA)looks on the Son and ^(AB)believes in him ^(AC)should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”