Daily Readings for January 10
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Genesis 19

 

1.The two angels came to Sodom at evening. Lot sat in the gate of Sodom. Lot saw them, and rose up to meet them. He bowed himself with his face to the earth, 2.and he said, "See now, my lords, please turn aside into your servant's house, stay all night, wash your feet, and you can rise up early, and go on your way."

They said, "No, but we will stay in the street all night."

3.He urged them greatly, and they came in with him, and entered into 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 every quarter. 5.They called to Lot, and said to him, "Where are the men who came in to you this night? Bring them out to us, that we may have sex with them."

6.Lot went out to them to the door, and shut the door after him. 7.He said, "Please, my brothers, don't act so wickedly. 8.See now, I have two virgin daughters. Please let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them what seems good to you. Only don't do anything to these men, because they have come under the shadow of my roof."

9.They said, "Stand back!" Then they said, "This one fellow came in to live as a foreigner, and he appoints himself a judge. Now will we deal worse with you, than with them!" They pressed hard on the man Lot, and drew near to break the door. 10.But the men reached out their hand, and brought Lot into the house to them, and shut the door. 11.They struck the men who were at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they wearied themselves to find the door.

12.The men said to Lot, "Do you have anybody else here? Sons-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whoever you have in the city, bring them out of the place: 13.for we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before Yahweh that Yahweh has sent us to destroy it."

14.Lot went out, and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters, and said, "Get up! Get out of this place, for Yahweh will destroy the city."

But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be joking. 15.When the morning came, then the angels hurried Lot, saying, "Get up! Take your wife, and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the iniquity of the city." 16.But he lingered; and the men grabbed his hand, his wife's hand, and his two daughters' hands, Yahweh being merciful to him; and they took him out, and set him outside of the city. 17.It came to pass, when they had taken them out, that he said, "Escape for your life! Don't look behind you, and don't stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be consumed!"

18.Lot said to them, "Oh, not so, my lord. 19.See now, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have magnified your loving kindness, which you have shown to me in saving my life. I can't escape to the mountain, lest evil overtake me, and I die. 20.See now, this city is near to flee to, and it is a little one. Oh let me escape there (isn't it a little one?), and my soul will live."

21.He said to him, "Behold, I have granted your request concerning this thing also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22.Hurry, escape there, for I can't do anything until you get there." Therefore the name of the city was called Zoar.⁸

23.The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24.Then Yahweh rained on Sodom and on Gomorrah sulfur and fire from Yahweh out of the sky. 25.He overthrew those cities, all the plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew on the ground. 26.But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.

27.Abraham got up early in the morning to the place where he had stood before Yahweh. 28.He looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and looked, and saw that the smoke of the land went up as the smoke of a furnace.

29.It happened, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the middle of the overthrow, when he overthrew the cities in which Lot lived.

30.Lot went up out of Zoar, and lived in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he was afraid to live in Zoar. 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 earth to come in to us in the way of all the earth. 32.Come, let's make our father drink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." 33.They made their father drink wine that night: and the firstborn went in, and lay with her father. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she arose. 34.It came to pass on the next day, that the firstborn said to the younger, "Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine again, tonight. You go in, and lie with him, that we may preserve our father's seed." 35.They made their father drink wine that night also. The younger went and lay with him. He didn't know when she lay down, nor when she got up. 36.Thus both of Lot's daughters were with child by their father. 37.The firstborn bore a son, and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites to this day. 38.The younger also bore a son, and called his name Ben Ammi. He is the father of the children of Ammon to this day.

 

Psalm 22

 

1.My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, and from the words of my groaning? 2.My God, I cry in the daytime, but you don't answer; in the night season, and am not silent. 3.But you are holy, you who inhabit the praises of Israel. 4.Our fathers trusted in you. They trusted, and you delivered them. 5.They cried to you, and were delivered. They trusted in you, and were not disappointed. 6.But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised by the people. 7.All those who see me mock me. They insult me with their lips. They shake their heads, saying, 8."He trusts in Yahweh; let him deliver him. Let him rescue him, since he delights in him." 9.But you brought me out of the womb. You made me trust at my mother's breasts. 10.I was thrown on you from my mother's womb. You are my God since my mother bore me. 11.Don't be far from me, for trouble is near. For there is none to help. 12.Many bulls have surrounded me. Strong bulls of Bashan have encircled me. 13.They open their mouths wide against me, lions tearing prey and roaring. 14.I am poured out like water. All my bones are out of joint. My heart is like wax; it is melted within me. 15.My strength is dried up like a potsherd. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. You have brought me into the dust of death. 16.For dogs have surrounded me. A company of evildoers have enclosed me. They have pierced my hands and feet.¹¹ 17.I can count all of my bones. They look and stare at me. 18.They divide my garments among them. They cast lots for my clothing.

19.But don't be far off, Yahweh. You are my help: hurry to help me. 20.Deliver my soul from the sword, my precious life from the power of the dog. 21.Save me from the lion's mouth! Yes, from the horns of the wild oxen, you have answered me. 22.I will declare your name to my brothers. In the midst of the assembly, I will praise you. 23.You who fear Yahweh, praise him! All you descendants of Jacob, glorify him! Stand in awe of him, all you descendants of Israel! 24.For he has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted, Neither has he hidden his face from him; but when he cried to him, he heard.

25.Of you comes my praise in the great assembly. I will pay my vows before those who fear him. 26.The humble shall eat and be satisfied. They shall praise Yahweh who seek after him. Let your hearts live forever. 27.All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to Yahweh. All the relatives of the nations shall worship before you. 28.For the kingdom is Yahweh's. He is the ruler over the nations. 29.All the rich ones of the earth shall eat and worship. All those who go down to the dust shall bow before him, even he who can't keep his soul alive. 30.Posterity shall serve him. Future generations shall be told about the Lord. 31.They shall come and shall declare his righteousness to a people that shall be born, for he has done it.

 

Matthew 12

 

1.At that time, Jesus went on the Sabbath day through the grain fields. His disciples were hungry and began to pluck heads of grain and to eat. 2.But the Pharisees, when they saw it, said to him, "Behold, your disciples do what is not lawful to do on the Sabbath."

3.But he said to them, "Haven't you read what David did, when he was hungry, and those who were with him; 4.how he entered into the house of God, and ate the show bread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for those who were with him, but only for the priests?[60] 5.Or have you not read in the law, that on the Sabbath day, the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath, and are guiltless? 6.But I tell you that one greater than the temple is here. 7.But if you had known what this means, 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,'[61] you would not have condemned the guiltless. 8.For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath."

9.He departed there, and went into their synagogue. 10.And behold there was a man with a withered hand. They asked him, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath day?" that they might accuse him.

11.He said to them, "What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won't he grab on to it, and lift it out? 12.Of how much more value then is a man than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath day." 13.Then he told the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out; and it was restored whole, just like the other. 14.But the Pharisees went out, and conspired against him, how they might destroy him. 15.Jesus, perceiving that, withdrew from there. Great multitudes followed him; and he healed them all, 16.and commanded them that they should not make him known: 17.that it might be fulfilled which was spoken through Isaiah the prophet, saying, 18."Behold, my servant whom I have chosen; my beloved in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my Spirit on him. He will proclaim justice to the nations. 19.He will not strive, nor shout; neither will anyone hear his voice in the streets. 20.He won't break a bruised reed. He won't quench a smoking flax, until he leads justice to victory. 21.In his name, the nations will hope."[62]

22.Then one possessed by a demon, blind and mute, was brought to him and he healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw. 23.All the multitudes were amazed, and said, "Can this be the son of David?" 24.But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, "This man does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebul, the prince of the demons."

25.Knowing their thoughts, Jesus said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand. 26.If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27.If I by Beelzebul cast out demons, by whom do your children cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28.But if I by the Spirit of God cast out demons, then the Kingdom of God has come upon you. 29.Or how can one enter into the house of the strong man, and plunder his goods, unless he first bind the strong man? Then he will plunder his house.

30."He who is not with me is against me, and he who doesn't gather with me, scatters. 31.Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32.Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in that which is to come.

33."Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree corrupt, and its fruit corrupt; for the tree is known by its fruit. 34.You offspring of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. 35.The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure[63] brings out evil things. 36.I tell you that every idle word that men speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37.For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

38.Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered, "Teacher, we want to see a sign from you."

39.But he answered them, "An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, but no sign will be given it but the sign of Jonah the prophet. 40.For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the whale, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41.The men of Nineveh will stand up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, someone greater than Jonah is here. 42.The queen of the south will rise up in the judgment with this generation, and will condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon; and behold, someone greater than Solomon is here. 43.But the unclean spirit, when he is gone out of the man, passes through waterless places, seeking rest, and doesn't find it. 44.Then he says, 'I will return into my house from which I came out,' and when he has come back, he finds it empty, swept, and put in order. 45.Then he goes, and takes with himself seven other spirits more evil than he is, and they enter in and dwell there. The last state of that man becomes worse than the first. Even so will it be also to this evil generation."

46.While he was yet speaking to the multitudes, behold, his mother and his brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to him. 47.One said to him, "Behold, your mother and your brothers stand outside, seeking to speak to you."

48.But he answered him who spoke to him, "Who is my mother? Who are my brothers?" 49.He stretched out his hand towards his disciples, and said, "Behold, my mother and my brothers! 50.For whoever does the will of my Father who is in heaven, he is my brother, and sister, and mother."

 

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