Malcom: Welcome To Immerse: The Daily Bible Reading Experience.
Day 88
then the men got up from their meal and looked out towards Sodom
As they left, Abraham went with them to send them on their way.
Should I hide my plan from Abraham?
The Lord asked for Abraham will certainly become a great and mighty
nation, and all the nations of the earth will be blessed through him.
I have singled him out so that he will direct his sons and their families
to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is right and just then I will do
for Abraham all that I have promised.
So the Lord told Abraham, I have heard a great outcry from so Sodom and Gomorrah
because their sin is so flagrant.
I'm going down to see if their actions are as wicked as I have heard.
If not, I want to know the other man turned and headed towards Sodom.
The Lord remained with Abraham.
Abraham approached him and said, will you sweep away both
the righteous and the wicked?
Suppose you find 50 righteous people living there in the city,
will you still sweep it away and not spare it for their sakes?
Surely you wouldn't do such a thing destroying the righteous along with the
wicked, while you would be treating the righteous and the wicked exactly the same.
Surely you wouldn't do that.
Should not the judge of all the earth do what is right.
And the Lord replied, if I find 50 righteous people in Sodom, I will
spare the entire city for their sake.
Then Abraham spoke again.
Since I have begun, let me speak further to my Lord, even though I am, but
dust and ashes, suppose there are only 45 righteous people rather than 50.
Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five?
And the Lord said, I will not destroy it if I find 45 righteous people there.
Then Abraham pressed his request further.
Suppose there are only 40 and the Lord replied, I will not
destroy it for the sake of the 40.
Please don't be angry.
My Lord Abraham pleaded.
Let me speak.
Suppose only 30 righteous people are found.
And the Lord replied, I will not destroy it if I find 30.
Then Abraham said, since I have dared to speak to the Lord, let me continue.
Suppose there are only 20 and the Lord replied, then I will not
destroy it for the sake of the 20.
Finally, Abraham said, Lord, please don't be angry with me if I speak one more time.
Suppose only 10 are found there.
And the Lord replied, then I will not destroy it for the sake of the 10.
When the Lord had finished his conversation with Abraham, he went on
his way and Abraham returned to his tent.
That evening, the two angels came to the entrance of the city of Sodom.
Lot was sitting there and when he saw them, he stood up to meet them.
Then he welcomed them and bowed with his face to the ground.
My Lords, he said, come to my home to wash your feet and be my guests for the night.
You may then get up early in the morning and be on your way again.
Oh no, they replied, we'll just spend the night out here in the city square.
But lot insisted.
So at last they went home with him, lot prepared, a feast for
them, complete with fresh bread made without yeast, and they ate.
But before they retired for the night, all the men of Sodom, young
and old, came from all over the city and surrounded the house.
They shouted a lot.
Where are the men who came to spend the night with you?
Bring them out to us so we can have sex with them.
So lot stepped outside to talk to them.
Shutting the door behind him, please.
My brothers, he begged.
Don't do such a wicked thing.
Look, I have two virgin daughters.
Let me bring them out to you and you can do with them as you wish.
But please leave these men alone for they're my guests
and are under my protection.
Stand back, they shouted.
This fellow came to town as an outsider and now he's acting like our judge.
Treat you far worse than those other men.
And they lunge toward lot to break down the door.
But the two angels reached out, pulled lot into the house and bolted the door.
Then they blinded all the men, young and old, who were at the door of the house.
So they gave up trying to get inside.
Meanwhile, the angels questioned lot.
Do you have any other relatives here in the city?
They asked, get them out of this place.
Your sons-in-law, sons, daughters, or anyone else for we are about
to destroy this city completely.
The outcry against this place is so great.
It has reached the Lord and he has sent us to destroy it.
So lot rushed out to tell his daughter's fiances quick, get out of the city.
The Lord is about to destroy it.
But the young man thought he was only joking.
At dawn the next morning, the angels became insistent.
Hurry, they said a lot.
Take your wife and your two daughters who are here.
Get out right now, or you will be swept away in the destruction of the city.
When lot still hesitated, the angels seized his hand and the hands of
his wife and two daughters and rush them to safety outside the city.
For the Lord was merciful.
When they were safely out of the city, one of the angels ordered.
Run for your lives and don't look back or stop anywhere in the valley.
Escape to the mountains or you will be swept away.
Oh no, my Lord lot begged.
You have been so gracious to me and saved my life, and you have
shown such great kindness, but I cannot go to the mountains.
Disaster would catch up to me there and I would soon die.
See there is a small village nearby.
Please let me go there instead.
Don't you see how small it is?
Then my life will be saved.
All right.
The angel said I will grant your request.
I will not destroy the little village, but hurry, escape to it for I can
do nothing until you arrive there.
This explains why that village was known as zoar, which means little place.
Lot reached the village just as the sun was rising over the horizon.
Then the Lord rained down fire and burning sulfur from the sky on Sodom and Gomorrah.
He utterly destroyed them along with the other cities and villages
of the plane, wiping out all the people and every bit of vegetation.
But lot's wife looked back as she was following behind him, and
she turned into a pillar of salt.
Abraham got up early that morning and hurried out to the place where
he had stood in the Lord's presence.
He looked out across the plane towards Sodom and Gomorrah and watched
his columns of smoke rose from the cities, like smoke from a furnace.
But God had listened to Abraham's request and kept lot safe removing
him from the disaster that engulfed the cities on the plane.
Afterward, lot left Zoar because he was afraid of the people there.
And he went to live in a cave in the mountains with his two daughters.
One day, the older daughter said to her sister, there are no men left anywhere
in this entire area, so we can't get married like everyone else, and our father
will soon be too old to have children.
Come, let's get him drunk with wine and then we will have sex with him.
That way we will preserve our family line through our father.
So that night they got him drunk with wine and the older daughter went in
and had intercourse with her father.
He was unaware of her lying down or getting up again.
The next morning, the older daughter said to her younger sister, I had
sex with our father last night.
Let's get him drunk with wine again tonight.
And you go in and have sex with him that way we will preserve our
family line through our father.
So that night they got him drunk with wine again, and the younger
daughter went in and had intercourse with him as before he was unaware of
her lying down or getting up again.
As a result, both of Lott's daughters became pregnant by their own father.
When the older daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Moab.
He became the ancestor of the nation, now known as the Moabites.
When the younger daughter gave birth to a son, she named him Ben Amai.
He became the ancestor of the nation, now known as the Ammonites.
Abraham moved south to the Negev and lived for a while between Kaddish
and Shu, and then he moved on to Gira while living there as a foreigner.
Abraham introduced his wife Sarah by saying she is my sister.
So King Abak of Diar sent for Sarah and had her brought to him at his palace.
But that night God came to Abak in a dream and told him, you are a dead man for that
woman you have taken is already married.
But AB had not slept with her yet.
So he said, Lord, will you destroy an innocent nation?
Didn't Abraham tell me she's my sister, and she herself
said, yes, he is my brother.
I acted in complete innocence.
My hands are clean in the dream.
God responded.
Yes, I know you are innocent.
That's why I kept you from sinning against me and why I did not let you touch her.
The now return the woman to her husband and he will pray
for you, for he is a prophet.
Then you will live.
But if you don't return her to him, you can be sure that you
and all your people will die.
Ab Bialek got up early the next morning and quickly called
all his servants together.
When he told them what had happened, his men were terrified.
Then Ab Bialek called for Abraham.
What have you done to us?
He demanded, what crime have I committed that deserves treatment
like this making me and my kingdom guilty of this great sin?
No one should ever do what you have done, whatever possessed you to do such a thing.
Abraham replied, I thought this is a godless place.
They will want my wife and will kill me to get her.
And she really is my sister for, we both have the same
father but different mothers.
And I married her.
When God called me to leave my father's home and to travel from place to place,
I told her, do me a favor wherever we go, tell the people that I am your brother.
Then Aek took some of his sheep and goats cattle and male and female servants,
and he presented them to Abraham.
He also returned his wife, Sarah to him.
Then Abex said, look over my land and choose any place
where you would like to live.
And he said to Sarah, look, I'm giving your brother 1000 pieces of silver in
the presence of all these witnesses.
This is to compensate you for any wrong I may have done to you.
This will settle any claim against me and your reputation is cleared.
Then Abraham prayed to God and God healed Aek, his wife and his female
servants so they could have children.
For the Lord had caused all the women to be infertile because of what
happened with Abraham's wife, Sarah.
The Lord kept his word and did for Sarah exactly what he had promised.
She became pregnant and she gave birth to a son for Abraham and his old age.
This happened at just the time God had said it would, and Abraham named their
son Isaac eight days after Isaac was born.
Abraham circumcised him as God had commanded.
Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, and Sarah declared,
God has brought me laughter.
All who hear about this will laugh with me.
Who would've said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse a baby?
Yet I have given Abraham a son in his old age when Isaac grew
up and was about to be weaned.
Abraham prepared a huge feast to celebrate the occasion.
But Sarah saw Ishmael, the son of Abraham and her Egyptian servant,
Hagar, making fun of her son, Isaac.
So she turned to Abraham and demanded get rid of that slave woman and her son.
He's not going to share the inheritance with my son Isaac.
I won't have it.
This upset Abraham very much because Ishmael was his son.
But God told Abraham.
Do not be upset over the boy and your servant.
Do whatever Sarah tells you for.
Isaac is the son through whom your descendants will be counted.
But I will also make a nation of the descendants of Hagar's
son because he is your son too.
So Abraham got up early the next morning, prepared food and a container of water,
and strapped them on Hagar's shoulders.
Then he sent her away with their son and she wandered aimlessly
in the wilderness of your Sheba.
When the water was gone, she put the boy in the shade of a bush.
Then she went and sat down by herself about a hundred yards away.
I don't want to watch the boy die, she said as she burst into tears.
But God heard the boy crying and the angel of God called to Hagar from heaven.
Hagar, what's wrong?
Do not be afraid.
God has heard the boy crying as he lies there.
Go to him and comfort him for I will make a great nation from his descendants.
Then God opened hagar's eyes and she saw a well full of water.
She quickly filled her water container and gave the boy a
drink, and God was with the boy.
As he grew up in the wilderness, he became a skillful archer and he
settled in the wilderness of perin.
His mother arranged for him to marry a woman from the land of Egypt.
About this time, AB Bialek came with fecal, his army
commander to visit Abraham.
God is obviously with you, helping you in everything you do.
Ab Bialek said, swear to me in God's name that you will never deceive me,
my children, or any of my descendants.
I have been loyal to you, so now swear that you'll be loyal
to me and to this country where you are living as a foreigner.
Abraham replied, yes, I swear to it.
Then Abraham complained to ab Ek about a well that ab EK's servants had taken
by force from Abraham's servants.
This is the first I've heard of it.
Ab Bialek answered.
I have no idea who was responsible.
You have never complained about this before.
Abraham then gave some of his sheep, goats and cattle to a
bialek, and they made a treaty.
But Abraham also took seven additional female lambs and
set them off by themselves.
Ab Bialek asks, why have you set these seven apart from the others?
Abraham replied, please accept these seven lambs to show your
agreement that I dug this well.
Then he named the place Biers Sheba, which means well of the oath because
that was where they had sworn the oath.
After making their covenant at Beersheba, ab Bialek left with Feal, the commander
of his army, and they returned home to the land of the Philistines.
Then Abraham planted a tamaris tree at Beersheba, and there he
worshiped the Lord, the eternal God, and Abraham lived as a foreigner in
Philistine country for a long time.
This concludes today's Immer reading experience.
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