Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

^40-42 I long to obey them! Therefore in fairness renew my life, for this was your promise—yes, Lord, to save me! Now spare me by your kindness and your love. Then I will have an answer for those who taunt me, for I trust your promises.

⁴³ May I never forget your words, for they are my only hope. ^44-46 Therefore I will keep on obeying you forever and forever, free within the limits of your laws. I will speak to kings about their value, and they will listen with interest and respect.

⁴⁷ How I love your laws! How I enjoy your commands! ⁴⁸ “Come, come to me,” I call to them, for I love them and will let them fill my life.

¹⁶ Then the men stood up from their meal and started on toward Sodom; and Abraham went with them part of the way.

¹⁷ “Should I hide my plan from Abraham?” God asked. ¹⁸ “For Abraham shall become a mighty nation, and he will be a source of blessing for all the nations of the earth. ¹⁹ And I have picked him out to have godly descendants and a godly household—men who are just and good—so that I can do for him all I have promised.”

²⁰ So the Lord told Abraham, “I have heard that the people of Sodom and Gomorrah are utterly evil, and that everything they do is wicked. ²¹ I am going down to see whether these reports are true or not. Then I will know.”

^22-23 So the other two went on toward Sodom, but the Lord remained with Abraham a while. Then Abraham approached him and said, “Will you kill good and bad alike? ²⁴ Suppose you find fifty godly people there within the city—will you destroy it, and not spare it for their sakes? ²⁵ That wouldn’t be right! Surely you wouldn’t do such a thing, to kill the godly with the wicked! Why, you would be treating godly and wicked exactly the same! Surely you wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge of all the earth be fair?”

²⁶ And God replied, “If I find fifty godly people there, I will spare the entire city for their sake.”

²⁷ Then Abraham spoke again. “Since I have begun, let me go on and speak further to the Lord, though I am but dust and ashes. ²⁸ Suppose there are only forty-five? Will you destroy the city for lack of five?”

And God said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five.”

²⁹ Then Abraham went further with his request. “Suppose there are only forty?”

And God replied, “I won’t destroy it if there are forty.”

³⁰ “Please don’t be angry,” Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak: suppose only thirty are found there?”

And God replied, “I won’t do it if there are thirty there.”

³¹ Then Abraham said, “Since I have dared to speak to God, let me continue—suppose there are only twenty?”

And God said, “Then I won’t destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”

³² Finally, Abraham said, “Oh, let not the Lord be angry; I will speak but this once more! Suppose only ten are found?”

And God said, “Then, for the sake of the ten, I won’t destroy it.”

³³ And the Lord went on his way when he had finished his conversation with Abraham. And Abraham returned to his tent.

12 About that time, Jesus was walking one day through some grainfields with his disciples. It was on the Sabbath, the Jewish day of worship, and his disciples were hungry; so they began breaking off heads of wheat and eating the grain.

² But some Pharisees saw them do it and protested, “Your disciples are breaking the law. They are harvesting on the Sabbath.”

³ But Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what King David did when he and his friends were hungry? ⁴ He went into the Temple and they ate the special bread permitted to the priests alone. That was breaking the law too. ⁵ And haven’t you ever read in the law of Moses how the priests on duty in the Temple may work on the Sabbath? ⁶ And truly, one is here who is greater than the Temple! ⁷ But if you had known the meaning of this Scripture verse, ‘I want you to be merciful more than I want your offerings,’ you would not have condemned those who aren’t guilty! ⁸ For I, the Messiah,^[a] am master even of the Sabbath.”