Thursday, January 24, 2019
Thursday,
January 24, 2019
1The 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." 3But 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. 4Before they had
gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and
old--surrounded the house. 5They 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." 6Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind
him 7and said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing. 8Look,
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. 10But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into
the house and shut the door. 11Then 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. 12The 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, 13because 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." 14So 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. 15With 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." 16When 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. 17As 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!" 18But Lot said to them, "No, my lords,
please! 19Your 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. 20Look,
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." 21He said
to him, "Very well, I will grant this request too; I will not overthrow
the town you speak of. 22But flee there quickly, because I cannot do
anything until you reach it." (That is why the town was called Zoar.) 23By
the time Lot reached Zoar, the sun had risen over the land. 24Then
the LORD rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah--from the LORD out of
the heavens. 25Thus he overthrew those cities and the entire plain,
including all those living in the cities--and also the vegetation in the land. 26But
Lot's wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. 27Early the
next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before
the LORD. 28He 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.
Psalm
22
1For the
director of music. To [the tune of] "The Doe of the Morning." A psalm
of David. My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from
saving me, so far from the words of my groaning? 2O my God, I cry
out by day, but you do not answer, by night, and am not silent. 3Yet
you are enthroned as the Holy One; you are the praise of Israel. 4In
you our fathers put their trust; they trusted and you delivered them. 5They
cried to you and were saved; in you they trusted and were not disappointed. 6But
I am a worm and not a man, scorned by men and despised by the people. 7All
who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: 8"He
trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he
delights in him." 9Yet you brought me out of the womb; you made
me trust in you even at my mother's breast. 10From birth I was cast
upon you; from my mother's womb you have been my God. 11Do not be
far from me, for trouble is near and there is no one to help. 12Many
bulls surround me; strong bulls of Bashan encircle me. 13Roaring
lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me. 14I am
poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned
to wax; it has melted away within me. 15My strength is dried up like
a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the
dust of death. 16Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has
encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. 17I can count
all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. 18They divide my
garments among them and cast lots for my clothing. 19But you, O
LORD, be not far off; O my Strength, come quickly to help me. 20Deliver
my life from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dogs. 21Rescue
me from the mouth of the lions; save me from the horns of the wild oxen. 22I
will declare your name to my brothers; in the congregation I will praise you. 23You
who fear the LORD, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, honor him! Revere
him, all you descendants of Israel! 24For he has not despised or
disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from
him but has listened to his cry for help. 25From you comes the theme
of my praise in the great assembly; before those who fear you will I fulfill my
vows. 26The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the LORD
will praise him-- may your hearts live forever! 27All the ends of
the earth will remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the
nations will bow down before him, 28for dominion belongs to the LORD
and he rules over the nations. 29All the rich of the earth will
feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him-- those
who cannot keep themselves alive. 30Posterity will serve him; future
generations will be told about the Lord. 31They will proclaim his
righteousness to a people yet unborn-- for he has done it.
Matthew
12:15–37
15Aware of
this, Jesus withdrew from that place. Many followed him, and he healed all
their sick, 16warning them not to tell who he was. 17This
was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: 18"Here
is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put
my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. 19He
will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. 20A
bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till
he leads justice to victory. 21In his name the nations will put
their hope." 22Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who
was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. 23All
the people were astonished and said, "Could this be the Son of
David?" 24But when the Pharisees heard this, they said,
"It is only by Beelzebub, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives
out demons." 25Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them,
"Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or
household divided against itself will not stand. 26If Satan drives
out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? 27And
if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your people drive them out? So
then, they will be your judges. 28But if I drive out demons by the
Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29"Or
again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions
unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can rob his house. 30"He
who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. 31And
so I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy
against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32Anyone who speaks a word
against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who speaks against the Holy
Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come. 33"Make
a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will
be bad, for a tree is recognized by its fruit. 34You brood of
vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of
the heart the mouth speaks. 35The good man brings good things out of
the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil
stored up in him. 36But I tell you that men will have to give
account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. 37For
by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be
condemned."
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