Jan 9th

And He said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year; and behold, Sarah your wife will have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door which was behind him.

Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in age; Sarah was past childbearing.

And Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?”

And Yahweh said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I indeed bear a son, when I am so old?’

Is anything too difficult for Yahweh? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son.”

Then Sarah denied it however, saying, “I did not laugh”; for she was afraid. And He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

Then the men rose up from there and looked down toward Sodom; and Abraham was walking with them to send them off.

Now Yahweh said, “Shall I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do,

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

For I have known him, so that he may command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of Yahweh to do righteousness and justice, so that Yahweh may bring upon Abraham what He has spoken about him.”

So Yahweh said, “The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah is indeed great, and their sin is exceedingly grave.

I will go down now and see whether they have done entirely according to its outcry, which has come to Me; and if not, I will know.”

Then the men turned away from there and went toward Sodom, while Abraham was still standing before Yahweh.

Then Abraham came near and said, “Will You indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked?

Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city; will You indeed sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it?

Far be it from You to do such a thing, to put to death the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Shall not the Judge of all the earth do justice?”

So Yahweh said, “If I find in Sodom fifty righteous within the city, then I will spare the whole place on their account.”

And Abraham answered and said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord, although I am but dust and ashes.

Suppose the fifty righteous are lacking five, will You destroy the whole city because of five?” And He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”

Then he spoke to Him yet again and said, “Suppose forty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it on account of the forty.”

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak; suppose thirty are found there?” And He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”

And he said, “Now behold, I have ventured to speak to the Lord; suppose twenty are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the twenty.”

Then he said, “Oh may the Lord not be angry, and I shall speak only this once; suppose ten are found there?” And He said, “I will not destroy it on account of the ten.”

And as soon as He had finished speaking to Abraham, Yahweh departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

Then the two angels came to Sodom in the evening as Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them and rose to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.

And he said, “Now behold, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house, and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” They said however, “No, but we shall spend the night in the square.”

Yet he pressed them strongly, so they turned aside to him and entered his house; and he made a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.

Before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, from young to old, all the people from every quarter;

and 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.”

But Lot went out to them at the doorway and shut the door behind him,

and said, “Please, my brothers, do not act wickedly.

Now behold, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please let me bring them out to you, and do to them what is good in your eyes; only do nothing to these men, inasmuch as they have come under the shelter of my roof.”

But they said, “Step aside.” Furthermore, they said, “This one came to sojourn, and already he is persistently acting like a judge; now we will treat you more wickedly than them.” So they pressed hard against Lot and stepped up to break the door.

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

And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, from small to great, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the doorway.

Then the two men said to Lot, “Whom else have you here? A son-in-law, and your sons, and your daughters, and everyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place;

for we are about to destroy this place because their outcry has become great before Yahweh, so Yahweh has sent us to destroy it.”

And Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city.” But he appeared to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

Now at the breaking of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Get up, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.”

But he hesitated. So the men seized his hand and the hand of his wife and the hands of his two daughters, for the compassion of Yahweh was upon him; and they brought him out and put him outside the city.

Now it happened, as they brought them outside, one said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, lest you be swept away.”

But Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lords!

Now behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your lovingkindness, which you have shown me by preserving my life; but I cannot escape to the mountains, lest calamity overtake me and I die;

now behold, this town is near enough to flee to, and it is small. Please, let me escape there (is it not small?) that my life may be preserved.”

And he said to him, “Behold, I grant you this request also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken.

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

The sun had risen over the earth when Lot came to Zoar.

And Yahweh rained on Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire from Yahweh out of heaven,

and He overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground.

Then his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

Now Abraham arose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before Yahweh;

and he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the valley, and he saw, and behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

Thus it happened, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, that God remembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow, when He overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

And Lot went up from Zoar and stayed in the mountains, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to stay in Zoar; and he stayed in a cave, he and his two daughters.

Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of the earth.

Come, let us make our father drink wine, and let us lie with him that we may preserve our seed through our father.”

So they made their father drink wine that night, and the firstborn went in and lay with her father; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Now it happened on the following day, that the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father; let us make him drink wine tonight also; and you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve our seed through our father.”

So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger arose and lay with him; and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose.

Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father.

And the firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab; he is the father of the Moabites to this day.

As for the younger, she also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi; he is the father of the sons of Ammon to this day.

And when Jesus came into the official’s house, and saw the flute-players and the crowd in noisy disorder,

He was saying, “Leave; for the girl has not died, but is asleep.” And they began laughing at Him.

But when the crowd had been sent out, coming in, He took her by the hand, and the girl got up.

And this news spread throughout all that land.

And as Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed Him, crying out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!”

And when He entered the house, the blind men came up to Him, and Jesus *said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They *said to Him, “Yes, Lord.”

Then He touched their eyes, saying, “It shall be done to you according to your faith.”

And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!”

But they went out and spread the news about Him throughout all that land.

Now as they were going out, behold, a mute, demon-possessed man was brought to Him.

And after the demon was cast out, the mute man spoke; and the crowds marveled, saying, “Nothing like this has ever been seen in Israel.”

But the Pharisees were saying, “He casts out the demons by the ruler of the demons.”

And Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

And seeing the crowds, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and downcast like sheep without a shepherd.

Then He *said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

And summoning His twelve disciples, Jesus gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every kind of disease and every kind of sickness.

Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; and James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;

Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;

Simon the Zealot, and Judas Iscariot, the one who betrayed Him.

These twelve Jesus sent out after instructing them, saying, “Do not go in the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter any city of the Samaritans;

but rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

And as you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give.

Do not acquire gold, or silver, or copper for your money belts,

or a bag for your journey, or even two tunics, or sandals, or a staff; for the worker is worthy of his support.

And whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it, and stay there until you leave.

Now as you enter the house, give it your greeting.

And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it. But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you leave that house or that city, shake the dust off your feet.