Genesis: Chapter
19; Verses 1-29
The
Story of Sodom and Gomorrah
1 The two angels
arrived at Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of
the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with
his face to the ground. 2 "My lords," he said, "please turn aside to your
servant's house. You can wash your feet and spend the night and then go
on your way early in the morning." "No," they answered, "we will spend
the night in the square." 3 But he insisted so strongly that they did
go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking
bread without yeast, and they ate. 4 Before they had gone to bed, all
the men from every part of the city of Sodom--both young and old-- surrounded
the house. 5 They called to Lot, "Where are the men who came to you tonight?
Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them." 6 Lot went outside
to meet them and shut the door behind him 7 and said, "No, my friends.
Don't do this wicked thing. 8 Look, I have two daughters who have never
slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you
like with them. But don't do anything to these men, for they have come
under the protection of my roof." 9 "Get out of our way," they replied.
And they said, "This fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to
play the judge! We'll treat you worse than them." They kept bringing pressure
on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. 10 But the men inside
reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11 Then
they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old,
with blindness so that they could not find the door. 12 The two men said
to Lot, "Do you have anyone else here-- sons-in-law, sons or daughters,
or anyone else in the city who belongs to you? Get them out of here, 13
because we are going to destroy this place. The outcry to the LORD against
its people is so great that he has sent us to destroy it." 14 So Lot went
out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who were pledged to marry his daughters.
He said, "Hurry and get out of this place, because the LORD is about to
destroy the city!" But his sons-in-law thought he was joking. 15 With
the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, "Hurry! Take your wife
and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the
city is punished." 16 When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and
the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out
of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them. 17 As soon as they had
brought them out, one of them said, "Flee for your lives! Don't look back,
and don't stop anywhere in the plain! Flee to the mountains or you will
be swept away!" 18 But Lot said to them, "No, my lords, please! 19 Your
servant has found favor in your eyes, and you have shown great kindness
to me in sparing my life. But I can't flee to the mountains; this disaster
will overtake me, and I'll die. 20 Look, here is a town near enough to
run to, and it is small. Let me flee to it-- it is very small, isn't it?
Then my life will be spared." 21 He said to him, "Very well, I will grant
this request too; I will not overthrow the town you speak of. 22 But flee
there quickly, because I cannot do anything until you reach it." (That
is why the town was called Zoar.) 23 By the time Lot reached Zoar, the
sun had risen over the land. 24 Then the LORD rained down burning sulfur
on Sodom and Gomorrah-- from the LORD out of the heavens. 25 Thus he overthrew
those cities and the entire plain, including all those living in the cities--
and also the vegetation in the land. 26 But Lot's wife looked back, and
she became a pillar of salt. 27 And Abraham went early in the morning
to the place where he had stood before the Lord. 28 Then he looked toward
Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain; and he saw,
and behold, the smoke of the land which went up like the smoke of a furnace.
29 And it came to pass, when God destroyed the cities of the plain, that
God remembered Abraham, and sent Lot out of the midst of the overthrow,
when He overthrew the cities in which Lot had dwelt. ( NIV®)
Interpretations
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Romans: Chapter
1: Verses 1-32
Cultic Worship
- The True Sin Against Nature
1Paul, a servant
of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel
of God-- 2the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the
Holy Scriptures 3regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant
of David, 4and who through the Spirit[1] of holiness was declared with
power to be the Son of God[2] by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus
Christ our Lord. 5Through him and for his name's sake, we received grace
and apostleship to call people from among all the Gentiles to the obedience
that comes from faith. 6And you also are among those who are called to
belong to Jesus Christ. 7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called
to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and from the
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul's Longing to Visit Rome
8First, I thank my
God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported
all over the world. 9God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching
the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10in
my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God's will the
way may be opened for me to come to you. 11I long to see you so that I
may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong-- 12that is,
that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith. 13I do
not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come
to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that
I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles.
14I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the
foolish. 15That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you
who are at Rome. 16I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power
of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew,
then for the Gentile. 17For in the gospel a righteousness from God is
revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last,[3] just
as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."[4] God's Wrath Against
Mankind
18The wrath of
God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness
of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, 19since what may be
known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.
20For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal
power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from
what has been made, so that men are without excuse.
21For although
they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him,
but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.
22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged
the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man
and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in
the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading
of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for
a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who
is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful
lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
27In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women
and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts
with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.
28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge
of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to
be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil,
greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and
malice. They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant
and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents;
31they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although they
know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death,
they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those
who practice them. (NIV®)
Interpretations
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Leviticus: The
Holiness Code
Leviticus Chapter
18: Verses 1-5
1 The LORD said
to Moses, 2 "Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'I am the LORD
your God. 3 You must not do as they do in Egypt, where you used to live,
and you must not do as they do in the land of Canaan, where I am bringing
you. Do not follow their practices. 4 You must obey my laws and be careful
to follow my decrees. I am the LORD your God. 5 Keep my decrees and
laws, for the man who obeys them will live by them. I am the LORD. .
. (NIV®)
Leviticus Chapter
18: Verse 22
(18) 22"Do not lie
with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." (NIV®)
Leviticus Chapter
20: Verse 13
(20) 13"If a man
lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what
is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their
own heads." (NIV®)
Interpretation
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1 Corinthians:
Chapter 6: Verses 1-20
Lawsuits Among Believers
1 If any of you has
a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment
instead of before the saints? 2 Do you not know that the saints will judge
the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to
judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How
much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about
such matters, appoint as judges even men of little account in the church![1]
5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you
wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother
goes to law against another--and this in front of unbelievers!
7 The very fact that
you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already.
Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves
cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers.
9 Do you not know
that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived:
Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes
nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor
slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that
is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you
were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit
of our God.
Sexual Immorality
12 "Everything is
permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is
permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything. 13 "Food
for the stomach and the stomach for food"--but God will destroy them both.
The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the
Lord for the body. 14 By his power God raised the Lord from the dead,
and he will raise us also. 15 Do you not know that your bodies are members
of Christ himself? Shall I then take the members of Christ and unite them
with a prostitute? Never! 16 Do you not know that he who unites himself
with a prostitute is one with her in body? For it is said, "The two will
become one flesh."[2] 17 But he who unites himself with the Lord is one
with him in spirit.
18 Flee from sexual
immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he
who sins sexually sins against his own body. 19 Do you not know that your
body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received
from God? You are not your own; 20 you were bought at a price. Therefore
honor God with your body (NIV®)
Interpretations
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1 Timothy Chapter
1: Verses 9-11
9 We also know that
law[1] is made not for the righteous but for lawbreakers and rebels, the
ungodly and sinful, the unholy and irreligious; for those who kill their
fathers or mothers, for murderers,
10 for adulterers
and perverts, for slave traders and liars and perjurers--and for whatever
else is contrary to the sound doctrine
11 that conforms to
the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me. (NIV®)
Interpretations
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