July 30, 2028

20So the LORD said: The outcry against Sodom and Gomorrah is so great, and their sin so grave, 21that I must go down to see whether or not their actions are as bad as the cry against them that comes to me. I mean to find out. 22As the men turned and walked on toward Sodom, Abraham remained standing before the LORD. 23Then Abraham drew near and said: “Will you really sweep away the righteous with the wicked? 24Suppose there were fifty righteous people in the city; would you really sweep away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people within it? 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! Should not the judge of all the world do what is just?” 26The LORD replied: If I find fifty righteous people in the city of Sodom, I will spare the whole place for their sake. 27Abraham spoke up again: “See how I am presuming to speak to my Lord, though I am only dust and ashes! 28What if there are five less than fifty righteous people? Will you destroy the whole city because of those five?” I will not destroy it, he answered, if I find forty-five there. 29But Abraham persisted, saying, “What if only forty are found there?” He replied: I will refrain from doing it for the sake of the forty. 30Then he said, “Do not let my Lord be angry if I go on. What if only thirty are found there?” He replied: I will refrain from doing it if I can find thirty there. 31Abraham went on, “Since I have thus presumed to speak to my Lord, what if there are no more than twenty?” I will not destroy it, he answered, for the sake of the twenty. 32But he persisted: “Please, do not let my Lord be angry if I speak up this last time. What if ten are found there?” For the sake of the ten, he replied, I will not destroy it.

1Psalm 138 Hymn of a Grateful Heart - Of David. I - I thank you, Lord, with all my heart; in the presence of the angels to you I sing. 2I bow low toward your holy temple; I praise your name for your mercy and faithfulness. For you have exalted over all your name and your promise. 3On the day I cried out, you answered; you strengthened my spirit. 6The LORD is on high, but cares for the lowly and knows the proud from afar. 7Though I walk in the midst of dangers, you guard my life when my enemies rage. You stretch out your hand; your right hand saves me. 8The LORD is with me to the end. LORD, your mercy endures forever. Never forsake the work of your hands!

12You were buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. 13And even when you were dead [in] transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, he brought you to life along with him, having forgiven us all our transgressions; 14obliterating the bond against us, with its legal claims, which was opposed to us, he also removed it from our midst, nailing it to the cross;

15For you did not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received a spirit of adoption, through which we cry, “Abba, Father!”

1He was praying in a certain place, and when he had finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray just as John taught his disciples.” 2He said to them, “When you pray, say: Father, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come. 3Give us each day our daily bread 4and forgive us our sins for we ourselves forgive everyone in debt to us, and do not subject us to the final test.” Further Teachings on Prayer. 5And he said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend to whom he goes at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6for a friend of mine has arrived at my house from a journey and I have nothing to offer him,’ 7and he says in reply from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door has already been locked and my children and I are already in bed. I cannot get up to give you anything.’ 8I tell you, if he does not get up to give him the loaves because of their friendship, he will get up to give him whatever he needs because of his persistence. The Answer to Prayer. 9“And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. 11What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? 12Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? 13If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in heaven give the holy Spirit to those who ask him?” Jesus and Beelzebul.