Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

²⁰ Then the Lord said, “The cry against Sodom and Gomorrah is loud. Their sin is very bad. ²¹ I will now go down and see if they have done as much wrong as the cry against them has told Me they have. And if not, I will know.”

²² Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom. But Abraham still stood before the Lord. ²³ Abraham came near and said, “Will You destroy the good also, with the bad? ²⁴ What if there are fifty good people within the city? Will You destroy the place and not save it because of the fifty good people in it? ²⁵ May You never do such a thing as to destroy the good with the bad! May the good never be punished like the bad! You would never do such a thing! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” ²⁶ So the Lord said, “If I find fifty good people in the city of Sodom, I will save the whole place because of them.” ²⁷ Abraham said, “Now see, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord, I who am only dust and ashes. ²⁸ What if five of the fifty good people are not so good. Will You destroy the whole city because of five?” The Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five good people there.” ²⁹ Abraham spoke to Him again and said, “What if only forty are found there?” The Lord said, “I will not destroy it if there are forty.” ³⁰ Then Abraham said, “O may the Lord not be angry, and I will speak. What if only thirty are found there?” The Lord said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.” ³¹ Abraham said, “Now see, I have taken upon myself to speak to the Lord. What if twenty are found there?” The Lord said, “I will not destroy it because of the twenty.” ³² Then Abraham said, “O may the Lord not be angry. And I may speak once more. What if ten are found there?” The Lord said, “I will not destroy it because of the ten.”

A Song of Praise

138 I will give You thanks with all my heart. I will sing praises to You in front of the gods. ² I will bow down toward Your holy house. And I will give thanks to Your name for Your loving-kindness and Your truth. For You have honored Your Word because of what Your name is. ³ You answered me on the day I called. You gave me strength in my soul.

⁴ O Lord, all the kings of the earth will give thanks to You when they have heard the words of Your mouth. ⁵ And they will sing of the ways of the Lord. For the shining beauty of the Lord is great. ⁶ For even if the Lord is honored, He thinks about those who have no pride. But He knows the proud from far away. ⁷ Even if I walk into trouble, You will keep my life safe. You will put out Your hand against the anger of those who hate me. And Your right hand will save me. ⁸ The Lord will finish the work He started for me. O Lord, Your loving-kindness lasts forever. Do not turn away from the works of Your hands.

⁶ As you have put your trust in Christ Jesus the Lord to save you from the punishment of sin, now let Him lead you in every step. ⁷ Have your roots planted deep in Christ. Grow in Him. Get your strength from Him. Let Him make you strong in the faith as you have been taught. Your life should be full of thanks to Him.

Wisdom of the World Is Empty

⁸ Be careful that no one changes your mind and faith by much learning and big sounding ideas. Those things are what men dream up. They are always trying to make new religions. These leave out Christ. ⁹ For Christ is not only God-like, He is God in human flesh. ¹⁰ When you have Christ, you are complete. He is the head over all leaders and powers. ¹¹ When you became a Christian, you were set free from the sinful things of the world. This was not done by human hands. You were set free from the sins of your old self by what was done in Christ’s body. ¹² When you were baptized, you were buried as Christ was buried. When you were raised up in baptism, you were raised as Christ was raised. You were raised to a new life by putting your trust in God. It was God Who raised Jesus from the dead. ¹³ When you were dead in your sins, you were not set free from the sinful things of the world. But God forgave your sins and gave you new life through Christ. ¹⁴ We had broken the Law many ways. Those sins were held against us by the Law. That Law had writings which said we were sinners. But now He has destroyed that writing by nailing it to the cross. ¹⁵ God took away the power of the leaders of this world and the powers of darkness. He showed them to the world. The battle was won over them through Christ.

Watch for Those Who Want to Keep the Law

¹⁶ Do not let anyone tell you what you should or should not eat or drink. They have no right to say if it is right or wrong to eat certain foods or if you are to go to religious suppers. They have no right to say what you are to do at the time of the new moon or on the Day of Rest. ¹⁷ These things are a picture of what is coming. The important thing is Christ Himself. ¹⁸ Do not let anyone rob you of your crown. They will try to get you to bow down in worship of angels. They think this shows you are not proud. They say they were told to do this in a dream. These people are proud because of their sinful minds. ¹⁹ Such people are not a part of Christ. Christ is the Head. We Christians make up His body. We are joined together as a body is held together. Our strength to grow comes from Christ.

Jesus Teaches His Followers to Pray

11 Jesus had been praying. One of His followers said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray as John the Baptist taught his followers.” ² Jesus said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven, Your name is holy. May Your holy nation come. *What You want done, may it be done on earth as it is in heaven. ³ Give us the bread we need everyday. ⁴ Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us. Do not let us be tempted.’”

A Picture-Story about How to Ask

⁵ Jesus said to them, “If one of you has a friend and goes to him in the night and says, ‘Friend, give me three loaves of bread, ⁶ for a friend of mine is on a trip and has stopped at my house. I have no food to give him.’ ⁷ The man inside the house will say, ‘Do not trouble me. The door is shut. My children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you bread.’ ⁸ I say to you, he may not get up and give him bread because he is a friend. Yet, if he keeps on asking, he will get up and give him as much as he needs. ⁹ I say to you, ask, and what you ask for will be given to you. Look, and what you are looking for you will find. Knock, and the door you are knocking on will be opened to you. ¹⁰ For everyone who asks, will receive what he asks for. Everyone who looks, will find what he is looking for. Everyone who knocks, will have the door opened to him.

¹¹ “Would any of you fathers give your son a stone if he asked for bread? Or would you give a snake if he asked for a fish? ¹² Or if he asked for an egg, would you give him a small animal with a sting of poison? ¹³ You are sinful and you know how to give good things to your children. How much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”