Today's Readings and Stuff -- Thursday, 07 January 2021

 sent late, and the previous commentary was lost.  Probably no harm from that.

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GENESIS 18

Abraham’s Three Visitors

1Then the Lord appeared to Abraham at the oaks of Mamre  while he was sitting in the entrance of his tent during the heat of the day. 2He looked up, and he saw three men standing near him.  When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed to the ground. 3Then he said, “My lord,  if I have found favor in your sight, please do not go on past your servant. 4Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. 5I will bring a bit of bread so that you may strengthen yourselves.  This is why you have passed your servant’s way. Later, you can continue on.”

“Yes,” they replied, “do as you have said.”

6So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Knead three measures  of fine flour and make bread.”  7Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd and got a tender, choice calf. He gave it to a young man, who hurried to prepare it. 8Then Abraham took curds  and milk, and the calf that he had prepared, and set them before the men. He served  them as they ate under the tree.

Sarah Laughs

9“Where is your wife Sarah? ” they asked him.

“There, in the tent,” he answered.

10The Lord said, “I will certainly come back to you in about a year’s time, and your wife Sarah will have a son! ”  Now Sarah was listening at the entrance of the tent behind him.

11Abraham and Sarah were old and getting on in years.  Sarah had passed the age of childbearing.   12So she laughed to herself: “After I have become shriveled up and my lord is old, will I have delight? ” 

13But the Lord asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Can I really have a baby when I’m old? ’ 14Is anything impossible for the Lord?  At the appointed time I will come back to you, and in about a year she will have a son.”

15Sarah denied it. “I did not laugh,” she said, because she was afraid.

But He replied, “No, you did laugh.”

Abraham’s Plea for Sodom

16The men got up from there and looked out over Sodom, and Abraham was walking with them to see them off. 17Then the Lord said, “Should I hide what I am about to do from Abraham?  18Abraham is to become a great and powerful nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.  19For I have chosen  him so that he will command his children and his house after him to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just. This is how the Lord will fulfill to Abraham what He promised him.” 20Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is immense, and their sin is extremely serious. 21I will go down  to see if what they have done justifies the cry that has come up to Me. If not, I will find out.”

22The men turned from there and went toward Sodom  while Abraham remained standing before the Lord.  23Abraham stepped forward and said, “Will You really sweep away the righteous with the wicked?  24What if there are 50 righteous people in the city? Will You really sweep it away instead of sparing the place for the sake of the 50 righteous people who are in it? 25You could not possibly do such a thing: to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous and the wicked alike. You could not possibly do that! Won’t the Judge of all the earth do what is just? ” 

26The Lord said, “If I find 50 righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.” 

27Then Abraham answered, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord — even though I am dust and ashes — 28suppose the 50 righteous lack five. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five? ”

He replied, “I will not destroy it if I find 45 there.”

29Then he spoke to Him again, “Suppose 40 are found there? ”

He answered, “I will not do it on account of 40.”

30Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak further. Suppose 30 are found there? ”

He answered, “I will not do it if I find 30 there.”

31Then he said, “Since I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose 20 are found there? ”

He replied, “I will not destroy it on account of 20.”

32Then he said, “Let the Lord not be angry, and I will speak one more time.  Suppose 10 are found there? ”

He answered, “I will not destroy it on account of 10.” 33When the Lord had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned to his place.

GENESIS 19

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

1The two angels entered Sodom  in the evening as Lot was sitting at Sodom’s gate. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them. He bowed with his face to the ground 2and said, “My lords, turn aside to your servant’s house, wash your feet, and spend the night. Then you can get up early and go on your way.”

“No,” they said. “We would rather spend the night in the square.” 3But he urged them so strongly that they followed him and went into his house. He prepared a feast and baked unleavened bread for them, and they ate.

4Before they went to bed, the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, the whole population, surrounded the house. 5They called out to Lot and said, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have sex with them! ” 

6Lot went out to them at the entrance and shut the door behind him. 7He said, “Don’t do this evil, my brothers. 8Look, I’ve got two daughters who haven’t had sexual relations with a man.  I’ll bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want  to them. However, don’t do anything to these men, because they have come under the protection of my roof.”

9“Get out of the way! ” they said, adding, “This one came here as a foreigner, but he’s acting like a judge!  Now we’ll do more harm to you than to them.” They put pressure on Lot and came up to break down the door. 10But the angels  reached out, brought Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11They struck the men who were at the entrance of the house, both young and old, with a blinding light so that they were unable to find the entrance. 

12Then the angels  said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here: a son-in-law, your sons and daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of this place, 13for we are about to destroy this place because the outcry against its people is so great before the Lord, that the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 

14So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were going to marry  his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city! ”  But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

15At daybreak the angels urged Lot on: “Get up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away in the punishment  of the city.” 16But he hesitated. Because of the Lord’s compassion for him, the men grabbed his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters. Then they brought him out and left him outside the city.

17As soon as the angels got them outside, one of them  said, “Run for your lives! Don’t look back and don’t stop anywhere on the plain! Run to the mountains, or you will be swept away! ”

18But Lot said to them, “No, my lords  — please. 19Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by saving my life. But I can’t run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20Look, this town is close enough for me to run to. It is a small place. Please let me go there — it’s only a small place, isn’t it? — so that I can survive.”

21And he said to him, “All right,  I’ll grant your request  about this matter too and will not demolish the town you mentioned. 22Hurry up! Run there, for I cannot do anything until you get there.” Therefore the name of the city is Zoar.  

23The sun had risen over the land when Lot reached Zoar. 24Then out of the sky the Lord rained burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah from the Lord.  25He demolished these cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities, and whatever grew on the ground. 26But his wife looked back and became a pillar of salt. 

27Early in the morning Abraham went to the place where he had stood before the Lord.  28He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and all the land of the plain, and he saw that smoke was going up from the land like the smoke of a furnace. 29So it was, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham and brought Lot out of the middle of the upheaval when He demolished the cities where Lot had lived.

The Origin of Moab and Ammon

30Lot departed from Zoar and lived in the mountains along with his two daughters, because he was afraid to live in Zoar. Instead, he and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31Then the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us as is the custom of all the land. 32Come, let’s get our father to drink wine so that we can sleep with him and preserve our father’s line.” 33So they got their father to drink wine that night, and the firstborn came and slept with her father; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

34The next day the firstborn said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight so you can go sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” 35That night they again got their father to drink wine, and the younger went and slept with him; he did not know when she lay down or when she got up.

36So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. 37The firstborn gave birth to a son and named him Moab.  He is the father of the Moabites of today.  38The younger also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi.  He is the father of the Ammonites of today. 

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MATTHEW 6

How to Give

1“Be careful not to practice your righteousness  in front of people, to be seen by them. Otherwise, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2So whenever you give to the poor, don’t sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be applauded by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!  3But when you give to the poor, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.  

How to Pray

5“Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!  6But when you pray, go into your private room, shut your door, and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.   7When you pray, don’t babble like the idolaters,  since they imagine they’ll be heard for their many words.  8Don’t be like them, because your Father knows the things you need before you ask Him. 

The Model Prayer

9“Therefore, you should pray like this: 

Our Father in heaven,

Your name be honored as holy. 

10Your kingdom come.

Your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven. 

11Give us today our daily bread. 

12And forgive us our debts,

as we also have forgiven our debtors. 

13And do not bring us into  temptation, 

but deliver us from the evil one.  

For Yours is the kingdom and the power

and the glory forever. Amen. 

14“For if you forgive people their wrongdoing,  your heavenly Father will forgive you as well.  15But if you don’t forgive people,  your Father will not forgive your wrongdoing. 

How to Fast

16“Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive   so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward! 17But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,  18so that you don’t show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you. 

God and Possessions

19“Don’t collect for yourselves treasures  on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal.  20But collect for yourselves treasures in heaven,  where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves don’t break in and steal. 21For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

22“The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. 23But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. So if the light within you is darkness — how deep is that darkness! 

24“No one can be a slave of two masters, since either he will hate one and love the other, or be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot be slaves of God and of money. 

The Cure for Anxiety

25“This is why I tell you:  Don’t worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Isn’t life more than food and the body more than clothing?  26Look at the birds of the sky: They don’t sow or reap or gather into barns, yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Aren’t you worth more than they?  27Can any of you add a single cubit to his height  by worrying? 28And why do you worry about clothes? Learn how the wildflowers of the field grow: they don’t labor or spin thread. 29Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was adorned like one of these! 30If that’s how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and thrown into the furnace tomorrow, won’t He do much more for you — you of little faith?  31So don’t worry, saying, ‘What will we eat? ’ or ‘What will we drink? ’ or ‘What will we wear? ’ 32For the idolaters  eagerly seek all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God   and His righteousness,  and all these things will be provided for you.  34Therefore don’t worry about tomorrow, because tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble  of its own.