Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)
Psalm 18[a]
For the music director, by the Lord’s servant David, who sang[b] to the Lord the words of this song when[c] the Lord rescued him from the power[d] of all his enemies, including Saul.[e]
18 He said:[f]
“I love[g] you, Lord, my source of strength![h]
2 The Lord is my high ridge,[i] my stronghold,[j] my deliverer.
My God is my rocky summit where[k] I take shelter,[l]
my shield, the horn that saves me,[m] and my refuge.[n]
3 I called[o] to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,[p]
and I was delivered from my enemies.
4 The waves[q] of death engulfed me,
the currents[r] of chaos[s] overwhelmed me.[t]
5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me,[u]
the snares of death trapped me.[v]
6 In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried out to my God.[w]
From his heavenly temple[x] he heard my voice;
he listened to my cry for help.[y]
7 The earth heaved and shook.[z]
The roots of the mountains[aa] trembled;[ab]
they heaved because he was angry.
8 Smoke ascended from[ac] his nose;[ad]
fire devoured as it came from his mouth.[ae]
He hurled down fiery coals.[af]
9 He made the sky sink[ag] as he descended;
a thick cloud was under his feet.
10 He mounted[ah] a winged angel[ai] and flew;
he glided[aj] on the wings of the wind.[ak]
11 He shrouded himself in darkness,[al]
in thick rain clouds.[am]
12 From the brightness in front of him came
hail and fiery coals.[an]
13 The Lord thundered[ao] in[ap] the sky;
the Most High[aq] shouted.[ar]
14 He shot his[as] arrows and scattered them,[at]
many lightning bolts[au] and routed them.[av]
15 The depths[aw] of the sea[ax] were exposed;
the inner regions[ay] of the world were uncovered
by[az] your battle cry,[ba] Lord,
by the powerful breath from your nose.[bb]
16 He reached down[bc] from above and took hold of me;
he pulled me from the surging water.[bd]
17 He rescued me from my strong enemy,[be]
from those who hate me,
for they were too strong for me.
18 They confronted[bf] me in my day of calamity,
but the Lord helped me.[bg]
19 He brought me out into a wide open place;
he delivered me because he was pleased with me.[bh]
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels came to Sodom in the evening while[a] Lot was sitting in the city’s gateway.[b] When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face toward the ground.
2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night[c] and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.”[d] “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.”[e]
3 But he urged[f] them persistently, so they turned aside with him and entered his house. He prepared a feast for them, including bread baked without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they could lie down to sleep,[g] all the men—both young and old, from every part of the city of Sodom—surrounded the house.[h] 5 They shouted to Lot,[i] “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so we can take carnal knowledge of[j] them!”
6 Lot went outside to them, shutting the door behind him. 7 He said, “No, my brothers! Don’t act so wickedly![k] 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never been intimate with[l] a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do to them whatever you please.[m] Only don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection[n] of my roof.”[o]
9 “Out of our way!”[p] they cried, “This man came to live here as a foreigner,[q] and now he dares to judge us![r] We’ll do more harm[s] to you than to them!” They kept pressing in on Lot[t] until they were close enough[u] to break down the door.
10 So the men inside[v] reached out[w] and pulled Lot back into the house[x] as they shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest,[y] with blindness. The men outside[z] wore themselves out trying to find the door. 12 Then the two visitors[aa] said to Lot, “Who else do you have here?[ab] Do you have[ac] any sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or other relatives in the city?[ad] Get them out of this[ae] place 13 because we are about to destroy[af] it. The outcry against this place[ag] is so great before the Lord that he[ah] has sent us to destroy it.”
14 Then Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law who were going to marry his daughters.[ai] He said, “Quick, get out of this place because the Lord is about to destroy[aj] the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was ridiculing them.[ak]
15 At dawn[al] the angels hurried Lot along, saying, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here,[am] or else you will be destroyed when the city is judged!”[an] 16 When Lot[ao] hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and two daughters because the Lord had compassion on them.[ap] They led them away and placed them[aq] outside the city. 17 When they had brought them outside, they[ar] said, “Run[as] for your lives! Don’t look[at] behind you or stop anywhere in the valley![au] Escape to the mountains or you will be destroyed!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, please, Lord![av] 19 Your[aw] servant has found favor with you,[ax] and you have shown me great[ay] kindness[az] by sparing[ba] my life. But I am not able to escape to the mountains because[bb] this disaster will overtake[bc] me and I’ll die.[bd] 20 Look, this town[be] over here is close enough to escape to, and it’s just a little one.[bf] Let me go there.[bg] It’s just a little place, isn’t it?[bh] Then I’ll survive.”[bi]
21 “Very well,” he replied,[bj] “I will grant this request too[bk] and will not overthrow[bl] the town you mentioned. 22 Run there quickly,[bm] for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” (This incident explains why the town was called Zoar.)[bn]
23 The sun had just risen[bo] over the land as Lot reached Zoar.[bp] 24 Then the Lord rained down[bq] sulfur and fire[br] on Sodom and Gomorrah. It was sent down from the sky by the Lord.[bs] 25 So he overthrew those cities and all that region,[bt] including all the inhabitants of the cities and the vegetation that grew from the ground.[bu] 26 But Lot’s[bv] wife looked back longingly[bw] and was turned into a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went[bx] to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked out toward[by] Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of that region.[bz] As he did so, he saw the smoke rising up from the land like smoke from a furnace.[ca]
29 So when God destroyed[cb] the cities of the region,[cc] God honored[cd] Abraham’s request. He removed Lot[ce] from the midst of the destruction when he destroyed[cf] the cities Lot had lived in.
14 What shall we say then? Is there injustice with God? Absolutely not! 15 For he says to Moses: “I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.”[a] 16 So then,[b] it does not depend on human desire or exertion,[c] but on God who shows mercy. 17 For the scripture says to Pharaoh:[d] “For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may demonstrate my power in you, and that my name may be proclaimed in all the earth.”[e] 18 So then,[f] God[g] has mercy on whom he chooses to have mercy, and he hardens whom he chooses to harden.[h]
19 You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” 20 But who indeed are you—a mere human being[i]—to talk back to God?[j] Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?”[k] 21 Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay[l] one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?[m] 22 But what if God, willing to demonstrate his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience the objects[n] of wrath[o] prepared for destruction?[p] 23 And what if he is willing to make known the wealth of his glory on the objects[q] of mercy that he has prepared beforehand for glory— 24 even us, whom he has called, not only from the Jews but also from the Gentiles? 25 As he also says in Hosea:
“I will call those who were not my people, ‘My people,’ and I will call her who was unloved,[r] ‘My beloved.’”[s]
26 “And in the very place[t] where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’
there they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”[u]
27 And Isaiah cries out on behalf of Israel, “Though the number of the children[v] of Israel are as the sand of the sea, only the remnant will be saved, 28 for the Lord will execute his sentence on the earth completely and quickly.”[w] 29 Just[x] as Isaiah predicted,
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