The Doom of Sodom

19 Now the ^(A)two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When ^(B)Lot saw them, he rose 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 however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.” ³ Yet he urged them strongly, 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 behold, ^(F)I have two daughters who have not ^[d]had relations with man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them ^[e]whatever you like; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the ^[f]shelter of my roof.” ⁹ But they said, “Stand aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came in ^[g]as an alien, 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 came near 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 (I)They ^[k]struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

¹² Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your 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 Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who ^[l]were to marry his daughters, and said, “Up, ^(L)get out of this place, for the Lord will destroy the city.” ^(M)But he appeared to his sons-in-law ^[m]to be jesting.

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 ^[n]punishment of the city.” ¹⁶ But he hesitated. So the men ^(N)seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the ^[o]hands of his two daughters, for ^(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, ^[p]one said, “^(P)Escape for your life! ^(Q)Do not look behind you, and do not stay ^[q]anywhere in the ^(R)valley; escape to ^(S)the ^[r]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 lovingkindness, which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the ^[s]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?) ^[t]that my life may be saved.” ²¹ He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this ^[u]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 name of the town was called ^[v](T)Zoar.

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

²⁷ Now Abraham arose 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 ^[x]valley, and he saw, and behold, ^(Y)the smoke of the land ascended like the smoke of a ^[y]furnace.

²⁹ Thus it came about, when God destroyed the cities of the ^[z]valley, that ^(Z)God remembered Abraham, and ^(AA)sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

Lot Is Debased

³⁰ Lot went up from Zoar, and ^[aa](AB)stayed in the ^[ab]mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to ^[ac]stay in Zoar; and he ^[ad]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 ^[ae]on earth to ^(AC)come in to us after the manner of the earth. ³² Come, ^(AD)let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve ^[af]our family through our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁴ On the following day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve ^[ag]our family through our father.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot were with child by their father. ³⁷ The firstborn bore a son, and called his name ^(AE)Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day. ³⁸ As for the younger, she also bore a son, and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the ^[ah]sons of ^(AF)Ammon to this day.

Rank in the Kingdom

18 ^(A)At that ^[a]time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “^(B)Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” ² And He called a child to Himself and set him ^[b]before them, ³ and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you ^[c]are converted and ^(C)become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. ⁴ Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. ⁵ And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; ⁶ but ^(D)whoever ^(E)causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it ^[d]would be better for him to have a ^[e]heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.

Stumbling Blocks

⁷ “Woe to the world because of its stumbling blocks! For ^(F)it is inevitable that stumbling blocks come; but woe to that man through whom the stumbling block comes!

⁸ “^(G)If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; it is better for you to enter life crippled or lame, than ^[f]to have two hands or two feet and be cast into the eternal fire. ^9 (H)If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out and throw it from you. It is better for you to enter life with one eye, than ^[g]to have two eyes and be cast into the ^[h](I)fiery hell.

¹⁰ “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that ^(J)their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven. ¹¹ [^[i](K)For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost.]

Ninety-nine Plus One

¹² “What do you think? ^(L)If any man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go and search for the one that is straying? ¹³ If it turns out that he finds it, truly I say to you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine which have not gone astray. ¹⁴ So it is not the will ^[j]of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones perish.

Discipline and Prayer

¹⁵ “^(M)If your brother sins^[k], go and ^[l]show him his fault ^[m]in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. ¹⁶ But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ^(N)by the mouth of two or three witnesses every ^[n]fact may be confirmed. ¹⁷ If he refuses to listen to them, ^(O)tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, ^(P)let him be to you as ^[o]a Gentile and ^[p]a tax collector. ¹⁸ Truly I say to you, ^(Q)whatever you ^[q]bind on earth ^[r]shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you ^[s]loose on earth ^[t]shall have been loosed in heaven.

¹⁹ “Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, ^(R)it shall be done for them ^[u]by My Father who is in heaven. ²⁰ For where two or three have gathered together in My name, ^(S)I am there in their midst.”

Forgiveness

²¹ Then Peter came and said to Him, “Lord, ^(T)how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him? Up to ^(U)seven times?” ²² Jesus *said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to ^(V)seventy times seven.

²³ “For this reason ^(W)the kingdom of heaven ^[v]may be compared to a king who wished to ^(X)settle accounts with his slaves. ²⁴ When he had begun to settle them, one who owed him ^[w]ten thousand talents was brought to him. ²⁵ But since he ^[x](Y)did not have the means to repay, his lord commanded him ^(Z)to be sold, along with his wife and children and all that he had, and repayment to be made. ²⁶ So the slave fell to the ground and ^(AA)prostrated himself before him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you everything.’ ²⁷ And the lord of that slave felt compassion and released him and ^(AB)forgave him the ^[y]debt. ²⁸ But that slave went out and found one of his fellow slaves who owed him a hundred ^[z]denarii; and he seized him and began to choke him, saying, ‘Pay back what you owe.’ ²⁹ So his fellow slave fell to the ground and began to plead with him, saying, ‘Have patience with me and I will repay you.’ ³⁰ But he was unwilling ^[aa]and went and threw him in prison until he should pay back what was owed. ³¹ So when his fellow slaves saw what had happened, they were deeply grieved and came and reported to their lord all that had happened. ³² Then summoning him, his lord *said to him, ‘You wicked slave, I forgave you all that debt because you pleaded with me. ^33 (AC)Should you not also have had mercy on your fellow slave, in the same way that I had mercy on you?’ ³⁴ And his lord, moved with anger, handed him over to the torturers until he should repay all that was owed him. ^35 (AD)My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from ^[ab]your heart.”