Today's Reading

¹Benjamin became the father of Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, and Aharah the third,

²Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth.

³Bela had sons: Addar, and Gera, and Abihud,

⁴and Abishua, and Naaman, and Ahoah,

⁵and Gera, and Shephuphan, and Huram.

⁶These are the sons of Ehud: these are the heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they carried them captive to Manahath:

⁷and Naaman, and Ahijah, and Gera, he carried them captive: and he became the father of Uzza and Ahihud.

⁸Shaharaim became the father of children in the field of Moab, after he had sent them away; Hushim and Baara were his wives.

⁹He became the father of Hodesh his wife, Jobab, and Zibia, and Mesha, and Malcam,

¹⁰and Jeuz, and Shachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers' houses.

¹¹Of Hushim he became the father of Abitub and Elpaal.

¹²The sons of Elpaal: Eber, and Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod, with its towns;

¹³and Beriah, and Shema, who were heads of fathers' houses of the inhabitants of Aijalon, who put to flight the inhabitants of Gath;

¹⁴and Ahio, Shashak, and Jeremoth,

¹⁵and Zebadiah, and Arad, and Eder,

¹⁶and Michael, and Ishpah, and Joha, the sons of Beriah,

¹⁷and Zebadiah, and Meshullam, and Hizki, and Heber,

¹⁸and Ishmerai, and Izliah, and Jobab, the sons of Elpaal,

¹⁹and Jakim, and Zichri, and Zabdi,

²⁰and Elienai, and Zillethai, and Eliel,

²¹and Adaiah, and Beraiah, and Shimrath, the sons of Shimei,

²²and Ishpan, and Eber, and Eliel,

²³and Abdon, and Zichri, and Hanan,

²⁴and Hananiah, and Elam, and Anthothijah,

²⁵and Iphdeiah, and Penuel, the sons of Shashak,

²⁶and Shamsherai, and Shehariah, and Athaliah,

²⁷and Jaareshiah, and Elijah, and Zichri, the sons of Jeroham.

²⁸These were heads of fathers' houses throughout their generations, chief men: these lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹In Gibeon there lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife's name was Maacah;

³⁰and his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Nadab,

³¹and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zecher.

³²Mikloth became the father of Shimeah. They also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, over against their brothers.

³³Ner became the father of Kish; and Kish became the father of Saul; and Saul became the father of Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

³⁴The son of Jonathan was Merib Baal; and Merib Baal became the father of Micah.

³⁵The sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melech, and Tarea, and Ahaz.

³⁶Ahaz became the father of Jehoaddah; and Jehoaddah became the father of Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza.

³⁷Moza became the father of Binea; Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

³⁸Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel.

³⁹The sons of Eshek his brother: Ulam his firstborn, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third.

⁴⁰The sons of Ulam were mighty men of valor, archers, and had many sons, and sons' sons, one hundred fifty. All these were of the sons of Benjamin.

¹So all Israel were reckoned by genealogies; and behold, they are written in the book of the kings of Israel: and Judah was carried away captive to Babylon for their disobedience.

²Now the first inhabitants who lived in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the Nethinim.

³In Jerusalem lived of the children of Judah, and of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh:

⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the children of Perez the son of Judah.

⁵Of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons.

⁶Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brothers, six hundred ninety.

⁷Of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah,

⁸and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah;

⁹and their brothers, according to their generations, nine hundred fifty-six. All these men were heads of fathers' houses by their fathers' houses.

¹⁰Of the priests: Jedaiah, and Jehoiarib, Jachin,

¹¹and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ruler of the house of God;

¹²and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer;

¹³and their brothers, heads of their fathers' houses, one thousand seven hundred sixty; very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;

¹⁵and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of Zichri, the son of Asaph,

¹⁶and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

¹⁷The porters: Shallum, and Akkub, and Talmon, and Ahiman, and their brothers (Shallum was the chief),

¹⁸who hitherto waited in the king's gate eastward: they were the porters for the camp of the children of Levi.

¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brothers, of his father's house, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent: and their fathers had been over the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entry.

²⁰Phinehas the son of Eleazar was ruler over them in time past, and the Lord was with him.

²¹Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was porter of the door of the Tent of Meeting.

²²All these who were chosen to be porters in the thresholds were two hundred and twelve. These were reckoned by genealogy in their villages, whom David and Samuel the seer did ordain in their office of trust.

²³So they and their children had the oversight of the gates of the house of the Lord, even the house of the tent, by wards.

²⁴On the four sides were the porters, toward the east, west, north, and south.

²⁵Their brothers, in their villages, were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them:

²⁶for the four chief porters, who were Levites, were in an office of trust, and were over the chambers and over the treasuries in the house of God.

²⁷They lodged around the house of God, because that duty was on them; and to them pertained its opening morning by morning.

²⁸Certain of them were in charge of the vessels of service; for by count were these brought in and by count were these taken out.

²⁹Some of them also were appointed over the furniture, and over all the vessels of the sanctuary, and over the fine flour, and the wine, and the oil, and the frankincense, and the spices.

³⁰Some of the sons of the priests prepared the confection of the spices.

³¹Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the office of trust over the things that were baked in pans.

³²Some of their brothers, of the sons of the Kohathites, were over the show bread, to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³These are the singers, heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, who lived in the chambers and were free from other service; for they were employed in their work day and night.

³⁴These were heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, throughout their generations, chief men: these lived at Jerusalem.

³⁵In Gibeon there lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, whose wife's name was Maacah:

³⁶and his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, and Kish, and Baal, and Ner, and Nadab,

³⁷and Gedor, and Ahio, and Zechariah, and Mikloth.

³⁸Mikloth became the father of Shimeam. They also lived with their brothers in Jerusalem, over against their brothers.

³⁹Ner became the father of Kish; and Kish became the father of Saul; and Saul became the father of Jonathan, and Malchishua, and Abinadab, and Eshbaal.

⁴⁰The son of Jonathan was Merib Baal; and Merib Baal became the father of Micah.

⁴¹The sons of Micah: Pithon, and Melech, and Tahrea, and Ahaz.

⁴²Ahaz became the father of Jarah; and Jarah became the father of Alemeth, and Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza;

⁴³and Moza became the father of Binea; and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son.

⁴⁴Azel had six sons, whose names are these: Azrikam, Bocheru, and Ishmael, and Sheariah, and Obadiah, and Hanan: these were the sons of Azel.

¹Now the Philistines fought against Israel: and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell down slain on Mount Gilboa.

²The Philistines followed hard after Saul and after his sons; and the Philistines killed Jonathan, and Abinadab, and Malchishua, the sons of Saul.

³The battle went sore against Saul, and the archers overtook him; and he was distressed by reason of the archers.

⁴Then said Saul to his armor bearer, Draw your sword, and thrust me through therewith, lest these uncircumcised come and abuse me. But his armor bearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword, and fell on it.

⁵When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword, and died.

⁶So Saul died, and his three sons; and all his house died together.

⁷When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸It happened on the next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.

⁹They stripped him, and took his head, and his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines all around, to carry the news to their idols, and to the people.

¹⁰They put his armor in the house of their gods, and fastened his head in the house of Dagon.

¹¹When all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul,

¹²all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul, and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh, and buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord, which he did not keep; and also because he asked counsel of one who had a familiar spirit, to inquire thereby,

¹⁴and did not inquire of the Lord: therefore he killed him, and turned the kingdom to David the son of Jesse.

¹When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band.

²Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.

³The next day, we landed at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself.

⁴Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.

⁵When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

⁶There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board.

⁷When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.

⁸With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.

⁹When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them,

¹⁰and said to them, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."

¹¹But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.

¹²Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.

¹³When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore.

¹⁴But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euraquilo.

¹⁵When the ship was caught, and could not face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.

¹⁶Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat.

¹⁷After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.

¹⁸As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.

¹⁹On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands.

²⁰When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.

²¹When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, "Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss.

²²Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.

²³For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,

²⁴saying, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'

²⁵Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.

²⁶But we must run aground on a certain island."

²⁷But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.

²⁸They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.

²⁹Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight.

³⁰As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow,

³¹Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these stay in the ship, you cannot be saved."

³²Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.

³³While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing.

³⁴Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads."

³⁵When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat.

³⁶Then they all cheered up, and they also took food.

³⁷In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship.

³⁸When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.

³⁹When it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it.

⁴⁰Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.

⁴¹But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.

⁴²The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.

⁴³But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land;

⁴⁴and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to the land.

¹I love the Lord, because he listens to my voice, and my cries for mercy.

²Because he has turned his ear to me, therefore I will call on him as long as I live.

³The cords of death surrounded me, the pains of Sheol got a hold of me. I found trouble and sorrow.

⁴Then I called on the name of the Lord: "Lord, I beg you, deliver my soul."

⁵The Lord is Gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful.

⁶The Lord preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me.

⁷Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.

⁸For you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.

⁹I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.

¹⁰I believed, therefore I said, "I am greatly afflicted."

¹¹I said in my haste, "All men are liars."

¹²What will I give to the Lord for all his benefits toward me?

¹³I will take the cup of salvation, and call on the name of the Lord.

¹⁴I will pay my vows to the Lord, yes, in the presence of all his people.

¹⁵Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his holy ones.

¹⁶Lord, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your handmaid. You have freed me from my chains.

¹⁷I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and will call on the name of the Lord.

¹⁸I will pay my vows to the Lord, yes, in the presence of all his people,

¹⁹in the courts of the Lord's house, in the midst of you, Jerusalem. Praise Yah!

¹When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

²put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

³Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.

⁴Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

⁵Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

⁶Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:

⁷for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:

¹⁶yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

²⁰Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

²²Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

²⁵Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!

²⁶My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

²⁸Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

³¹Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

³²In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

³⁴Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

³⁵"They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I do not feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."