²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. ²⁷ And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God.

² For anyone who speaks in a tongue^[a] does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit.

⁴ Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church.

¹⁴ For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my mind is unfruitful.

¹⁵ So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my understanding; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my understanding.

Abraham pleads for Sodom

¹⁶ When the men got up to leave, they looked down towards Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. ¹⁷ Then the Lord said, ‘Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸ Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^{[a] 19} For I have chosen him, so that he will direct his children and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just, so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.’

²⁰ Then the Lord said, ‘The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great and their sin so grievous ²¹ that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.’

²² The men turned away and went towards Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.^{[b] 23} Then Abraham approached him and said: ‘Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? ²⁴ What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare^[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it? ²⁵ Far be it from you to do such a thing – to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. Far be it from you! Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?’

²⁶ The Lord said, ‘If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.’

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke up again: ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes, ²⁸ what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?’

‘If I find forty-five there,’ he said, ‘I will not destroy it.’

²⁹ Once again he spoke to him, ‘What if only forty are found there?’

He said, ‘For the sake of forty, I will not do it.’

³⁰ Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?’

He answered, ‘I will not do it if I find thirty there.’

³¹ Abraham said, ‘Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?’

He said, ‘For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.’

³² Then he said, ‘May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more. What if only ten can be found there?’

He answered, ‘For the sake of ten, I will not destroy it.’

³³ When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, he left, and Abraham returned home.

⁴¹ And Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Go, eat and drink, for there is the sound of a heavy rain.’ ⁴² So Ahab went off to eat and drink, but Elijah climbed to the top of Carmel, bent down to the ground and put his face between his knees.

⁴³ ‘Go and look toward the sea,’ he told his servant. And he went up and looked.

‘There is nothing there,’ he said.

Seven times Elijah said, ‘Go back.’

⁴⁴ The seventh time the servant reported, ‘A cloud as small as a man’s hand is rising from the sea.’

So Elijah said, ‘Go and tell Ahab, “Hitch up your chariot and go down before the rain stops you.”’

⁴⁵ Meanwhile, the sky grew black with clouds, the wind rose, a heavy rainstorm came on and Ahab rode off to Jezreel. ⁴⁶ The power of the Lord came on Elijah and, tucking his cloak into his belt, he ran ahead of Ahab all the way to Jezreel.

¹⁶ Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.

¹⁷ Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. ¹⁸ Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

³⁸ Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.’