The Temptation of Jesus

1 ^yThen Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the ^zwilderness to be tempted by the devil. 2 And after ^afasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3 And the tempter came and said to him, “If you are the ^bSon of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.” 4 But he answered, “It is written,

5 Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple 6 and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written,

and

7 Jesus said to him, “Again it is written, ^g‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.’” 8 Again, the devil took him to a ^hvery high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. 9 And he said to him, “All these I will give you, if you ⁱwill fall down and ^jworship me.” 10 Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written,

11 Then the devil left him, and behold, ^langels came and were ministering to him.

The Believers Pray for Boldness

23 When they were released, they went to their friends and reported what the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard it, they lifted their voices together to God and said, “Sovereign Lord, who ^qmade the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything in them, 25 who through the mouth of our father David, your servant,¹ said by the Holy Spirit,

27 for truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both ^sHerod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever your hand and your plan had ^tpredestined to take place. 29 And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all ^uboldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was ^vshaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

They Had Everything in Common

32 Now the full number of those who believed were of one heart and soul, and no one said that any of the things that belonged to him was his own, but they had everything in common. 33 And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all. 34 There was ^wnot a needy person among them, for as many as were owners of lands or houses ^xsold them and brought the proceeds of what was sold 35 and laid it at the apostles’ feet, and it was ^ydistributed to each as any had need. 36 Thus Joseph, who was also called by the apostles Barnabas (which means son of encouragement), a Levite, a native of Cyprus, 37 sold a field that belonged to him and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

In You Do I Take Refuge

A Shiggaion¹ of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

1 And the Lord ^xappeared to him by the oaks¹ of Mamre, as he sat at the door of his tent in the heat of the day. 2 He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, ^ythree men were standing in front of him. When he saw them, he ran from the tent door to meet them and ^zbowed himself to the earth 3 and said, “O Lord,² if I have found favor in your sight, ^ado not pass by your servant. 4 Let a little water be brought, and wash your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree, 5 while I bring a ^bmorsel of bread, that you may refresh yourselves, and after that you may pass on—since you have come to your servant.” So they said, “Do as you have said.” 6 And Abraham went quickly into the tent to Sarah and said, “Quick! ^cThree seahs³ of fine flour! Knead it, and make cakes.” 7 And Abraham ran to the herd and took a ^dcalf, tender and good, and gave it to a young man, who prepared it quickly. 8 Then he took curds and milk and the calf that he had prepared, and set it before them. And he stood by them under the tree while they ate.

9 They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” 10 The Lord said, ^e“I will surely return to you about this time next year, and ^fSarah your wife shall have a son.” ^gAnd Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him. 11 ^hNow Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. 12 So Sarah ⁱlaughed to herself, saying, ^j“After I am worn out, and ^kmy lord is old, shall I have pleasure?” 13 The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ 14 ^lIs anything too hard⁴ for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.” 15 But Sarah denied it,⁵ saying, “I did not laugh,” for she was afraid. He said, “No, but you did laugh.”

16 Then the men set out from there, and they looked down toward Sodom. And Abraham went with them to set them on their way. 17 The Lord said, ^m“Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, 18 seeing that Abraham shall surely become a ⁿgreat and mighty nation, and ^oall the nations of the earth shall be blessed in him? 19 For I have ^pchosen⁶ him, that he may command his children and his household after him to ^qkeep the way of the Lord by doing righteousness and justice, so that the Lord may bring to Abraham what he has promised him.” 20 Then the Lord said, “Because the ^routcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is great and ^stheir sin is very grave, 21 I will go down to see whether they have done altogether⁷ according to the outcry that has come to me. And if not, I will know.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

22 So ^tthe men turned from there and went toward Sodom, but Abraham still ^ustood before ^vthe Lord. 23 Then Abraham drew near and said, ^w“Will you indeed sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24 Suppose there are fifty righteous within the city. Will you then sweep away the place and not spare it for the fifty righteous who are in it? 25 ^xFar be it from you to do such a thing, to put the righteous to death with the wicked, so that the righteous fare as the wicked! Far be that from you! ^yShall not the Judge of all the earth do what is just?” 26 And the Lord said, “If I find at Sodom fifty righteous in the city, I will spare the whole place for their sake.”

27 Abraham answered and said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am ^zbut ^adust and ashes. 28 Suppose five of the fifty righteous are lacking. Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?” And he said, “I will not destroy it if I find forty-five there.” 29 Again he spoke to him and said, “Suppose forty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of forty I will not do it.” 30 Then he said, ^b“Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak. Suppose thirty are found there.” He answered, “I will not do it, if I find thirty there.” 31 He said, “Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord. Suppose twenty are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of twenty I will not destroy it.” 32 Then he said, “Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak again but this once. Suppose ^cten are found there.” He answered, “For the sake of ten I will not destroy it.” 33 And the Lord went his way, when he had finished speaking to Abraham, and Abraham returned to his place.

God Rescues Lot

1 The ^dtwo angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and ^ebowed himself with his face to the earth 2 and said, ^f“My lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house and spend the night and wash your feet. Then you may rise up early and go on your way.” They said, “No; we will spend the night in the town square.” 3 But he pressed them strongly; so they turned aside to him and entered his house. And 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, both young and old, all the people to the last man, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot, “Where are the ^gmen who came to you tonight? ^hBring them out to us, that we may know them.” 6 Lot went out to the men at the entrance, shut the door after him, 7 and said, “I beg you, my brothers, ⁱdo not act ^jso wickedly. 8 ^kBehold, I have two daughters who have not known any man. Let me bring them out to you, and do to them as you please. Only do nothing to these men, for they have come under the shelter of my roof.” 9 But they said, “Stand back!” And they said, “This fellow ^lcame to sojourn, and ^mhe has become the judge! Now we will deal worse with you than with them.” Then they pressed hard against the man Lot, and drew near to break the door down. 10 But the men reached out their hands and brought Lot into the house with them and shut the door. 11 And they struck with blindness the men who were at the entrance of the house, both small and great, so that they wore themselves out groping for the door.

12 Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone you have in the city, bring them out of the place. 13 For we are about to destroy this place, because the ⁿoutcry against its people has become great before the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and said to his sons-in-law, who were to marry his daughters, “Up! Get out of this place, for the Lord is about to destroy the city.” But he seemed to his sons-in-law to be jesting.

15 As morning dawned, ^othe angels urged Lot, saying, “Up! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he lingered. So the men seized him and his wife and his two daughters by the hand, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 And as they brought them out, one said, “Escape for your life. Do not look back or stop anywhere in the valley. Escape to the hills, lest you be swept away.” 18 And Lot said to them, “Oh, no, my lords. 19 Behold, your servant has found favor in your sight, and you have shown me great kindness in saving my life. But I cannot escape to the hills, lest the disaster overtake me and I die. 20 Behold, this city is near enough to flee to, and it is a little one. Let me escape there—is it not a little one?—and my life will be saved!” 21 He said to him, “Behold, I grant you this favor also, that I will not overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Escape there quickly, for I can do nothing till you arrive there.” ^pTherefore the name of the city was called Zoar.⁸

God Destroys Sodom

23 The sun had risen on the earth when Lot came to Zoar. 24 ^qThen the Lord rained on Sodom and Gomorrah ^rsulfur and fire from the Lord out of heaven. 25 And he overthrew those cities, and all the valley, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and what grew on the ground. 26 But ^sLot’s wife, behind him, ^tlooked back, and she became a pillar of salt.

27 And Abraham went early in the morning to ^uthe place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 And he looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah and toward all the land of the valley, and he looked and, behold, the smoke of the land went up like the smoke of a furnace.

29 So it was that, when God destroyed the cities of the valley, God ^vremembered Abraham and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow when he overthrew the cities in which Lot had lived.

Lot and His Daughters

30 Now Lot went up out of Zoar and lived in the hills with his two daughters, for he was afraid to live in Zoar. So he lived in a cave with his two daughters. 31 And the firstborn said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is not a man on earth to come in to us after the manner of all the earth. 32 Come, let us make our father ^wdrink wine, and we will lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” 33 So they made their father drink wine that night. And the firstborn went in and lay with her father. He did ^xnot know when she lay down or when she arose.

34 The next day, the firstborn said to the younger, “Behold, I lay last night with my father. Let us make him drink wine tonight also. Then you go in and lie with him, that we may preserve offspring from our father.” 35 So they made their father drink wine that night also. And the younger arose and lay with him, and he did not know when she lay down or when she arose. 36 Thus both the daughters of Lot became pregnant by their father. 37 The firstborn bore a son and called his name Moab.⁹ He is the ^yfather of the Moabites to this day. 38 The younger also bore a son and called his name Ben-ammi.¹⁰ He is the ^zfather of the Ammonites to this day.

Abraham and Abimelech

1 ^aFrom ^bthere Abraham journeyed toward the territory of the Negeb and lived between Kadesh and Shur; and he sojourned in Gerar. 2 And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, ^c“She is my sister.” And Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah. 3 But God came to Abimelech in a ^ddream by night and said to him, ^e“Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife.” 4 Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, ^f“Lord, will you kill an innocent people? 5 Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this.” 6 Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and ^git was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her. 7 Now then, return the man’s wife, for he is a ^hprophet, so that he will ⁱpray for you, and you shall live. But if you do not return her, know that you shall surely die, you and all who are yours.”

8 So Abimelech rose early in the morning and called all his servants and told them all these things. And the men were very much afraid. 9 Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, “What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that ^jyou have brought on me and my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ^kought not to be done.” 10 And Abimelech said to Abraham, “What did you see, that you did this thing?” 11 Abraham said, “I did it because I thought, ‘There is no ^lfear of God at all in this place, and they will ^mkill me because of my wife.’ 12 Besides, she is indeed my sister, ⁿthe daughter of my father though not the daughter of my mother, and she became my wife. 13 And ^owhen God caused me to wander from my father’s house, I said to her, ‘This is the kindness you must do me: at every place to which we come, say of me, “He is my brother.”’”

14 ^pThen Abimelech took sheep and oxen, and male servants and female servants, and gave them to Abraham, and returned Sarah his wife to him. 15 And Abimelech said, ^q“Behold, my land is before you; dwell where it pleases you.” 16 To Sarah he said, “Behold, I have given your brother a thousand pieces of silver. It is a sign of your innocence in the eyes of all¹¹ who are with you, and before everyone you are vindicated.” 17 Then Abraham prayed to God, and God healed Abimelech, and also healed his wife and female slaves so that they bore children. 18 For the Lord had ^rclosed all the wombs of the house of Abimelech because of Sarah, Abraham’s wife.