Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

ו Waw

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)

Jesus Is Lord of the Sabbath^(A)(B)

12 At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain^(C) and eat them. ² When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”^(D)

³ He answered, “Haven’t you read what David did when he and his companions were hungry?^{(E) 4} He entered the house of God, and he and his companions ate the consecrated bread—which was not lawful for them to do, but only for the priests.^{(F) 5} Or haven’t you read in the Law that the priests on Sabbath duty in the temple desecrate the Sabbath^(G) and yet are innocent? ⁶ I tell you that something greater than the temple is here.^{(H) 7} If you had known what these words mean, ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’^[a](I) you would not have condemned the innocent. ⁸ For the Son of Man^(J) is Lord of the Sabbath.”