The Daily Audio Bible
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Inhabitants of Jerusalem after the Exile
9 So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies; and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. 2 Now the first to dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. 3 And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, E′phraim, and Manas′seh dwelt in Jerusalem: 4 Uthai the son of Ammi′hud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the son of Judah. 5 And of the Shi′lonites: Asa′iah the first-born, and his sons. 6 Of the sons of Zerah: Jeu′el and their kinsmen, six hundred and ninety. 7 Of the Benjaminites: Sallu the son of Meshul′lam, son of Hodavi′ah, son of Hassenu′ah, 8 Ibne′iah the son of Jero′ham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshul′lam the son of Shephati′ah, son of Reu′el, son of Ibni′jah; 9 and their kinsmen according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these were heads of fathers’ houses according to their fathers’ houses.
Priestly Families
10 Of the priests: Jeda′iah, Jehoi′arib, Jachin, 11 and Azari′ah the son of Hilki′ah, son of Meshul′lam, son of Zadok, son of Mera′ioth, son of Ahi′tub, the chief officer of the house of God; 12 and Ada′iah the son of Jero′ham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchi′jah, and Ma′asai the son of Ad′i-el, son of Jah′zerah, son of Meshul′lam, son of Meshil′lemith, son of Immer; 13 besides their kinsmen, heads of their fathers’ houses, one thousand seven hundred and sixty, very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.
Levitical Families
14 Of the Levites: Shemai′ah the son of Hasshub, son of Azri′kam, son of Hashabi′ah, of the sons of Merar′i; 15 and Bakbak′kar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattani′ah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; 16 and Obadi′ah the son of Shemai′ah, son of Galal, son of Jedu′thun, and Berechi′ah the son of Asa, son of Elka′nah, who dwelt in the villages of the Netoph′athites.
17 The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahi′man, and their kinsmen (Shallum being the chief), 18 stationed hitherto in the king’s gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites. 19 Shallum the son of Kor′e, son of Ebi′asaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his fathers’ house, the Kor′ahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance. 20 And Phin′ehas the son of Elea′zar was the ruler over them in time past; the Lord was with him. 21 Zechari′ah the son of Meshelemi′ah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting. 22 All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were two hundred and twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and Samuel the seer established them in their office of trust. 23 So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. 24 The gatekeepers were on the four sides, east, west, north, and south; 25 and their kinsmen who were in their villages were obliged to come in every seven days, from time to time, to be with these; 26 for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in charge of the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. 27 And they lodged round about the house of God; for upon them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning.
28 Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. 29 Others of them were appointed over the furniture, and over all the holy utensils, also over the fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. 30 Others, of the sons of the priests, prepared the mixing of the spices, 31 and Mattithi′ah, one of the Levites, the first-born of Shallum the Kor′ahite, was in charge of making the flat cakes. 32 Also some of their kinsmen of the Ko′hathites had charge of the showbread, to prepare it every sabbath.
33 Now these are the singers, the heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, dwelling in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. 34 These were heads of fathers’ houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders, who lived in Jerusalem.
The Family of King Saul
35 In Gibeon dwelt the father of Gibeon, Je-i′el, and the name of his wife was Ma′acah, 36 and his first-born son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Ba′al, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahi′o, Zechari′ah, and Mikloth; 38 and Mikloth was the father of Shim′e-am; and these also dwelt opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. 39 Ner was the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Mal′chishu′a, Abin′adab, and Eshba′al; 40 and the son of Jonathan was Mer′ib-ba′al; and Mer′ib-ba′al was the father of Micah. 41 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahr′e-a, and Ahaz;[a] 42 and Ahaz was the father of Jarah, and Jarah of Al′emeth, Az′maveth, and Zimri; and Zimri was the father of Moza. 43 Moza was the father of Bin′e-a; and Repha′iah was his son, Ele-a′sah his son, Azel his son. 44 Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azri′kam, Bo′cheru, Ish′mael, She-ari′ah, Obadi′ah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.
Death of Saul and His Sons
10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilbo′a. 2 And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons; and the Philistines slew Jonathan and Abin′adab and Mal′chishu′a, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard upon Saul, and the archers found him; and he was wounded by the archers. 4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer would not; for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword, and fell upon it. 5 And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword, and died. 6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. 7 And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army[b] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
8 On the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilbo′a. 9 And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines, to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 And they put his armor in the temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. 11 But when all Ja′besh-gil′ead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant men arose, and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also consulted a medium, seeking guidance, 14 and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord slew him, and turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.
21 As they had been long without food, Paul then came forward among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and should not have set sail from Crete and incurred this injury and loss. 22 I now bid you take heart; for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 23 For this very night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship, 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar; and lo, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 25 So take heart, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told. 26 But we shall have to run on some island.”
27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the sea of A′dria, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they sounded and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 And fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let out four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come. 30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, under pretense of laying out anchors from the bow, 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it go.
33 As day was about to dawn, Paul urged them all to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have continued in suspense and without food, having taken nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food; it will give you strength, since not a hair is to perish from the head of any of you.” 35 And when he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all he broke it and began to eat. 36 Then they all were encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 (We were in all two hundred and seventy-six[a] persons in the ship.) 38 And when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
The Shipwreck
39 Now when it was day, they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach, on which they planned if possible to bring the ship ashore. 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that tied the rudders; then hoisting the foresail to the wind they made for the beach. 41 But striking a shoal[b] they ran the vessel aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, and the stern was broken up by the surf. 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any should swim away and escape; 43 but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their purpose. He ordered those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the land, 44 and the rest on planks or on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all escaped to land.
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
8 [a]O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is thy name in all the earth!
Thou whose glory above the heavens is chanted
2 by the mouth of babes and infants,
thou hast founded a bulwark because of thy foes,
to still the enemy and the avenger.
3 When I look at thy heavens, the work of thy fingers,
the moon and the stars which thou hast established;
4 what is man that thou art mindful of him,
and the son of man that thou dost care for him?
5 Yet thou hast made him little less than God,
and dost crown him with glory and honor.
6 Thou hast given him dominion over the works of thy hands;
thou hast put all things under his feet,
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the sea.
9 O Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is thy name in all the earth!
The Revised Standard Version of the Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1965, 1966 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.