Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²⁰ And the LORD said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great and because their sin is very grievous;

²¹ I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me; and if not, I will know.

²² And the men turned their faces from there and went toward Sodom; but Abraham stood yet before the LORD.

²³ ¶ And Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

²⁴ Peradventure there are fifty righteous within the city; wilt thou also destroy and not spare the place for the fifty righteous that are in it?

²⁵ That be far from thee to do after this manner, to slay the righteous with the wicked and that the righteous should be treated as the wicked that are far from thee. Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?

²⁶ And the LORD said, If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes.

²⁷ And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, who am but dust and ashes;

²⁸ peradventure there shall lack five of the fifty righteous: wilt thou destroy all the city for lack of five? And he said, If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it.

²⁹ And he spoke unto him yet again, and said, Peradventure there shall be forty found there. And he said, I will not do it for forty’s sake.

³⁰ And he said unto him, Oh let not the Lord now be angry if I shall speak; peradventure there shall thirty be found there. And he said, I will not do it if I find thirty there.

³¹ And he said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord; peradventure there shall be twenty found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for twenty’s sake.

³² And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once; peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten’s sake.

A Psalm of David.

¹ ¶ I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods I will sing praises unto thee.

² I will worship the temple of thy holiness and praise thy name above thy mercy and thy truth; for thou hast made thy name to be magnificent and raised up thy spoken word above all things.

³ In the day when I called, thou didst answer me and strengthen me with strength in my soul.

⁴ All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O LORD, when they hearken unto the spoken words from thy mouth.

⁵ Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the LORD: for great is the glory of the LORD.

⁶ ¶ For the LORD, who is high and lifted up, looks upon the humble, but the proud he does not know.

⁷ Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me; thou shalt stretch forth thy hand against the wrath of my enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

⁸ The LORD will perfect that which concerns me; thy mercy, O LORD, endures for ever; forsake not the works of thine own hands.

⁶ Therefore in the manner in which ye received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him,

⁷ rooted and built up in him and confirmed in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.

⁸ Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the traditions of men, according to the elements of the world, and not after Christ.

⁹ For in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily,

¹⁰ and ye are complete in him, who is the head of all principality and power.

¹¹ In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of the Christ;

¹² buried together with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who has raised him from the dead.

¹³ ¶ And you, being dead in sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses,

¹⁴ blotting out the bill of the decrees that was against us, which was contrary to us and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross, {Gr. stauro – stake}

¹⁵ and having spoiled the principalities and the powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it.

¹⁶ ¶ Let no one therefore judge you in food or in drink or in respect of a feast day or of the new moon or of the sabbath days,

¹⁷ which are a shadow of things to come, but the body is of the Christ.

¹⁸ Let no one govern you according to their own will under pretext of humility and religion of angels, intruding into those things which they have not seen, vainly puffed up by their fleshly mind,

¹⁹ and not holding fast to the Head, from whom all the body, fed and united by its joints and bonds, grows in the increase of God.

11 ¶ And it came to pass that as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray as John also taught his disciples.

² And he said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father who art in the heavens, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so also in the earth.

³ Give us day by day our daily bread.

⁴ And forgive us our sins, for we also forgive every one that is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

⁵ And he said unto them, Which of you shall have a friend and shall go unto him at midnight and say unto him, Friend, lend me three loaves;

⁶ for a friend of mine in his journey is come to me, and I have nothing to set before him?

⁷ And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.

⁸ I say unto you, Though he will not rise and give him because he is his friend, yet because of his importunity, he will rise and give him as many as he needs.

⁹ And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

¹⁰ For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

¹¹ If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?

¹² Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?

¹³ If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask him?