Baramhat 19, 1740

17And the LORD said, "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am doing,

18since Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?

19For I have known him, in order that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of the LORD, to do righteousness and justice, that the LORD may bring to Abraham what He has spoken to him."

20And the LORD said, "Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very grave,

21I will go down now and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry against it that has come to Me; and if not, I will know."

22Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still stood before the LORD.

23And Abraham came near and said, "Would You also destroy the righteous with the wicked?

24Suppose there were fifty righteous within the city; would You also destroy the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous that were in it?

25Far be it from You to do such a thing as this, to slay the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous should be as the wicked; far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?"

26So the LORD said, "If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare all the place for their sakes."

27Then Abraham answered and said, "Indeed now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord:

28Suppose there were five less than the fifty righteous; would You destroy all of the city for lack of five?" So He said, "If I find there forty-five, I will not destroy it."

29And he spoke to Him yet again and said, "Suppose there should be forty found there?" So He said, "I will not do it for the sake of forty."

30Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak: Suppose thirty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty there."

31And he said, "Indeed now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to the Lord: Suppose twenty should be found there?" So He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of twenty."

32Then he said, "Let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak but once more: Suppose ten should be found there?" And He said, "I will not destroy it for the sake of ten."

33So the LORD went His way as soon as He had finished speaking with Abraham; and Abraham returned to his place.

1Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground.

2And he said, "Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant's house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way." And they said, "No, but we will spend the night in the open square."

3But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

4Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house.

5And they called to Lot and said to him, "Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally."

6So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him,

7and said, "Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly!

8See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof."

9And they said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them." So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door.

10But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door.

11And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door.

12Then the men said to Lot, "Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city--take them out of this place!

13For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the LORD, and the LORD has sent us to destroy it."

14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

15When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city."

16And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the LORD being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city.

17So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed."

18Then Lot said to them, "Please, no, my lords!

19Indeed now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have increased your mercy which you have shown me by saving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die.

20See now, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one; please let me escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live."

21And he said to him, "See, I have favored you concerning this thing also, in that I will not overthrow this city for which you have spoken.

22Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.

23The sun had risen upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar.

24Then the LORD rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah, from the LORD out of the heavens.

25So He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

26But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27And Abraham went early in the morning to the place where he had stood before the LORD.

28Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.

29And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt.

16To deliver you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words,

17Who forsakes the companion of her youth, And forgets the covenant of her God.

18For her house leads down to death, And her paths to the dead;

19None who go to her return, Nor do they regain the paths of life--

20So you may walk in the way of goodness, And keep to the paths of righteousness.

21For the upright will dwell in the land, And the blameless will remain in it;

22But the wicked will be cut off from the earth, And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.

1My son, do not forget my law, But let your heart keep my commands;

2For length of days and long life And peace they will add to you.

3Let not mercy and truth forsake you; Bind them around your neck, Write them on the tablet of your heart,

4And so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.

10"And in that day there shall be a Root of Jesse, Who shall stand as a banner to the people; For the Gentiles shall seek Him, And His resting place shall be glorious."

11It shall come to pass in that day That the Lord shall set His hand again the second time To recover the remnant of His people who are left, From Assyria and Egypt, From Pathros and Cush, From Elam and Shinar, From Hamath and the islands of the sea.

12He will set up a banner for the nations, And will assemble the outcasts of Israel, And gather together the dispersed of Judah From the four corners of the earth.

13Also the envy of Ephraim shall depart, And the adversaries of Judah shall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, And Judah shall not harass Ephraim.

14But they shall fly down upon the shoulder of the Philistines toward the west; Together they shall plunder the people of the East; They shall lay their hand on Edom and Moab; And the people of Ammon shall obey them.

15The LORD will utterly destroy the tongue of the Sea of Egypt; With His mighty wind He will shake His fist over the River, And strike it in the seven streams, And make men cross over dryshod.

16There will be a highway for the remnant of His people Who will be left from Assyria, As it was for Israel In the day that he came up from the land of Egypt.

1And in that day you will say: "O LORD, I will praise You; Though You were angry with me, Your anger is turned away, and You comfort me.

2Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; "For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation."'

1I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works.

2I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

3When my enemies turn back, They shall fall and perish at Your presence.

4For You have maintained my right and my cause; You sat on the throne judging in righteousness.

5You have rebuked the nations, You have destroyed the wicked; You have blotted out their name forever and ever.

6O enemy, destructions are finished forever! And you have destroyed cities; Even their memory has perished.

7But the LORD shall endure forever; He has prepared His throne for judgment.

8He shall judge the world in righteousness, And He shall administer judgment for the peoples in uprightness.

9The LORD also will be a refuge for the oppressed, A refuge in times of trouble.

10And those who know Your name will put their trust in You; For You, LORD, have not forsaken those who seek You.

11Sing praises to the LORD, who dwells in Zion! Declare His deeds among the people.

12When He avenges blood, He remembers them; He does not forget the cry of the humble.

13Have mercy on me, O LORD! Consider my trouble from those who hate me, You who lift me up from the gates of death,

14That I may tell of all Your praise In the gates of the daughter of Zion. I will rejoice in Your salvation.

15The nations have sunk down in the pit which they made; In the net which they hid, their own foot is caught.

16The LORD is known by the judgment He executes; The wicked is snared in the work of his own hands.

17The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God.

18For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever.

19Arise, O LORD, Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in Your sight.

20Put them in fear, O LORD, That the nations may know themselves to be but men.Selah

20So they watched Him, and sent spies who pretended to be righteous, that they might seize on His words, in order to deliver Him to the power and the authority of the governor.

21Then they asked Him, saying, "Teacher, we know that You say and teach rightly, and You do not show personal favoritism, but teach the way of God in truth:

22Is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar or not?"

23But He perceived their craftiness, and said to them, "Why do you test Me?

24Show Me a denarius. Whose image and inscription does it have?" They answered and said, "Caesar's."

25And He said to them, "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's."

26But they could not catch Him in His words in the presence of the people. And they marveled at His answer and kept silent.

6just as David also describes the blessedness of the man to whom God imputes righteousness apart from works:

7"Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, And whose sins are covered;

8Blessed is the man to whom the LORD shall not impute sin."

9Does this blessedness then come upon the circumcised only, or upon the uncircumcised also? For we say that faith was accounted to Abraham for righteousness.

10How then was it accounted? While he was circumcised, or uncircumcised? Not while circumcised, but while uncircumcised.

11And he received the sign of circumcision, a seal of the righteousness of the faith which he had while still uncircumcised, that he might be the father of all those who believe, though they are uncircumcised, that righteousness might be imputed to them also,

1Where do wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure that war in your members?

2You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and war. Yet you do not have because you do not ask.

3You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.

4Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.

5Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, "The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously"?

6But He gives more grace. Therefore He says: "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

7Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

8Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.

9Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom.

10Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

1Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta.

2And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.

3But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

4So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, "No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live."

5But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm.

6However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.