God Praised and Pleas to Give Victory.

A Song, a Psalm of David.

A Psalm of Praise.

¹⁶ Then ^(A)the men rose up from there, and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off. ^17 (B)The Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham ^(C)what I am about to do, ¹⁸ since Abraham will certainly become a great and ^[a]mighty nation, and in him ^(D)all the nations of the earth will be blessed? ¹⁹ For I have ^[b](E)chosen him, so that he may ^(F)command his children and his household after him to ^(G)keep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring upon Abraham ^(H)what He has spoken about him.” ²⁰ And the Lord said, “^(I)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. ²¹ I will ^(J)go down now and see whether they have done entirely as the outcry, which has come to Me indicates; and if not, I will know.”

Abraham Appeals for Sodom

²² Then ^(K)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before ^(L)the Lord. ²³ Abraham approached and said, “^(M)Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ Suppose there are fifty righteous people within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not ^[c]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? ²⁵ Far be it from You to do ^[d]such a thing, to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not ^(N)the Judge of all the earth ^[e]deal justly?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “^(O)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will ^[f]spare the entire place on their account.” ²⁷ And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have ^[g]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only ^(P)dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the entire city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” ²⁹ And he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.” ³⁰ Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ And he said, “Now behold, I have ^[h]ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.” ³² Then he said, “^(Q)Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once: suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.” ³³ As soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham ^(R)the Lord departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

¹³ For you were called to ^(A)freedom, brothers and sisters; ^(B)only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but ^(C)serve one another through love. ¹⁴ For ^(D)the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “^(E)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ But if you ^(F)bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.

¹⁶ But I say, ^(G)walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out ^(H)the desire of the flesh. ¹⁷ For ^(I)the desire of the flesh is against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, ^(J)in order to keep you from doing whatever you want. ¹⁸ But if you are ^(K)led by the Spirit, ^(L)you are not under the Law. ¹⁹ Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: ^(M)sexual immorality, impurity, indecent behavior, ²⁰ idolatry, ^(N)witchcraft, hostilities, ^(O)strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, ^(P)selfish ambition, dissensions, ^(Q)factions, ²¹ envy, ^(R)drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not ^(S)inherit the kingdom of God. ²² But ^(T)the fruit of the Spirit is ^(U)love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, ^(V)self-control; against such things ^(W)there is no law. ²⁴ Now those who ^[a]belong to ^(X)Christ Jesus ^(Y)crucified the flesh with its passions and ^(Z)desires.

²⁵ If we live by the Spirit, let’s follow ^(AA)the Spirit as well.

²² And they *came to ^(A)Bethsaida. And some people *brought a man who was blind to ^[a]Jesus and *begged Him to ^(B)touch him. ²³ Taking the man who was blind by the hand, He ^(C)brought him out of the village; and after ^(D)spitting in his eyes and ^(E)laying His hands on him, He asked him, “Do you see anything?” ²⁴ And he ^[b]looked up and said, “I see people, for I see them like trees, walking around.” ²⁵ Then again He laid His hands on his eyes; and he looked intently and was restored, and began to see everything clearly. ²⁶ And He sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter ^(F)the village.”

Peter’s Confession of Christ

^27 (G)Jesus went out, along with His disciples, to the villages of ^(H)Caesarea Philippi; and on the way He questioned His disciples, saying to them, “Who do people say that I am?” ^28 (I)They told Him, saying, “John the Baptist; and others say Elijah; and others, one of the prophets.” ²⁹ And He continued questioning them: “But who do you say that I am?” ^(J)Peter answered and *said to Him, “You are the ^[c]Christ.” ³⁰ And ^(K)He ^[d]warned them to tell no one about Him.