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First Reading: Genesis Chapter 19 and 20Genesis 19
19:1 The two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in
the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed
down with his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please
turn aside to your servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night
and then go on your way early in the morning."
"No," they answered, "we will spend the night in the square."
3 But he insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.
He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before
they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom
both young and old surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where
are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have
sex with them."
6 Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No,
my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have
never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you
like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come under
the protection of my roof."
9 "Get out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow
came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat you worse
than them." They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break
down the door.
10 But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut
the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young
and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here sons-in-law,
sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out
of here, 13 because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD
against its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it."
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his
daughters. He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD
is about to destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take
your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when
the city is punished."
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and
of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful
to them. 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, "Flee
for your lives! Don't look back, and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee
to the mountains or you will be swept away!"
18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 Your servant has found
favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness to me in sparing my life.
But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster will overtake me, and I'll
die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me
flee to it it is very small, isn't it? Then my life will be spared."
21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not
overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot
do anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.)
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the
LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the LORD out
of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain, including
all those living in the cities and also the vegetation in the land. 26
But Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he
had stood before the LORD. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward
all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like
smoke from a furnace.
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, he remembered Abraham, and
he brought Lot out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had
lived.
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains, for he
was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One
day the older daughter said to the younger, "Our father is old, and there
is no man around here to lie with us, as is the custom all over the earth. 32
Let's get our father to drink wine and then lie with him and preserve our family
line through our father."
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went
in and lay with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got
up.
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, "Last night I lay
with my father. Let's get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and
lie with him so we can preserve our family line through our father." 35
So they got their father to drink wine that night also, and the younger daughter
went and lay with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when
she got up.
36 So both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their father. 37 The older
daughter had a son, and she named him Moab; he is the father of the Moabites
of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi;
he is the father of the Ammonites of today.
Genesis 20
20:1 Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived
between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in Gerar, 2 and there Abraham
said of his wife Sarah, "She is my sister." Then Abimelech king of
Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
3 But God came to Abimelech in a dream one night and said to him, "You
are as good as dead because of the woman you have taken; she is a married woman."
4 Now Abimelech had not gone near her, so he said, "Lord, will you destroy
an innocent nation? 5 Did he not say to me, 'She is my sister,' and didn't she
also say, 'He is my brother'? I have done this with a clear conscience and clean
hands."
6 Then God said to him in the dream, "Yes, I know you did this with a clear
conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me. That is why I did
not let you touch her. 7 Now return the man's wife, for he is a prophet, and
he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may
be sure that you and all yours will die."
8 Early the next morning Abimelech summoned all his officials, and when he told
them all that had happened, they were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called
Abraham in and said, "What have you done to us? How have I wronged you
that you have brought such great guilt upon me and my kingdom? You have done
things to me that should not be done." 10 And Abimelech asked Abraham,
"What was your reason for doing this?"
11 Abraham replied, "I said to myself, 'There is surely no fear of God
in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.' 12 Besides, she really
is my sister, the daughter of my father though not of my mother; and she became
my wife. 13 And when God had me wander from my father's household, I said to
her, 'This is how you can show your love to me: Everywhere we go, say of me,
"He is my brother." '"
14 Then Abimelech brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave
them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said,
"My land is before you; live wherever you like."
16 To Sarah he said, "I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver.
This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are
completely vindicated."
17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife and his slave
girls so they could have children again, 18 for the LORD had closed up every
womb in Abimelech's household because of Abraham's wife Sarah.
Matthew 9
9:1 Jesus stepped into a boat, crossed over and came to his own town. 2 Some
men brought to him a paralytic, lying on a mat. When Jesus saw their faith,
he said to the paralytic, "Take heart, son; your sins are forgiven."
3 At this, some of the teachers of the law said to themselves, "This fellow
is blaspheming!"
4 Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said, "Why do you entertain evil thoughts
in your hearts? 5 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say,
'Get up and walk'? 6 But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority
on earth to forgive sins. . . ." Then he said to the paralytic, "Get
up, take your mat and go home." 7 And the man got up and went home. 8 When
the crowd saw this, they were filled with awe; and they praised God, who had
given such authority to men.
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax
collector's booth. "Follow me," he told him, and Matthew got up and
followed him.
10 While Jesus was having dinner at Matthew's house, many tax collectors and
"sinners" came and ate with him and his disciples. 11 When the Pharisees
saw this, they asked his disciples, "Why does your teacher eat with tax
collectors and 'sinners'?"
12 On hearing this, Jesus said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor,
but the sick. 13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'
For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners."
14 Then John's disciples came and asked him, "How is it that we and the
Pharisees fast, but your disciples do not fast?"
15 Jesus answered, "How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he
is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them;
then they will fast.
16 "No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch
will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. 17 Neither do men pour
new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will
run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins,
and both are preserved."
18 While he was saying this, a ruler came and knelt before him and said, "My
daughter has just died. But come and put your hand on her, and she will live."
19 Jesus got up and went with him, and so did his disciples.
20 Just then a woman who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years came
up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak. 21 She said to herself, "If
I only touch his cloak, I will be healed."
22 Jesus turned and saw her. "Take heart, daughter," he said, "your
faith has healed you." And the woman was healed from that moment.
23 When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy
crowd, 24 he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But
they laughed at him. 25 After the crowd had been put outside, he went in and
took the girl by the hand, and she got up. 26 News of this spread through all
that region.
27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, "Have
mercy on us, Son of David!"
28 When he had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, "Do
you believe that I am able to do this?"
"Yes, Lord," they replied.
29 Then he touched their eyes and said, "According to your faith will it
be done to you"; 30 and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly,
"See that no one knows about this." 31 But they went out and spread
the news about him all over that region.
32 While they were going out, a man who was demon-possessed and could not talk
was brought to Jesus. 33 And when the demon was driven out, the man who had
been mute spoke. The crowd was amazed and said, "Nothing like this has
ever been seen in Israel."
34 But the Pharisees said, "It is by the prince of demons that he drives
out demons."
35 Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues,
preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed
and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples,
"The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the
harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."
BIBLE SUPERSTARS
NOAH
Part 2 of 2
When Noah was 600 years old, he and his family and the animals entered the ark. They lived and stayed on the ark for about a year while the rains came and flood waters first rose and then finally receded. Compare Genesis 7:11 and 8:13 &14. Finally God told Noah that they could leave the ark. And then God made a promise to Noah:
"Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life." Genesis 9:14-15
As with many other Superstars of the Bible, Noah received an everlasting promise from God. One of the great themes of the Bible are these promises of God. Watch for them as you read.
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