Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
20 And the Lord said, “(A)The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave. 21 I will (B)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 (C)the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before (D)the Lord. 23 Abraham approached and said, “(E)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 [a]spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 Far be it from You to do [b]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 (F)the Judge of all the earth [c]deal justly?” 26 So the Lord said, “(G)If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will [d]spare the entire place on their account.” 27 And Abraham replied, “Now behold, I have [e]ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am only (H)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 [f]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, “(I)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.”
Thanksgiving for the Lord’s Favor.
A Psalm of David.
138 (A)I will give You thanks with all my heart;
I will sing Your praises before the (B)gods.
2 I will bow down (C)toward Your holy temple
And (D)give thanks to Your name for Your mercy and Your [a]truth;
For You have (E)made Your [b]word great [c]according to all Your name.
3 On the day I (F)called, You answered me;
You made me bold with (G)strength in my soul.
4 (H)All the kings of the earth will give thanks to You, Lord,
When they have heard the words of Your mouth.
5 And they will (I)sing of the ways of the Lord,
For (J)great is the glory of the Lord.
6 For (K)the Lord is exalted,
Yet He (L)looks after the lowly,
But He knows the (M)haughty from afar.
7 Though I (N)walk in the midst of trouble, You will [d](O)revive me;
You will (P)reach out with Your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
And Your right hand will (Q)save me.
8 The Lord will (R)accomplish what concerns me;
Your (S)faithfulness, Lord, is everlasting;
(T)Do not abandon the (U)works of Your hands.
6 Therefore, as you have received (A)Christ Jesus the Lord, so [a](B)walk in Him, 7 having been firmly (C)rooted and now being (D)built up in Him and (E)established [b]in [c]your faith, just as you (F)were instructed, and overflowing [d]with gratitude.
8 (G)See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through (H)philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the (I)elementary principles of the world, [e]rather than in accordance with Christ. 9 For in Him all the (J)fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, 10 and in Him you have been (K)made [f]complete, and (L)He is the head [g]over every (M)ruler and authority; 11 and in Him (N)you were also circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of (O)the body of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, 12 having been (P)buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also (Q)raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who (R)raised Him from the dead. 13 And [h]when you were (S)dead [i]in your wrongdoings and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He (T)made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our wrongdoings, 14 having canceled (U)the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and (V)He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross. 15 When He had [j](W)disarmed the (X)rulers and authorities, He (Y)made a public display of them, having (Z)triumphed over them through [k]Him.
16 Therefore, no one is to [a](A)act as your judge in regard to (B)food and (C)drink, or in respect to a (D)festival or a (E)new moon, or a (F)Sabbath [b]day— 17 things which are only a (G)shadow of what is to come; but the [c]substance [d]belongs to Christ. 18 Take care that no one keeps [e](H)defrauding you of your prize by (I)delighting in humility and the worship of the angels, [f]taking his stand on visions he has seen, [g](J)inflated without cause by his (K)fleshly mind, 19 and not holding firmly to (L)the head, from whom (M)the entire body, being supplied and held together by the joints and [h]ligaments, grows with a growth [i]which is from God.
Instruction about Prayer
11 It happened that while [a]Jesus was praying in a certain place, when He had finished, one of His disciples said to Him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.” 2 And He said to them, “(A)When you pray, say:
‘[b]Father, [c]hallowed be Your name.
[d]Your kingdom come.
3 Give us (B)each day our [e]daily bread.
4 And forgive us our sins,
For we ourselves also forgive everyone who (C)is indebted to us.
And do not lead us into temptation.’”
5 And He said to them, “[f]Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 because a friend of mine has come to me from a journey and I have nothing to serve him’; 7 and from inside he answers and says, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been shut and my children [g]and I are in bed; I cannot get up and give you anything.’ 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything just because he is his friend, yet (D)because of his [h]shamelessness he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “So I say to you, [i](E)ask, and it will be given to you; [j]seek, and you will find; [k]knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 11 Now [l]which one of you fathers will his son ask for a [m]fish, and instead of a fish, he will give him a snake? 12 Or he will even ask for an egg, and his father will give him a scorpion? 13 So (F)if you, despite being [n]evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will [o]your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?”
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