The Daily Audio Bible
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16 The men got up from there and looked down toward Sodom. Abraham went with them to see them on their way. 17 The Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 since Abraham will surely become a great and mighty nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed in him? 19 For I have chosen him,[a] so that he may command his children and his household who follow after him to keep the way of the Lord by carrying out righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may deliver to Abraham what he has promised him.”
20 So the Lord said, “Because the outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is very flagrant, 21 I will go down now and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has come to me. If not, I will know.”
22 The two men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham remained standing before the Lord. 23 Abraham approached him and said, “Will you really sweep away the righteous along with the wicked? 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep them away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 You would never do such a thing, killing the righteous along with the wicked, treating the righteous the same as the wicked. You would never do such a thing. The Judge of all the earth should do right, shouldn’t he?”
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people within the city of Sodom, then I will spare the entire place for their sake.”
27 Abraham answered, “See now, I who am but dust and ashes have taken it on myself to speak to my Lord. 28 What if there are five fewer than fifty righteous? Will you destroy the entire city if the number is five short?”
He said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.”
29 He spoke to him yet again and said, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “I will not do it for the sake of the forty.”
30 He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak again. What if thirty are found there?”
He said, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 He said, “See now, I have taken it upon myself to speak to my Lord. What if there are twenty found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the twenty.”
32 He said, “Please, do not be angry, my Lord, but I will speak just once more. What if ten are found there?”
He said, “I will not destroy it for the sake of the ten.”
33 As soon as he had finished speaking with Abraham, the Lord went on his way, and Abraham returned to his place.
The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah
19 The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot, who was sitting in the gatehouse of Sodom, saw them and got up to meet them. He bowed down with his face to the ground, 2 and he said, “See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant’s house and spend the night. Wash your feet, and you can get up early and go on your way.”
They said, “No, we will spend the night in the street.”
3 But he kept urging them, so they came with him and entered his house. He made them a feast and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 But before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, surrounded the house, both young and old, all the people from all parts of town. 5 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 be intimate with them.”[b]
6 Lot went out to them and shut the door behind him. 7 He said, “Please, my brothers, do not act so wickedly. 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not had relations with a man. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them whatever seems good to you. Only do not do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection[c] of my roof.”
9 They said, “Get out of our way!” They also said, “This fellow came to live here as an alien, and now he appoints himself as a judge. Now we will treat you worse than them!” They kept pushing Lot back and were ready to break down the door. 10 But the men inside reached out and grabbed Lot and pulled him into the house with them and shut the door. 11 They struck the men who were pressing against the door of the house, both young and old, with blindness so that they wore themselves out trying to find the door.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, whoever you have in the city, get them out of this place, 13 for we are going to destroy this place, because the outcry against it has grown great before the Lord, so the Lord has sent us to destroy it.”
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to his daughters in marriage. He said, “Get up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is going to destroy the city.” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking.
15 When the dawn came, the angels urged Lot, “Get going! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, so that you will not be swept away by the guilt of the city.” 16 But Lot was taking too much time, so the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, because of the Lord’s compassion for him. They led him out and placed him outside of the city. 17 Then when they had taken them out, one of them said, “Run for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, so that you are not swept away!”
18 Lot said to them, “Oh no, my lord.[d] 19 See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great mercy by saving my life. I cannot flee to the mountains, or this disaster will stick with me, and I will die. 20 Look, this city is close enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Please let me flee there—isn’t it just a little one?—so that my life will be saved.”
21 The man said to him, “Very well, I have granted your request concerning this thing, so I will not overthrow the city that you have spoken about. 22 Hurry, flee there, because I cannot do anything until you get there.” So the city was named Zoar.[e]
23 The sun had risen over the land when Lot came to Zoar. 24 Then the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah sulfur and fire out of the sky from the Lord. 25 He overthrew those cities, as well as all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew in the soil.
26 But Lot’s wife, who was behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.
27 Abraham got up early in the morning and went to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain. As he looked, he saw that the smoke from the land was going up like the smoke from a kiln.
29 And so when God destroyed the cities of the plain, God remembered Abraham and brought Lot out through the middle of the devastation, when he overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the mountains, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. His two daughters were with him. He lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 The firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man in the land to come to us as normally takes place everywhere on earth. 32 Come on, let’s get our father to drink wine, and we will lie down with him, that we may preserve our father’s seed.”[f] 33 They got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn went and lay down with her father. He did not know it when she lay down or when she got up.
34 Then the next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, last night I lay down with my father. Let us get him to drink wine again tonight. You go and lie down with him, so that we may preserve our father’s seed.” 35 They got their father to drink wine that night also. Then the younger went and lay with him. He did not know it when she lay down or when she got up. 36 In this way both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.
37 The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab.[g] He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also gave birth to a son and called his name Ben Ammi.[h] He is the father of the people of Ammon to this day.
Do Not Worry
25 “For this reason I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air. They do not sow or reap or gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 “Which of you can add a single moment to his lifespan by worrying? 28 Why do you worry about clothing? Consider how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin, 29 but I tell you that not even Solomon in all his glory was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will he not clothe you even more, you of little faith?
31 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 For the unbelievers[a] chase after all these things. Certainly your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Consider the Beam in Your Own Eye
7 “Stop judging, so that you will not be judged. 2 For with whatever standard you judge, you will be judged, and with whatever measure you measure, it will be measured to you. 3 Why do you focus on[b] the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the beam that is in your own eye? 4 How will you tell your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye,’ when, in fact, you have a beam in your own eye? 5 Hypocrite! First remove the beam from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Do Not Throw Your Pearls to Pigs
6 “Do not give dogs what is holy, and do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they will trample them under their feet and turn and tear you to pieces.
Keep Praying
7 “Keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened for you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks, it will be opened. 9 Who among you, if his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? 10 Or who, if his son asks for a fish, would give him a snake? 11 Then if you know how to give good gifts to your children, even though you are evil, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!
The Golden Rule
12 “So do for others whatever you want people to do for you, because this is the Law and the Prophets.
The Narrow Gate
13 “Enter through the narrow gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it. 14 How narrow is the gate, and how difficult is the way that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Psalm 8
Your Name Is Majestic
Heading
For the choir director. According to gittith.[a] A psalm by David.
The Glory of God Declared by the Heavens
The Glory of God Declared by Children
1 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
Set this glory of yours above the heavens.[b]
2 From the lips of little children and nursing babies
you have established strength[c] because of your foes,
to put a stop to the enemy and the avenger.
The Glory of the Son of Man
3 Whenever I look up at your heavens, the works of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place—
4 what is man that you remember him,
the son of man[d] that you pay attention to him!
5 Nevertheless, you make him suffer need,
apart from God for a while,[e]
but you crown him with glory and honor.
6 You make him the ruler over the works of your hands.
You put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and cattle, and even the wild animals,
8 the birds of the sky, and the fish of the sea,
which pass through the currents of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
6 because the Lord gives wisdom.
Knowledge and understanding come from his mouth.
7 He stores up sound judgment for upright people.
He is a shield for those who walk in integrity.
8 He protects those who walk on paths of justice.
He guards the way of his favored ones.[a]
9 Then you will understand righteousness, justice,
and fairness—every good path,
10 because wisdom will come into your heart,
and knowledge will be pleasant for your soul.
11 Foresight will stand guard over you.
Understanding will protect you.
12 It will save you from the evil way,
from the man who speaks perverse things,
13 from those who abandon upright paths
in order to walk in the ways of darkness.
14 It will save you from those who enjoy doing evil,
from those who celebrate the twisted ways of evil,
15 from those whose paths are crooked,
and from those whose ways are devious.
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.