The Daily Audio Bible

The Family of Issachar

7 The four sons of Issachar were Tola, Puah, Jashub and Shimron. ² The sons of Tola were Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam and Samuel, heads of their fathers’ houses. Tola’s sons were powerful soldiers among the people of their day. There were 22,600 of these men in the days of David. ³ The son of Uzzi was Izrahiah. And the sons of Izrahiah were Michael, Obadiah, Joel and Isshiah. All five of them were leaders. ⁴ With them by their families and by their fathers’ houses were 36,000 men ready to fight. For they had many wives and sons. ⁵ Their brothers among all the families of Issachar were powerful soldiers. There were 87,000 of them, whose names were written down by their families.

The Families of Benjamin and Naphtali

⁶ The three sons of Benjamin were Bela, Becher and Jediael. ⁷ The five sons of Bela were Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth and Iri. They were heads of their fathers’ houses and powerful soldiers. There were 22,034 of them, whose names were written down by their families. ⁸ The sons of Becher were Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth and Alemeth. All these were the sons of Becher. ⁹ Their names were written down by their families. They were heads of their fathers’ houses, 20,200 powerful soldiers. ¹⁰ The son of Jediael was Bilhan. And the sons of Bilhan were Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish and Ahishahar. ¹¹ All these were sons of Jediael, by the heads of their fathers’ houses. They were 17,200 powerful soldiers, who were ready to go out with the army to battle. ¹² Shuppim and Huppim were the sons of Ir. Hushim was the son of Aher.

¹³ The sons of Naphtali were Jahziel, Guni, Jezer and Shallum, the sons of Bilhah.

The Family of Manasseh West of the Jordan River

¹⁴ Manasseh’s sons were Asriel and Machir the father of Gilead. Their mother was the Aramaean woman who acted as Manasseh’s wife. ¹⁵ Machir took a wife of Huppim and Shuppim, whose sister’s name was Maacah. The name of the second was Zelophehad. And Zelophehad had daughters. ¹⁶ Machir’s wife Maacah gave birth to a son, and gave him the name Peresh. His brother’s name was Sheresh. And his sons were Ulam and Rakem. ¹⁷ The son of Ulam was Bedan. These were the sons of Gilead the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. ¹⁸ His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer and Mahlah. ¹⁹ The sons of Shemida were Ahian, Shechem, Likhi and Aniam.

The Family of Ephraim

²⁰ Ephraim’s sons were Shuthelah and Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, ²¹ Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, and Ezer and Elead. The men of Gath who were born in the land killed Ezer and Elead, because they came down to take their cattle. ²² Their father Ephraim was filled with sorrow for many days. And his brothers came to comfort him. ²³ Then he went in to his wife and she was able to have a child and gave birth to a son. Ephraim gave him the name Beriah, because trouble had come upon his house. ²⁴ Beriah’s daughter was Sheerah. She built both parts of Beth-horon, and Uzzen-sheerah. ²⁵ Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, ²⁶ Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, ²⁷ Nun his son, and Joshua his son.

²⁸ Their cities and their lands were Bethel with its towns, Naaran to the east, Gezer to the west with its towns, and Shechem with its towns as far as Ayyah with its towns. ²⁹ Beside the land of the sons of Manasseh, they lived in Beth-shean with its towns, Taanach with its towns, Megiddo with its towns, and Dor with its towns. In these cities lived the sons of Joseph the son of Israel.

The Family of Asher

³⁰ The sons of Asher were Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and Serah their sister. ³¹ The sons of Beriah were Heber and Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith. ³² Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, Hotham, and their sister Shua. ³³ The sons of Japhlet were Pasach, Bimhal and Ashvath. These were the sons of Japhlet. ³⁴ The sons of Shemer were Ahi, Rohgah, Jehubbah and Aram. ³⁵ The sons of his brother Helem were Zophah, Imna, Shelesh and Amal. ³⁶ The sons of Zophah were Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, ³⁷ Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸ The sons of Jether were Jephunneh, Pispa and Ara. ³⁹ The sons of Ulla were Arah, Hanniel and Rizia. ⁴⁰ All these were the sons of Asher and heads of the fathers’ houses. They were chosen men and powerful soldiers, leaders of the king’s sons. There were 26,000 of them, whose names were written down by their families for fighting in war.

The Family of King Saul

8 Benjamin was the father of Bela his first-born, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, ² Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. ³ Bela’s sons were Addar, Gera, Abihud, ⁴ Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, ⁵ Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. ⁶ The sons of Ehud were the heads of fathers’ houses of the people of Geba. They were taken away to Manahath. ⁷ Their names were Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who was the father of Uzza and Ahihud. ⁸ Shaharaim had sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. ⁹ By his wife Hodesh he became the father of Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, ¹⁰ Jeuz, Sachia and Mirmah. These were his sons. They were heads of fathers’ houses. ¹¹ By his wife Hushim he became the father of Abitub and Elpaal. ¹² The sons of Elpaal were Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns. ¹³ Elpaal was the father of Beriah and Shema also. They were heads of fathers’ houses of the people of Aijalon, who drove away the people of Gath. ¹⁴ Elpaal’s other sons were Ahio, Shashak and Jeremoth. ¹⁵ Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, ¹⁶ Michael, Ishpah and Joha were the sons of Beriah. ¹⁷ Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, ¹⁸ Ishmerai, Izliah and Jobab were the sons of Elpaal. ¹⁹ Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, ²⁰ Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, ²¹ Adaiah, Beraiah and Shimrath were the sons of Shimei. ²² Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, ²³ Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, ²⁴ Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, ²⁵ Iphdeiah and Penuel were the sons of Shashak. ²⁶ Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, ²⁷ Jaareshiah, Elijah and Zichri were the sons of Jeroham. ²⁸ These were heads of the fathers’ houses by their families. They were leaders who lived in Jerusalem.

²⁹ Gibeon’s father Jeiel lived in Gibeon. The name of Jeiel’s wife was Maacah. ³⁰ His sons were Abdon his first-born, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Nadab, ³¹ Gedor, Ahio and Zecher, ³² and Mikloth the father of Shimeah. They lived with their brothers in Jerusalem beside their other brothers. ³³ Ner was the father of Kish. Kish was the father of Saul. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal. ³⁴ The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal. Merib-baal was the father of Micah. ³⁵ The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tarea and Ahaz. ³⁶ Ahaz was the father of Jehoaddah. Jehoaddah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza. ³⁷ Moza was the father of Binea. Raphah was his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son. ³⁸ The names of Azel’s six sons were Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. All these were the sons of Azel. ³⁹ The sons of his brother Eshek were Ulam his first-born, Jeush the second, and Eliphelet the third. ⁴⁰ The sons of Ulam were powerful soldiers. They fought with the bow. And they had 150 sons and grandsons. All these were the sons of Benjamin.

Paul Is Sent to Rome

27 It was decided that we should go to the country of Italy by ship. Then they put Paul and some other men in chains. Julius, a captain of Caesar’s army, was to watch them. ² We went on a ship that was from the city of Adramyttian. It was going to stop at the towns along the sea-shore of Asia. Aristarchus was with us. He was a man from the city of Thessalonica in the country of Macedonia. ³ The next day we stopped in the city of Sidon. Julius was kind to Paul. He let him visit friends who cared for him.

⁴ After leaving Sidon we were blown by the wind along the south side of the island of Cyprus. The wind was against us. ⁵ We crossed the sea along the countries of Cilicia and Pamphylia and got to the city of Myra in the country of Lycia. ⁶ The captain found a ship from the city of Alexandria that was going to the country of Italy. He put us on it. ⁷ For many days the ship did not move fast. It was hard to get to the city of Cnidus. The wind would not let us go on. So we went along the south shore of the island of Crete and passed the end of the island called Salome. ⁸ The wind was against us, and we did not sail very fast. Then we came to a place called Fair Havens. It was near the city of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost. To keep going that late in the year would mean danger. Paul spoke with strong words, ¹⁰ “Sirs, it looks to me as if this ship and its freight will be lost. We are in danger of being lost also.”

¹¹ The captain of the soldiers listened to what the captain of the ship said and not to what Paul said. ¹² It was not a good place to spend the winter. Most of those on the ship wanted to go on and try to get to Phoenix. Crete was a good place to tie up the ship. They wanted to spend the winter there. ¹³ When a south wind started to blow, they thought their plan was right. They pulled up the anchor and went close to the shore of Crete.

¹⁴ Later a bad wind storm came down from the land. It was called a northeaster. ¹⁵ The ship was stopped by the wind. After awhile we gave up and let it go with the wind. ¹⁶ We went behind a small island called Claudia. It was hard work but we were able to make the ship’s boat safe. ¹⁷ They pulled it up and tied ropes around it and the ship. They were afraid of going on the Syrtis sands. So they took the sail down and let the ship go with the wind.

¹⁸ The storm was so bad the high waves were beating against the ship. The next day the men threw some of the freight over into the sea. ¹⁹ On the third day, with their own hands, they threw part of the sails and ropes into the sea. ²⁰ We did not see the sun or stars for many days. A very bad storm kept beating against us. We lost all hope of being saved.

Prayer for Help against the Sinful

7 O Lord my God, in You I have put my trust. Save me from all those who come for me, and keep me safe. ² Or they will tear me like a lion, carrying me away where there is no one to help. ³ O Lord my God, if I have done this, and there is guilt on my hands, ⁴ if I have done wrong to him who was at peace with me, or without a reason have robbed him who worked against me, ⁵ let him who hates me come for me and catch me. Let him break me under his feet until I die, and lay my honor in the dust.

⁶ Rise up in Your anger, O Lord. Rise up against the anger of those who hate me. Awake, my God, and help me. Prove what is right. ⁷ Let the people gather around You, and rule over them from Your throne. ⁸ May the Lord judge which people are guilty or not. O Lord, judge in my favor if I am right with You, and if I am without blame. ⁹ Let the sins of the sinful stop. But build up those who are right with You. For the God Who is right and good tests both the hearts and the minds. ¹⁰ I am kept safe by God, Who saves those who are pure in heart.

¹¹ God is always right in how He judges. He is angry with the sinful every day. ¹² If a man is not sorry for his sins and will not turn from them, God will make His sword sharp. He will string His bow and make it ready. ¹³ He takes up His sword and the bow of death. And He makes arrows of fire.

¹⁴ See how the sinful man thinks up sins and plans trouble and lies start growing inside him. ¹⁵ He has dug out a deep hole, and has fallen into the hole he has dug. ¹⁶ The trouble he makes will return to him. When he hurts others it will come down on his own head. ¹⁷ I will give thanks to the Lord because He is right and good. I will sing praise to the name of the Lord Most High.

²² He who finds a wife finds a good thing, and gets favor from the Lord.