The Daily Audio Bible
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Abraham Pleads for Sodom
16 When the men(A) got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom, and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way. 17 Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham(B) what I am about to do?(C) 18 Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,(D) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.[a] 19 For I have chosen him(E), so that he will direct his children(F) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord(G) by doing what is right and just,(H) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”(I)
20 Then the Lord said, “The outcry against Sodom(J) and Gomorrah is so great(K) and their sin so grievous(L) 21 that I will go down(M) and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached me. If not, I will know.”
22 The men(N) turned away and went toward Sodom,(O) but Abraham remained standing before the Lord.[b](P) 23 Then Abraham approached him and said: “Will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked?(Q) 24 What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare[c] the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?(R) 25 Far be it from you to do such a thing(S)—to kill the righteous with the wicked, treating the righteous(T) and the wicked alike.(U) Far be it from you! Will not the Judge(V) of all the earth do right?”(W)
26 The Lord said, “If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake.(X)”
27 Then Abraham spoke up again: “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, though I am nothing but dust and ashes,(Y) 28 what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”
“If I find forty-five there,” he said, “I will not destroy it.”
29 Once again he spoke to him, “What if only forty are found there?”
He said, “For the sake of forty, I will not do it.”
30 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry,(Z) but let me speak. What if only thirty can be found there?”
He answered, “I will not do it if I find thirty there.”
31 Abraham said, “Now that I have been so bold as to speak to the Lord, what if only twenty can be found there?”
He said, “For the sake of twenty, I will not destroy it.”
32 Then he said, “May the Lord not be angry, but let me speak just once more.(AA) What if only ten can be found there?”
He answered, “For the sake of ten,(AB) I will not destroy it.”
33 When the Lord had finished speaking(AC) with Abraham, he left,(AD) and Abraham returned home.(AE)
Sodom and Gomorrah Destroyed
19 The two angels(AF) arrived at Sodom(AG) in the evening, and Lot(AH) was sitting in the gateway of the city.(AI) When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his face to the ground.(AJ) 2 “My lords,” he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your feet(AK) and spend the night and then go on your way early in the morning.”
“No,” they answered, “we will spend the night in the square.”(AL)
3 But he insisted(AM) so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house.(AN) He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,(AO) and they ate.(AP) 4 Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom(AQ)—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5 They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.”(AR)
6 Lot went outside to meet them(AS) and shut the door behind him 7 and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”(AT)
9 “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner,(AU) and now he wants to play the judge!(AV) We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
10 But the men(AW) inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness(AX) so that they could not find the door.
12 The two men said to Lot, “Do you have anyone else here—sons-in-law, sons or daughters, or anyone else in the city who belongs to you?(AY) Get them out of here, 13 because we(AZ) are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the Lord against its people is so great(BA) that he has sent us to destroy it.”(BB)
14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry[d] his daughters. He said, “Hurry and get out of this place, because the Lord is about to destroy the city!(BC)” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.(BD)
15 With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away(BE) when the city is punished.(BF)”
16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters(BG) and led them safely out of the city, for the Lord was merciful to them.(BH) 17 As soon as they had brought them out, one of them said, “Flee for your lives!(BI) Don’t look back,(BJ) and don’t stop anywhere in the plain!(BK) Flee to the mountains(BL) or you will be swept away!”
18 But Lot said to them, “No, my lords,[e] please! 19 Your[f] servant has found favor in your[g] eyes,(BM) and you[h] have shown great kindness(BN) to me in sparing my life. But I can’t flee to the mountains;(BO) this disaster will overtake me, and I’ll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it—it is very small, isn’t it? Then my life will be spared.”
21 He said to him, “Very well, I will grant this request(BP) too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it.” (That is why the town was called Zoar.[i](BQ))
23 By the time Lot reached Zoar,(BR) the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur(BS) on Sodom and Gomorrah(BT)—from the Lord out of the heavens.(BU) 25 Thus he overthrew those cities(BV) and the entire plain,(BW) destroying all those living in the cities—and also the vegetation in the land.(BX) 26 But Lot’s wife looked back,(BY) and she became a pillar of salt.(BZ)
27 Early the next morning Abraham got up and returned to the place where he had stood before the Lord.(CA) 28 He looked down toward Sodom and Gomorrah, toward all the land of the plain, and he saw dense smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a furnace.(CB)
29 So when God destroyed the cities of the plain,(CC) he remembered(CD) Abraham, and he brought Lot out of the catastrophe(CE) that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived.(CF)
Lot and His Daughters
30 Lot and his two daughters left Zoar(CG) and settled in the mountains,(CH) for he was afraid to stay in Zoar. He and his two daughters lived in a cave. 31 One day the older daughter said to the younger, “Our father is old, and there is no man around here to give us children—as is the custom all over the earth. 32 Let’s get our father to drink wine and then sleep with him and preserve our family line(CI) through our father.”(CJ)
33 That night they got their father to drink wine, and the older daughter went in and slept with him. He was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(CK)
34 The next day the older daughter said to the younger, “Last night I slept with my father. Let’s get him to drink wine again tonight, and you go in and sleep with him so we can preserve our family line through our father.”(CL) 35 So they got their father to drink wine(CM) that night also, and the younger daughter went in and slept with him. Again he was not aware of it when she lay down or when she got up.(CN)
36 So both of Lot’s daughters became pregnant by their father.(CO) 37 The older daughter had a son, and she named him Moab[j];(CP) he is the father of the Moabites(CQ) of today. 38 The younger daughter also had a son, and she named him Ben-Ammi[k]; he is the father of the Ammonites[l](CR) of today.
Do Not Worry(A)
25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry(B) 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 clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.(C) Are you not much more valuable than they?(D) 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life[a]?(E)
28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor(F) was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?(G) 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them.(H) 33 But seek first his kingdom(I) and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.(J) 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Judging Others(K)
7 “Do not judge, or you too will be judged.(L) 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.(M)
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
6 “Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces.
Ask, Seek, Knock(N)
7 “Ask and it will be given to you;(O) seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds;(P) and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.
9 “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10 Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? 11 If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts(Q) to those who ask him! 12 So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,(R) for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.(S)
The Narrow and Wide Gates
13 “Enter through the narrow gate.(T) For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.
Psalm 8[a]
For the director of music. According to gittith.[b] A psalm of David.
1 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name(A) in all the earth!
You have set your glory(B)
in the heavens.(C)
2 Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold(D) against your enemies,
to silence the foe(E) and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,(F)
the work of your fingers,(G)
the moon and the stars,(H)
which you have set in place,
4 what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them?[c](I)
5 You have made them[d] a little lower than the angels[e](J)
and crowned them[f] with glory and honor.(K)
6 You made them rulers(L) over the works of your hands;(M)
you put everything under their[g] feet:(N)
7 all flocks and herds,(O)
and the animals of the wild,(P)
8 the birds in the sky,
and the fish in the sea,(Q)
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(R)
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;(A)
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding.(B)
7 He holds success in store for the upright,
he is a shield(C) to those whose walk is blameless,(D)
8 for he guards the course of the just
and protects the way of his faithful ones.(E)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.