One Year Bible.

The Three Visitors

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.

Sarah Laughs at the Promise

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.”

Abraham Intercedes for Sodom

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.

Lot Welcomes the Angels

¹Now 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.

Lot Flees to Zoar

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.

The Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah

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.

Lot and His Daughters

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.

Israel’s Great Misery

¹Woe is me!

For I am like one gathering summer fruit

at the gleaning of the vineyard;

there is no cluster to eat,

no early fig that I crave.

²The godly man has perished from the earth;

there is no one upright among men.

They all lie in wait for blood;

they hunt one another with a net.

³Both hands are skilled at evil;

the prince and the judge demand a bribe.

When the powerful utters his evil desire,

they all conspire together.

⁴The best of them is like a brier;

the most upright is sharper than a hedge of thorns.

The day for your watchmen has come,

the day of your visitation.

Now is the time of their confusion.

⁵Do not rely on a friend;

do not trust in a companion.

Seal the doors of your mouth

from her who lies in your arms.

⁶For a son dishonors his father,

a daughter rises against her mother,

and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

A man’s enemies are the members

of his own household.

Israel’s Confession and Comfort

⁷But as for me, I will look to the LORD;

I will wait for the God of my salvation.

My God will hear me.

⁸Do not gloat over me, my enemy!

Though I have fallen, I will arise;

though I sit in darkness,

the LORD will be my light.

⁹Because I have sinned against Him,

I must endure the rage of the LORD,

until He argues my case

and executes justice for me.

He will bring me into the light;

I will see His righteousness.

¹⁰Then my enemy will see

and will be covered with shame —

she who said to me,

“Where is the LORD your God?”

My eyes will see her;

at that time she will be trampled

like mud in the streets.

¹¹The day for rebuilding your walls will come —

the day for extending your boundary.

¹²On that day they will come to you

from Assyria and the cities of Egypt,

even from Egypt to the Euphrates,

from sea to sea and mountain to mountain.

¹³Then the earth will become desolate

because of its inhabitants,

as the fruit of their deeds.

God’s Compassion on Israel

¹⁴Shepherd with Your staff Your people,

the flock of Your inheritance.

They live alone in a woodland,

surrounded by pastures.

Let them graze in Bashan and Gilead,

as in the days of old.

¹⁵As in the days when you came out of Egypt,

I will show My wonders.

¹⁶Nations will see and be ashamed,

deprived of all their might.

They will put their hands over their mouths,

and their ears will become deaf.

¹⁷They will lick the dust like a snake,

like reptiles slithering on the ground.

They will come trembling from their strongholds

in the presence of the LORD our God;

they will tremble in fear of You.

¹⁸Who is a God like You,

who pardons iniquity

and passes over the transgression

of the remnant of His inheritance —

who does not retain His anger forever,

because He delights in loving devotion?

¹⁹He will again have compassion on us;

He will vanquish our iniquities.

You will cast out all our sins

into the depths of the sea.

²⁰You will show faithfulness to Jacob

and loving devotion to Abraham,

as You swore to our fathers

from the days of old.

Melchizedek and Abraham

¹This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings and blessed him, ²and Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything. First, his name means “king of righteousness.” Then also, “king of Salem” means “king of peace.” ³Without father or mother or genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God, he remains a priest for all time.

⁴Consider how great Melchizedek was: Even the patriarch Abraham gave him a tenth of the plunder. ⁵Now the law commands the sons of Levi who become priests to collect a tenth from the people — that is, from their brothers — though they too are descended from Abraham. ⁶But Melchizedek, who did not trace his descent from Levi, collected a tenth from Abraham and blessed him who had the promises. ⁷And indisputably, the lesser is blessed by the greater.

⁸In the case of the Levites, mortal men collect the tenth; but in the case of Melchizedek, it is affirmed that he lives on. ⁹And so to speak, Levi, who collects the tenth, paid the tenth through Abraham. ¹⁰For when Melchizedek met Abraham, Levi was still in the loin of his ancestor.

A Superior Priesthood

¹¹Now if perfection could have been attained through the Levitical priesthood ( for on this basis the people received the law), why was there still need for another priest to appear — one in the order of Melchizedek and not in the order of Aaron? ¹²For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed as well.

¹³He of whom these things are said belonged to a different tribe, from which no one has ever served at the altar. ¹⁴For it is clear that our Lord descended from Judah, a tribe as to which Moses said nothing about priests.

¹⁵And this point is even more clear if another priest like Melchizedek appears, ¹⁶one who has become a priest not by a law of succession, but by the power of an indestructible life. ¹⁷For it is testified:

“You are a priest forever

in the order of Melchizedek.”

¹⁸So the former commandment is set aside because it was weak and useless ¹⁹( for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God.

²⁰And none of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath, ²¹but Jesus became a priest with an oath by the One who said to Him:

“The Lord has sworn and will not change His mind:

‘You are a priest forever.’”

²²Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant.

²³Now there have been many other priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office. ²⁴But because Jesus lives forever, He has a permanent priesthood. ²⁵Therefore He is able to save completely those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to intercede for them.

²⁶Such a high priest truly befits us — One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens. ²⁷Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself. ²⁸For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak; but the oath, which came after the law, appointed the Son, who has been made perfect forever.