The Daily Audio Bible
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9 So the names of all Israel were written down by families. See, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was carried away to Babylon because they were not faithful.
Those Who Returned to Their Land
2 The first ones to live again in their land and in their cities were Israel, the religious leaders, the Levites and the servants of the Lord’s house. 3 Some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem. 4 They were Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah. 5 From the Shilonites were Asaiah the first-born and his sons. 6 From the sons of Zerah were Jeuel and their brothers, 690 of them. 7 From the sons of Benjamin were Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah. 8 And there were Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah. 9 And there were their brothers by their families, 956 of them. All these were heads of fathers’ houses by their fathers’ houses.
The Religious Leaders for Jerusalem
10 From the religious leaders were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin. 11 And there was Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub. He was the head leader of the house of God. 12 And there was Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah. There was Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer. 13 And there were 1,760 of their brothers, who were heads of their fathers’ houses. They were very able men for the work of the house of God.
The Levites in Jerusalem
14 From the Levites were Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari. 15 There were Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph. 16 There was Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun. And there was Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the towns of the Netophathites.
The Gate-Keepers in Jerusalem
17 The gate-keepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman and their brothers. (Shallum was the leader 18 who was at the king’s gate on the east side.) These were the gate-keepers for the family group of the Levites. 19 Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his brothers of his father’s house, were the Korahites. They led the work, and they watched the doors of the meeting tent. Their fathers had taken care of the tents of the Lord, and had watched the doors. 20 Phinehas the son of Eleazar had ruled over them before. And the Lord was with him. 21 Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah watched the gate of the meeting tent. 22 There were 212 of those who were chosen to watch the gates. Their names were written down by families in their towns. David and Samuel the man of God chose them for places of trust. 23 So they and their sons were gate-keepers of the Lord’s house, the holy tent. 24 The gate-keepers were on the four sides, to the east, west, north and south. 25 Those of their family in other towns were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with them. 26 For the four head men who were gate-keepers were Levites and were in a place of trust. They watched over the rooms and the riches in the house of God. 27 They stayed during the night around the house of God. For their duty was to watch. And they were to open the house every morning.
The Other Levites
28 Some of them took care of the things used for worship. They numbered them when they were brought in and taken out. 29 Some of them were chosen to take care of the objects of the holy place, the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the special perfume, and the spices. 30 And some of the sons of the religious leaders did the work of mixing the spices. 31 Mattithiah was one of the Levites, the first-born of Shallum the Korahite. He took care of the making of bread. 32 And some of their brothers of the Kohathites took care of the making of the holy bread every Day of Rest.
33 These are the singers. They were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lived in the rooms of the Lord’s house. They were free from other kinds of worship, for they were on duty day and night. 34 These were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites by their families. They were leaders who lived in Jerusalem.
The Family of King Saul
35 Gibeon’s father Jeiel lived in Gibeon. The name of Jeiel’s wife was Maacah. 36 His sons were Abdon the first-born, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah and Mikloth. 38 Mikloth was the father of Shimeam. They lived with their brothers in Jerusalem beside their other brothers. 39 Ner was the father of Kish. Kish was the father of Saul. Saul was the father of Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab and Eshbaal. 40 The son of Jonathan was Merib-baal. Merib-baal was the father of Micah. 41 The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea and Ahaz. 42 Ahaz was the father of Jarah. Jarah was the father of Alemeth, Azmaveth and Zimri. Zimri was the father of Moza. 43 Moza was the father of Binea and Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 44 Azel had six sons whose names were Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.
The Death of King Saul and His Sons
10 Now the many Philistines fought against Israel. The men of Israel ran away from the Philistines, and were killed on Mount Gilboa. 2 The Philistines went after Saul and his sons. And they killed Jonathan, Abinadab and Malchi-shua, Saul’s sons. 3 The battle was hard for Saul. Those who fought with the bow found him, and hurt him with an arrow. 4 Then Saul said to the one who carried his battle-clothes, “Take your sword and kill me with it. Or these men who have not gone through our religious act will come and make fun of me.” But the one who carried his battle-clothes would not do it. For he was very afraid. So Saul took his sword and fell on it. 5 When the one who carried his battle-clothes saw that Saul was dead, he fell on his sword and died also. 6 So Saul died with his three sons. All those of his house died together.
7 All the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. So they left their cities and ran away. Then the Philistines came and lived in their cities. 8 When the Philistines came the next day to take what had belonged to the dead, they found Saul and his sons dead on Mount Gilboa. 9 So they took his clothes, his head, and his battle-clothes. And they sent men around the land of the Philistines to take the good news to their false gods and to the people. 10 They put Saul’s battle-clothes in the house of their gods. And they put his head in the house of Dagon. 11 All the people of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul. 12 So all the powerful soldiers went and took the bodies of Saul and his sons. They brought them to Jabesh and buried their bones under the oak tree there. Then they went without food for seven days.
13 So Saul died for his sin against the Lord, because he did not keep the Word of the Lord. He had asked a woman who spoke with spirits what he should do. 14 He did not ask the Lord. So the Lord killed him, and gave the nation to David the son of Jesse.
Paul Shows His Faith
21 No one had eaten for a long time. Then Paul stood up and said to them, “Men, you should have listened to me and not left Crete. You would not have had this trouble and loss. 22 But now I want you to take hope. No one will lose his life. Only the ship will be lost. 23 I belong to God and I work for Him. Last night an angel of God stood by me 24 and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand in front of Caesar. God has given you the lives of all the men on this ship.’ 25 So take hope, men. I believe my God will do what He has told me. 26 But the ship will be lost on some island.”
27 It was now the fourteenth night. We were going with the wind on the Adriatic Sea. At midnight the sailors thought land was near. 28 They let down the lead weight and found the water was not very deep. After they had gone a little farther, they found there was not as much water. 29 They were afraid we might be thrown against the rocks on the shore. So they put out four anchors from the back of the ship. Then they waited for morning to come.
30 The sailors were thinking of leaving the ship. They let down a boat as if they were going to put out anchors from the front of the ship. 31 But Paul said to the captain and the soldiers, “These men must stay on the ship or you cannot be safe!” 32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes and let the boat fall into the sea.
33 Just before the light of day came, Paul told all of them to eat. He said, “Today is the fourteenth day you have not eaten. 34 You must eat. It will give you strength. Not one of you will lose a hair from your head.”
35 After he said this, he took some bread. He gave thanks to God in front of them all. He broke it in pieces and started to eat. 36 They all were comforted. Each one ate some food. 37 All together there were 276 of us on the ship. 38 After they had eaten, they threw the wheat into the sea so the ship would not be as heavy.
39 In the morning they could not see what land they were near. Later they could see a river. Near its mouth there was a shore of sand. They planned to run the ship onto the sand if they could. 40 The anchors were cut loose and left in the sea. Then they took the ropes off that were holding the rudder. When they put up the sail, the wind took the ship toward shore. 41 But the ship hit a place where the water was low. It was made from where two seas meet. The front of the ship did not move but the back part broke in pieces by the high waves.
42 The soldiers planned to kill the men in chains. They were afraid they would swim to shore and get away, 43 but the captain wanted to save Paul. He kept them from their plan. Calling out to those who could swim, he told them to jump into the sea and swim to shore. 44 The others should use wood or anything from the ship. In this way, they all got to shore without getting hurt.
God’s Shining-Greatness
8 O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth. You have set Your shining-greatness above the heavens. 2 Out of the mouth of children and babies, You have built up strength because of those who hate You, and to quiet those who fight against You.
3 When I look up and think about Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in their place, 4 what is man, that You think of him, the son of man that You care for him? 5 You made him a little less than the angels and gave him a crown of greatness and honor. 6 You made him to rule over the works of Your hands. You put all things under his feet: 7 All sheep and cattle, all the wild animals, 8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and all that pass through the sea. 9 O Lord, our Lord, how great is Your name in all the earth!
23 The poor man asks for loving-kindness, but the rich man is hard in his answers.
24 A man who has friends must be a friend, but there is a friend who stays nearer than a brother.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.