One Year Pray for America Bible - Flipbook - Page 39
29
both the righteous and the wicked?
24 Suppose you find fifty righteous
people living there in the city—will
you still sweep it away and not spare it
for their sakes? 25 Surely you wouldn’t
do such a thing, destroying the righteous along with the wicked. Why, you
would be treating the righteous and the
wicked exactly the same! Surely you
wouldn’t do that! Should not the Judge
of all the earth do what is right?”
26 And the Lord replied, “If I find
fifty righteous people in Sodom, I will
spare the entire city for their sake.”
27 Then Abra
h am spoke again.
“Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am but
dust and ashes. 28 Suppose there are
only forty-five righteous people rather
than fifty? Will you destroy the whole
city for lack of five?”
And the Lord said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five righteous
people there.”
29 Then Abra
ham pressed his request further. “Suppose there are only
forty?”
And the Lord replied, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the forty.”
30 “Please don’t be angry, my Lord,”
Abraham pleaded. “Let me speak—
suppose only thirty righteous people
are found?”
And the Lord replied, “I will not
destroy it if I find thirty.”
31 Then Abra
ham said, “Since I
have dared to speak to the Lord, let
me continue—suppose there are only
twenty?”
And the Lord replied, “Then I will
not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
32 Finally, Abra
ham said, “Lord,
please don’t be angry with me if I
speak one more time. Suppose only
ten are found there?”
And the Lord replied, “Then I will
not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 When the Lord had finished his
conversation with Abraham, he went
on his way, and Abraham returned to
his tent.
19:1 That
evening the two angels came
to the entrance of the city of Sodom.
January 8
Lot was sitting there, and when he saw
them, he stood up to meet them. Then
he welcomed them and bowed with
his face to the ground. 2 “My lords,” he
said, “come to my home to wash your
feet, and be my guests for the night.
You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.”
“Oh no,” they replied. “We’ll just
spend the night out here in the city
square.”
3 But Lot insisted, so at last they
went home with him. Lot prepared a
feast for them, complete with fresh
bread made without yeast, and they
ate. 4 But before they retired for the
night, all the men of Sodom, young
and old, came from all over the city
and surrounded the house. 5 They
shouted to Lot, “Where are the men
who came to spend the night with
you? Bring them out to us so we can
have sex with them!”
6 So Lot stepped outside to talk to
them, shutting the door behind him.
7 “Please, my brothers,” he begged,
“don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look,
I have two virgin daughters. Let me
bring them out to you, and you can
do with them as you wish. But please,
leave these men alone, for they are my
guests and are under my protection.”
9 “Stand back!” they shouted. “This
fellow came to town as an outsider,
and now he’s acting like our judge!
We’ll treat you far worse than those
other men!” And they lunged toward
Lot to break down the door.
10 But the two angels* reached out,
pulled Lot into the house, and bolted
the door. 11 Then they blinded all the
men, young and old, who were at the
door of the house, so they gave up trying to get inside.
12 Meanwhile, the angels questioned Lot. “Do you have any other
relatives here in the city?” they
asked. “Get them out of this place—
your sons-in-law, sons, daughters,
or anyone else. 13 For we are about to
destroy this city completely. The outcry against this place is so great it has
reached the Lord, and he has sent us
to destroy it.”
