Day 9 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 8

¹O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! You have set Your glory above the heavens. ²From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger. ³When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— ⁴what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? ⁵You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor. ⁶You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet: ⁷all sheep and oxen, and even the beasts of the field, ⁸the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. ⁹O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth!

New Testament·Matthew 7

¹“Do not judge, or you will be judged. ²For with the same judgment you pronounce, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. ³Why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but fail to notice the beam in your own eye? ⁴How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ while there is still a beam in your own eye? ⁵You hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye. ⁶Do not give dogs what is holy; do not throw your pearls before swine. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces. ⁷Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. ⁸For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. ⁹Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? ¹⁰Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? ¹¹So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask Him! ¹²In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets. ¹³Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the way that leads to life, and only a few find it. ¹⁵Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶By their fruit you will recognize them. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. ¹⁹Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰So then, by their fruit you will recognize them. ²¹Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. ²²Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ ²³Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’ ²⁴Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. ²⁵The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock. ²⁶But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. ²⁷The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell—and great was its collapse!” ²⁸When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were astonished at His teaching, ²⁹because He taught as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.

Old Testament·Genesis 18–19

¹Then the LORD appeared to Abraham by the Oaks of Mamre in the heat of the day, while he was sitting at the entrance of his tent. ²And Abraham looked up and saw three men standing nearby. When he saw them, he ran from the entrance of his tent to meet them and bowed low to the ground. ³“My lord,” said Abraham, “if I have found favor in your sight, please do not pass your servant by. ⁴Let a little water be brought, that you may wash your feet and rest yourselves under the tree. ⁵And I will bring a bit of bread so that you may refresh yourselves. This is why you have passed your servant’s way. After that, you may continue on your way.” “Yes,” they replied, “you may do as you have said.” ⁶So Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, “Quick! Prepare three seahs of fine flour, knead it, and bake some bread.” ⁷Meanwhile, Abraham ran to the herd, selected a tender and choice calf, and gave it to a servant, who hurried to prepare it. ⁸Then Abraham brought curds and milk and the calf that had been prepared, and he set them before the men and stood by them under the tree as they ate. ⁹“Where is your wife Sarah?” they asked. “There, in the tent,” he replied. ¹⁰Then the LORD said, “I will surely return to you at this time next year, and your wife Sarah will have a son!” Now Sarah was behind him, listening at the entrance to the tent. ¹¹And Abraham and Sarah were already old and well along in years; Sarah had passed the age of childbearing. ¹²So she laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out and my master is old, will I now have this pleasure?” ¹³And the LORD asked Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Can I really bear a child when I am old?’ ¹⁴Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you—in about a year—and Sarah will have a son.” ¹⁵But Sarah was afraid, so she denied it and said, “I did not laugh.” “No,” replied the LORD, “but you did laugh.” ¹⁶When the men got up to leave, they looked out over Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them off. ¹⁷And the LORD said, “Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹⁸Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation, and through him all the nations of the earth will be blessed. ¹⁹For I have chosen him, so that he will command his children and his household after him to keep the way of the LORD by doing what is right and just, in order that the LORD may bring upon Abraham what He has promised.” ²⁰Then the LORD said, “The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great. Because their sin is so grievous, ²¹I will go down to see if their actions fully justify the outcry that has reached Me. If not, I will find out.” ²²And the two men turned away and went toward Sodom, but 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 fifty righteous ones in the city? Will You really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous ones who are there? ²⁵Far be it from You to do such a thing—to kill the righteous with the wicked, so that the righteous and the wicked are treated alike. Far be it from You! Will not the Judge of all the earth do what is right?” ²⁶So the LORD replied, “If I find fifty righteous ones within the city of Sodom, on their account I will spare the whole place.” ²⁷Then Abraham answered, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord—though I am but dust and ashes— ²⁸suppose the fifty righteous ones lack five. Will You destroy the whole city for the lack of five?” He replied, “If I find forty-five there, I will not destroy it.” ²⁹Once again Abraham spoke to the LORD, “Suppose forty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the forty, I will not do it.” ³⁰Then Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak further. Suppose thirty are found there?” He replied, “If I find thirty there, I will not do it.” ³¹And Abraham said, “Now that I have ventured to speak to the Lord, suppose twenty are found there?” He answered, “On account of the twenty, I will not destroy it.” ³²Finally, Abraham said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak once more. Suppose ten are found there?” And He answered, “On account of the ten, I will not destroy it.” ³³When the LORD had finished speaking with Abraham, He departed, and Abraham returned home.

19Now the two angels arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When Lot saw them, he got up to meet them, bowed facedown, ²and said, “My lords, please turn aside into the house of your servant; wash your feet and spend the night. Then you can rise early and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.” ³But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. ⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the men of the city of Sodom, both young and old, surrounded the house. ⁵They called out to Lot, saying, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them out to us so we can have relations with them!” ⁶Lot went outside to meet them, shutting the door behind him. ⁷“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing! ⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” ⁹“Get out of the way!” they replied. And they declared, “This one came here as a foreigner, and he is already acting like a judge! Now we will treat you worse than them.” And they pressed in on Lot and moved in to break down the door. ¹⁰But the men inside reached out, pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. ¹¹And they struck the men at the entrance, young and old, with blindness, so that they wearied themselves trying to find the door. ¹²Then the two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—a son-in-law, your sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, ¹³because we are about to destroy this place. For the outcry to the LORD against its people is so great that He has sent us to destroy it.” ¹⁴So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to 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 hurried Lot along, saying, “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 when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the LORD’s compassion for them. ¹⁷As soon as the men had brought them out, one of them said, “Run for your lives! Do not look back, and do not stop anywhere on the plain! Flee to the mountains, or you will be swept away!” ¹⁸But Lot replied, “No, my lords, please! ¹⁹Your servant has indeed found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness by sparing my life. But I cannot run to the mountains; the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. ²⁰Look, there is a town nearby where I can flee, and it is a small place. Please let me flee there—is it not a small place? Then my life will be saved.” ²¹“Very well,” he answered, “I will grant this request as well, and will not demolish the town you indicate. ²²Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar. ²³And by the time the sun had risen over the land, Lot had reached Zoar. ²⁴Then the LORD rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the LORD out of the heavens. ²⁵Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground. ²⁶But Lot’s wife looked back, and she became a pillar of salt. ²⁷Early the next morning, Abraham got up and returned 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 the smoke rising from the land like smoke from a furnace. ²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived. ³⁰Lot and his two daughters left Zoar and settled in the mountains—for he was afraid to stay in Zoar—where they lived in a cave. ³¹One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man in the land to sleep with us, as is the custom over all the earth. ³²Come, let us get our father drunk with wine so we can sleep with him and preserve his line.” ³³So that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the firstborn went in and slept with her father; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁴The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Look, I slept with my father last night. Let us get him drunk with wine again tonight so you can go in and sleep with him and we can preserve our father’s line.” ³⁵So again that night they got their father drunk with wine, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him; he was not aware when she lay down or when she got up. ³⁶Thus both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father. ³⁷The older daughter gave birth to a son and named him Moab. He is the father of the Moabites of today. ³⁸The younger daughter also gave birth to a son, and she named him Ben-ammi. He is the father of the Ammonites of today.