Old/New Testament
Abraham’s Three Visitors
18 Later, the Lord appeared to Abraham[a] by the oaks[b] belonging to Mamre. As Abraham[c] was sitting near the entrance to his tent during the hottest part of the day, 2 he glanced up and saw three men standing there, not far from him. As soon as he noticed them, Abraham[d] ran from the tent entrance to greet them and bowed low to the ground. 3 “My lords,” he told them, “if I have found favor with you,[e] please don’t leave your servant. 4 I’ll have some water brought to wash your feet while you rest under the tree. 5 I’ll bring some food for you,[f] and after that you may continue your journey, since you have come to visit your servant.”
So they replied, “Very well! Do what you’ve proposed.”
6 Abraham hurried into the tent and told Sarah, “Quick! Take three measures[g] of the best flour, knead it, and make some flat bread.”
7 Next, Abraham ran to the herd, found a choice and tender calf, and gave it to the young men, who went off in a hurry to prepare it. 8 Then he took curds, milk, and the calf that had been prepared, placed the food in front of them, and stood near them under the tree while they ate.
Sarah Laughs at the Promise
9 The men asked him, “Where is your wife Sarah?”
“There, in the tent,” he replied.
10 Then one of them said, “I will certainly return to you in about a year’s time.[h] By then, your wife Sarah will have borne a son.”
Now Sarah was listening at the tent entrance behind him. 11 Abraham and Sarah were old—really old[i]—and Sarah was beyond the age of childbearing.[j] 12 That’s why Sarah laughed to herself, thinking, “After I’m so old and my husband is old, too, am I going to have sex?”[k]
13 The Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and think, ‘Am I really going to bear a child, since I’m so old?’ 14 Is anything impossible[l] for the Lord? At the time set for it, I will return to you—about a year from now—and Sarah will have a son.”
15 But Sarah denied it. “I didn’t laugh,” she claimed, because she was afraid.
The Lord[m] replied, “No! You did laugh!”
God Reveals His Plans to Abraham
16 After this, the men set out from there and looked out over Sodom. Abraham went with them to send them off.
17 “Should I hide from Abraham what I’m about to do,” the Lord asked, 18 “since Abraham’s descendants will become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him? 19 Indeed, I’ve made myself known to him in order that he may encourage his sons and his household that is born after him to keep the way of the Lord, and to do what is right and just, so that the Lord may bring about for Abraham what he has promised.” 20 The Lord also said, “How great is the disapproval of Sodom and Gomorrah! Their sin is so very serious! 21 I’m going down to see whether they’ve acted according to the protests that have reached me. If not, I wish to know.”
22 Then two of[n] the men turned away from there and walked toward Sodom, while Abraham remained standing in the presence of the Lord.
Abraham Negotiates with God
23 Abraham approached and asked, “Will you actually destroy the righteous along with the wicked? 24 Perhaps there are 50 righteous ones within the city. Will you actually destroy it and not forgive the place for the sake of the 50 righteous that are found there? 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing—to kill the righteous along with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike! The Judge of all the earth will do what is right, won’t he?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people within Sodom, I’ll forgive the whole place for their sake.”
27 Abraham answered, “Look, even though I am only dust and ashes, I’ve ventured to speak to my Lord. 28 What if there are five less than 50 righteous ones? Will you bring destruction upon the city because of those five?”
The Lord[o] said, “I won’t destroy it if I find 45 there.”
29 Abraham[p] continued to speak to him, asking, “What if 40 are found there?”
The Lord[q] replied, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 40.”
30 Abraham[r] then asked, “I hope my Lord will not be angry if I speak. What if 30 are found there?”
The Lord[s] answered, “I won’t do it for the sake of those 30.”
31 “Look,” Abraham[t] said, “I’ve presumed to speak to my Lord… so what if 20 are found there?”
“For the sake of those 20,” the Lord[u] responded, “I won’t destroy it.”
32 Finally, Abraham[v] inquired, “I hope my Lord will not be angry if I speak only once more. What if ten are found there?”
He replied, “For the sake of those ten I won’t destroy it.”
33 As soon as he finished talking to Abraham, the Lord left and Abraham returned to where he had been sitting.[w]
Sodom’s Depravity
19 The two angels entered Sodom at sunset while Lot was sitting in the gate area of the city.[x] When Lot saw them,[y] he got up, greeted them, bowed low with his face to the ground, 2 and said, “Look, my lords! Please come inside your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and be on your way.”
But they responded, “No, we would rather spend the night in the town square.”
3 But Lot[z] kept urging them strongly, so they turned aside and entered his house. He prepared a festival and baked unleavened flat bread for them, and they ate.
4 Before they could lie down, all the men of Sodom and its outskirts, both young and old, surrounded the house. 5 They called out to Lot and asked, “Where are the men who came to visit[aa] you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can have sex with[ab] them!”
6 Lot went outside to them, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “I urge you, my brothers, don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins.[ac] Let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever you wish,[ad] only don’t do anything to these men, because they’re here under my protection.”[ae]
9 But they replied, “Get out of the way! This man came here as a foreigner, and now he’s acting like a judge! So we’re going to deal more harshly with you than with them.” Then they pushed hard against the man (that is, against Lot), intending to break down the door.
10 But the angels[af] inside reached out, dragged Lot back into the house with them, shut the door, 11 and blinded the men who were at the entrance of the house, from the least important to the greatest, so they were unable to find the doorway.
Lot Negotiates with the Angels
12 “Do you have anyone else here in the city?” the angels[ag] asked Lot. “A son-in-law? Sons? Daughters? Get them out of this place, 13 because we’re going to destroy it. Their outcry has come to the attention of the Lord, so he[ah] sent us here to destroy it!”
14 Lot then went out and told his sons-in-law (they had married his daughters), “Get out of here! The Lord is going to destroy this city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 As dawn was breaking, the angels pressured Lot. “Get going!” they told him. “Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be engulfed by the devastation that’s coming to this city.”
16 But Lot kept lingering in the city,[ai] so the men[aj] grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters (because of the Lord’s compassion for him!), brought them out of the city, and left them outside. 17 Then one of them said, “Flee for your lives! Don’t look back or stop anywhere on the plain. Escape to the hills, or you’ll be swept away!”
18 “No! Please, my lords!” Lot pleaded with them. 19 “Your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me your gracious love in how you have dealt with me by keeping me alive. I cannot escape to the hills, because I’m afraid the disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it’s a small one. Let me escape there! It’s a small one, isn’t it? That way I’ll stay alive!”
21 “All right,” the angel replied to Lot,[ak] “I’ll agree with your request![al] I won’t overthrow the town that you mentioned. 22 Hurry up and flee there, because I cannot do anything until you get to that town.” Therefore the name of the town was called Zoar.[am]
Lot’s Wife Becomes a Pillar of Salt
23 The sun had risen over the land about the time Lot reached Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained sulfur and fire out of the sky from the Lord on Sodom and Gomorrah, 25 overthrowing those cities, all of the plain, and everyone who lived in the cities. He also destroyed the plants that grew out of the ground. 26 But Lot’s[an] wife looked back as she lingered behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the Lord earlier. 28 He looked off toward Sodom, Gomorrah, and the entire[ao] plain, and he saw smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace. 29 And so it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham and brought Lot out from the midst of the destruction when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
The Origin of Moab and Ammon
30 Later on, Lot and his two daughters abandoned Zoar and settled in the hills because Lot was afraid to live in Zoar. He lived there in a cave, along with his two daughters. 31 One day the firstborn told the younger one, “Our father is old, and there’s no man in the land to have sex with us,[ap] as everybody else throughout all the earth does. 32 Come on! Let’s make our father drink wine, and then we’ll have sex with him so we can preserve our father’s lineage.”
33 So they had their father drink wine that night, and the older one had sexual relations with her father, but he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up. 34 The next day the firstborn told the younger one, “Look! I had sex with my father last night. Let’s make him drink wine tonight again as well. Then you have sex with him, too. That way we’ll preserve our father’s lineage.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night as well, so he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up.
36 That’s how both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab,[aq] and he is the ancestor of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger daughter also gave birth to a son and named him Ben-ammi,[ar] and he is the ancestor of the Ammonites to this day.
Teaching about Giving to the Poor
6 “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of people in order to be noticed by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 So whenever you give to the poor, don’t blow a trumpet before you like the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they will be praised by people. I tell all of you[a] with certainty, they have their full reward! 3 But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be done in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”[b]
Teaching about Prayer(A)
5 “And whenever you pray, don’t be like the hypocrites who love to stand in the synagogues and on the street corners so that they will be seen by people. I tell all of you[c] with certainty, they have their full reward! 6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, close the door, and pray to your Father who is hidden. And your Father who sees from the hidden place will reward you.[d]
7 “When you are praying, don’t say meaningless things[e] like the unbelievers[f] do, because they think they will be heard by being so wordy. 8 Don’t be like them, because your Father knows what you need before you ask him. 9 Therefore, this is how you should pray:
‘Our Father in heaven,
may your name be kept holy.
10 May your kingdom come.
May your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
11 Give us today our daily bread,
12 and forgive us our sins,[g]
as we have forgiven those who have sinned against us.[h]
13 And never bring us into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.’[i]
14 Because if you forgive people their offenses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. 15 But if you do not forgive people their offenses,[j] your Father will not forgive your offenses.”
Teaching about Fasting
16 “Whenever you fast, don’t be gloomy like the hypocrites, because they put on sad faces to show others they are fasting. I tell all of you[k] with certainty, they have their full reward! 17 But when you fast, put oil on[l] your head and wash your face, 18 so that your fasting will not be noticed by others but by your Father who is in the hidden place. And your Father who watches from the hidden place will reward you.”[m]
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