Day 6 – January 6, 2022

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Genesis 19:1 – 21:34

The Wickedness of Sodom

​¹ Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. So when he saw them, he rose to meet them, and bowed with his face toward the ground. ² Then he said, “Behold, my lords, turn in to your servant’s house and rest and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” But they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” ³ But 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.

⁴ Now before they went to sleep, the men of the city, the Sodomites, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. ⁵ Thus 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 have relations with them.” ⁶ But Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, ⁷ and said, “By no means, my brethren, do not act wickedly. ⁸ I have two daughters who have not known a man; 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 protection of my roof.”

⁹ But they said, “Stand back! You came in to sojourn among us. Was it also to be making judgments? 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. ¹⁰ But the men reached out their hands, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, and they became weary trying to find the door.

¹² Now the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here in the city: sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone? —then take them out of this place! ¹³ For we will destroy this place, because their outcry has become great before the Lord, and the Lord sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴ So 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 is about to wipe out this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.

¹⁵ Now when the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and the two daughters you have, and get out, lest you be destroyed with the transgressions of the city.” ¹⁶ But they were thrown into confusion, and the Lord being merciful to him, the angels seized his hand, and the hands of his wife and two daughters, and brought them outside the city.

¹⁷ So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, they said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be overtaken.” ¹⁸ Then Lot said to them, “I pray, O Lord, ¹⁹ since Your servant found mercy in Your sight, and You magnified Your righteousness which You showed me by saving my life, nevertheless, I cannot escape to the mountains, lest some evil overtake me and I die. ²⁰ See now, this city, which is small, is near enough to flee to for refuge, and I shall escape there (is it not a little one?) and my soul shall live.” ²¹ And He said to him, “See, I have acquiesced to you on this matter also, in that I will not overthrow this city, concerning which you have spoken. ²² Therefore, hurry to escape there, for I cannot do anything until you arrive there.” For this reason he called the name of that city Zoar.

²³ Now the sun rose upon the earth when Lot entered Zoar. ²⁴ Then the Lord rained brimstone and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord out of heaven. ²⁵ Thus He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. ²⁶ But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

  ²⁷ Then Abraham rose early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. ²⁸ Then he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw, and behold, a flame was ascending from the land, like the smoke of a furnace. ²⁹ So it came to pass, when God wiped out all the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the destruction, when the Lord overthrew the cities where Lot had dwelt.

The Sons of Lot

³⁰ Then Lot with his two daughters went up from Zoar and settled in the mountains; for he was afraid to dwell in Zoar; and he dwelt in a cave with his two daughters. ³¹ Now the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man on the earth to come in to us, as is the custom of all the earth. ³² Come, let us make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may raise up seed from our father.” ³³ So they made their father drink wine that night, and the elder went in and lay with her father, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁴ It happened on the next day, the elder said to the younger, “Indeed, I slept with our father last night; let us make him drink wine tonight also, and you go in and lie with him, that we may raise up seed from our father.” ³⁵ So they made their father drink wine that night also, and the younger went in and slept with him; but he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. ³⁶ Thus both the daughters of Lot conceived by their father. ³⁷ Then the elder bore a son and called his name Moab, saying, “He is from my father.” He is the father of the Moabites to this present day. ³⁸ Now the younger also bore a son and called his name Ammon, saying, “The son of my family.” He is the father of the Ammonites to this present day.

Abraham and Abimelech

​¹ Now Abraham journeyed from there to the South, and dwelt between Kadesh and Shur, and sojourned among the Gerarites. ² Then Abraham said of Sarah his wife, “She is my sister,” for he was afraid to say, “She is my wife,” lest at a given time the men of the city should kill him because of her. Now Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. ³ But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night, and said to him, “Indeed, you are a dead man because of the woman you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.”

⁴ Now Abimelech had not come near her; and he said, “O Lord, will You destroy an ignorant and just nation? ⁵ Did he not say to me, ‘She is my sister,’ and did she not say to me, ‘He is my brother’? I did this thing with a clean heart and righteous hands.” ⁶ Then God said to him in a dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clean heart, and I spared you that you might not sin against Me; therefore, I did not allow you to touch her. ⁷ Now therefore, restore the man’s wife, for he is a prophet; and he will pray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, rest assured you shall die, you and all who are yours.”

⁸ So Abimelech rose early in the morning, called all his servants, and told all these things in their hearing; and the men were very much afraid. ⁹ Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? How have I offended you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done deeds to me that ought not to be done.” ¹⁰ Again Abimelech said to Abraham, “What possessed you to do this thing?” ¹¹ Abraham replied, “Because I thought, surely the worship of God is not in this place; and they will kill me on account of my wife. ¹² But indeed, she truly is my sister. She is the daughter of my father, but not of my mother; and she became my wife. ¹³ So it came to pass, when God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This righteousness shall you do for me: in every place we enter, say of me, “He is my brother.” ’ ”

  ¹⁴ Then Abimelech took one thousand pieces of silver, sheep, oxen, and male and female servants, and gave them to Abraham; and he restored Sarah his wife to him. ¹⁵ Thus Abimelech said to Abraham, “See, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” ¹⁶ Then to Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver, which will vindicate your honor before all those with you. But tell the truth in all things.” ¹⁷ So Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, his wife, and his female servants. Then they bore children; ¹⁸ for the Lord closed up all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.

The Birth of Isaac

​¹ Now the Lord visited Sarah as He said, and the Lord did for Sarah as He had spoken. ² For Sarah conceived and bore Abraham a son in old age, at the set time, of which God had spoken to him. ³ So Abraham called the name of his son born to him—whom Sarah bore to him—Isaac. ⁴ Then Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old, as God commanded him. ⁵ Now Abraham was one hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him. ⁶ And Sarah said, “God has made me laugh; all who hear will laugh with me.” ⁷ She also said, “Who would have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? For I have borne a child in my old age.”

Hagar and Ishmael Sent Away

⁸ So the child grew and was weaned; and Abraham made a great feast on the same day Isaac was weaned. ⁹ Now Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, who was born to Abraham, playing with Isaac her son. ¹⁰ Therefore she said to Abraham, “Cast out this maidservant and her son, for the son of this maidservant shall not be heir with my son Isaac.” ¹¹ And the matter was very displeasing in Abraham’s sight because of his son. ¹² But God said to Abraham, “Do not let it be displeasing in your sight because of your son and your maidservant. Whatever Sarah said to you, listen to her voice; for in Isaac your seed shall be called. ¹³ Yet I will also make a great nation of the son of your maidservant, because he is your seed.”

¹⁴ So Abraham rose early in the morning, and took bread and a skin of water; and putting it on her shoulder, he gave it and the boy to Hagar, and sent her away. Then she departed and wandered in the wilderness, near the Well of Oath. ¹⁵ When the water in the skin was used up, she placed the boy under one of the shrubs. ¹⁶ Then she went and sat down across from him at a distance of about a bowshot; for she said to herself, “Let me not see the death of the boy.” So she sat opposite him, and lifted her voice and wept.

¹⁷ But God heard the voice of the lad from the place where he was. Then the Angel of God called to Hagar out of heaven, and said to her, “What is the matter, Hagar? Do not fear, for God has heard the voice of the lad where he is. ¹⁸ Arise, lift up the lad and hold him with your hand, for I will make him a great nation.” ¹⁹ Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water. So she went and filled the skin with water, and gave the lad a drink. ²⁰ Thus God was with the lad; and he grew and dwelt in the desert, and became an archer. ²¹ He dwelt in the Wilderness of Paran; and his mother took a wife for him from the land of Egypt.

Abraham’s Agreement with Abimelech

²² Now it came to pass at that time that Abimelech, and his friend Ochozath, and Phichol, the commander-in-chief of his army, spoke to Abraham, saying, “God is with you in all you do. ²³ Now therefore, swear to me by God that you will not deal falsely with me, or with my offspring, or with my posterity; but that according to the righteousness I did to you, you will do to me and to the land in which you have dwelt.” ²⁴ So Abraham said, “I swear.” ²⁵ Then Abraham rebuked Abimelech because of a well of water Abimelech’s servants had seized. ²⁶ Abimelech replied, “I do not know who did this thing; you did not tell me, nor had I heard of it until today.”

  ²⁷ So Abraham took sheep and oxen and gave them to Abimelech, and the two of them made a covenant. ²⁸ Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs of the flock by themselves. ²⁹ Thus Abimelech asked Abraham, “Why have you placed these seven ewe lambs by themselves?” ³⁰ He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand, to witness that I dug this well.” ³¹ Therefore he called that place, the Well of Oath, because the two of them swore an oath there. ³² Thus they made a covenant at the Well of Oath. So Abimelech rose with Ochozath his friend and Phichol, the commander-in-chief of his army, and they returned to the land of the Philistines.

³³ Then Abraham planted a field at the Well of Oath, and there he called on the name of the Lord, the eternal God. ³⁴ So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines many days.

Psalms 8

For the End; concerning the winepresses; a psalm by David.

² O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous is Your name in all the earth,

For Your splendor is exalted far beyond the heavens.

³ From the mouths of babies and nursing infants

You prepared praise because of Your enemies,

That You may destroy the enemy and avenger.

⁴ For I shall look at the heavens, the works of Your fingers,

The moon and stars You established.

⁵ What is man that You remember him,

Or the son of man that You visit him?

⁶ You made him a little lower than the angels;

You crowned him with glory and honor.

⁷ You set him over the works of Your hands;

You subjected all things under his feet,

⁸ All sheep and oxen,

And besides these, also the animals of the field,

⁹ The birds of heaven and the fish of the sea,

And the things passing through the paths of the seas.

¹⁰ O Lord, our Lord, how wondrous is Your name in all the earth.

Proverbs 1:25-29

Since I called, but you did not obey,

And spoke at length, but you paid no attention,

²⁶ But made my counsels invalid,

And were not persuaded by my reproofs;

²⁷ Consequently, I will laugh at your annihilation,

And will exult when ruin comes to you,

²⁸ And when confusion reaches you unawares,

And overthrow comes like a whirlwind,

²⁹ And when tribulation and anguish come to you,

And when destruction comes to you.

Matthew 5:21-48

“You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’

²² “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.

²³ “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you,

²⁴ “leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.

²⁵ “Agree with your adversary quickly, while you are on the way with him, lest your adversary deliver you to the judge, the judge hand you over to the officer, and you be thrown into prison.

  ²⁶ “Assuredly, I say to you, you will by no means get out of there till you have paid the last penny.

Adultery in the Heart

²⁷ “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’

²⁸ “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart.

²⁹ “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

³⁰ “And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell.

Marriage Is Sacred and Binding

³¹ “Furthermore it has been said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife, let him give her a certificate of divorce.’

³² “But I say to you that whoever divorces his wife for any reason except sexual immorality causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a woman who is divorced commits adultery.

Jesus Forbids Oaths

³³ “Again you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.’

³⁴ “But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne;

³⁵ “nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.

³⁶ “Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.

³⁷ “But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.

Go the Second Mile

³⁸ “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’

  ³⁹ “But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also.

⁴⁰ “If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also.

⁴¹ “And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two.

⁴² “Give to him who asks you, and from him who wants to borrow from you do not turn away.

Love Your Enemies

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’

⁴⁴ “But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you,

⁴⁵ “that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.

⁴⁶ “For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same?

⁴⁷ “And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?

⁴⁸ “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.