he looked up and saw three men standing there. As soon as he saw them, he ran out to meet them. Bowing down with his face touching the ground,

Let me bring some water for you to wash your feet; you can rest here beneath this tree.

Abraham hurried into the tent and said to Sarah, "Quick, take a sack of your best flour, and bake some bread."

He took some cream, some milk, and the meat, and set the food before the men. There under the tree he served them himself, and they ate.

One of them said, "Nine months from now I will come back, and your wife Sarah will have a son." Sarah was behind him, at the door of the tent, listening.

So Sarah laughed to herself and said, "Now that I am old and worn out, can I still enjoy sex? And besides, my husband is old too."

Is anything too hard for the LORD? As I said, nine months from now I will return, and Sarah will have a son."

Then the men left and went to a place where they could look down at Sodom, and Abraham went with them to send them on their way.

His descendants will become a great and mighty nation, and through him I will bless all the nations.

Then the LORD said to Abraham, "There are terrible accusations against Sodom and Gomorrah, and their sin is very great.

Then the two men left and went on toward Sodom, but the LORD remained with Abraham.

If there are fifty innocent people in the city, will you destroy the whole city? Won't you spare it in order to save the fifty?

The LORD answered, "If I find fifty innocent people in Sodom, I will spare the whole city for their sake."

But perhaps there will be only forty-five innocent people instead of fifty. Will you destroy the whole city because there are five too few?" The LORD answered, "I will not destroy the city if I find forty-five innocent people."

Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, but I must speak again. What if there are only thirty?" He said, "I will not do it if I find thirty."

Abraham said, "Please don't be angry, Lord, and I will speak only once more. What if only ten are found?" He said, "I will not destroy it if there are ten."

and said, "Sirs, I am here to serve you. Please come to my house. You can wash your feet and spend the night. In the morning you can get up early and go on your way." But they answered, "No, we will spend the night here in the city square."

Before the guests went to bed, the men of Sodom surrounded the house. All the men of the city, both young and old, were there.

Lot went outside and closed the door behind him.

Look, I have two daughters who are still virgins. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do whatever you want with them. But don't do anything to these men; they are guests in my house, and I must protect them."

But the two men inside reached out, pulled Lot back into the house, and shut the door.

The two men said to Lot, "If you have anyone else here---sons, daughters, sons-in-law, or any other relatives living in the city---get them out of here,

Then Lot went to the men that his daughters were going to marry, and said, "Hurry up and get out of here; the LORD is going to destroy this place." But they thought he was joking.

Lot hesitated. The LORD, however, had pity on him; so the men took him, his wife, and his two daughters by the hand and led them out of the city.

But Lot answered, "No, please don't make us do that, sir.

Do you see that little town? It is near enough. Let me go over there---you can see it is just a small place---and I will be safe."

Hurry! Run! I can't do anything until you get there." Because Lot called it small, the town was named Zoar.

Suddenly the LORD rained burning sulfur on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah

But Lot's wife looked back and was turned into a pillar of salt.

He looked down at Sodom and Gomorrah and the whole valley and saw smoke rising from the land, like smoke from a huge furnace.

Because Lot was afraid to stay in Zoar, he and his two daughters moved up into the hills and lived in a cave.

Come on, let's get our father drunk, so that we can sleep with him and have children by him."

The next day the older daughter said to her sister, "I slept with him last night; now let's get him drunk again tonight, and you sleep with him. Then each of us will have a child by our father."

In this way both of Lot's daughters became pregnant by their own father.

The younger daughter also had a son, whom she named Benammi. He was the ancestor of the present-day Ammonites.

They talk about me and say, "God will not help him."

I call to the LORD for help, and from his sacred hill he answers me.

I am not afraid of the thousands of enemies who surround me on every side.

Victory comes from the LORD --- may he bless his people.

A Roman officer there had a servant who was very dear to him; the man was sick and about to die.

They came to Jesus and begged him earnestly, "This man really deserves your help.

So Jesus went with them. He was not far from the house when the officer sent friends to tell him, "Sir, don't trouble yourself. I do not deserve to have you come into my house,

I, too, am a man placed under the authority of superior officers, and I have soldiers under me. I order this one, 'Go!' and he goes; I order that one, 'Come!' and he comes; and I order my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it."

The messengers went back to the officer's house and found his servant well.

Just as he arrived at the gate of the town, a funeral procession was coming out. The dead man was the only son of a woman who was a widow, and a large crowd from the town was with her.

Then he walked over and touched the coffin, and the men carrying it stopped. Jesus said, "Young man! Get up, I tell you!"

They all were filled with fear and praised God. "A great prophet has appeared among us!" they said; "God has come to save his people!"

When John's disciples told him about all these things, he called two of them

When they came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to ask if you are the one he said was going to come, or should we expect someone else?"

He answered John's messengers, "Go back and tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind can see, the lame can walk, those who suffer from dreaded skin diseases are made clean, the deaf can hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is preached to the poor.

After John's messengers had left, Jesus began to speak about him to the crowds: "When you went out to John in the desert, what did you expect to see? A blade of grass bending in the wind?

Tell me, what did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes indeed, but you saw much more than a prophet.

I tell you," Jesus added, "John is greater than anyone who has ever lived. But the one who is least in the Kingdom of God is greater than John."

But the Pharisees and the teachers of the Law rejected God's purpose for themselves and refused to be baptized by John.

They are like children sitting in the marketplace. One group shouts to the other, 'We played wedding music for you, but you wouldn't dance! We sang funeral songs, but you wouldn't cry!'

The Son of Man came, and he ate and drank, and you said, 'Look at this man! He is a glutton and wine drinker, a friend of tax collectors and other outcasts!'

A Pharisee invited Jesus to have dinner with him, and Jesus went to his house and sat down to eat.

and stood behind Jesus, by his feet, crying and wetting his feet with her tears. Then she dried his feet with her hair, kissed them, and poured the perfume on them.

Jesus spoke up and said to him, "Simon, I have something to tell you." "Yes, Teacher," he said, "tell me."

Neither of them could pay him back, so he canceled the debts of both. Which one, then, will love him more?"

Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I came into your home, and you gave me no water for my feet, but she has washed my feet with her tears and dried them with her hair.

You provided no olive oil for my head, but she has covered my feet with perfume.

Then Jesus said to the woman, "Your sins are forgiven."

But Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace."