¹⁸ The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant men who carried shield and sword, and drew the bow, ^(A)expert in war, 44,760, able to go to war. ¹⁹ They waged war against the ^(B)Hagrites, ^(C)Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰ And when they prevailed^[a] over them, the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hands, ^(D)for they cried out to God in the battle, and he granted their urgent plea ^(E)because they trusted in him. ²¹ They carried off their livestock: 50,000 of their camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 men alive. ²² For many fell, because the war was of God. And they lived ^(F)in their place until ^(G)the exile.

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²³ The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, ^(H)Senir, and Mount Hermon. ²⁴ These were the heads of their fathers' houses: Epher,^[b] Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty warriors, famous men, heads of their fathers' houses. ²⁵ But they broke faith with the God of their fathers, and ^(I)whored ^(J)after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of ^(K)Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of ^(L)Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them ^(M)to Halah, ^(N)Habor, Hara, and ^(O)the river Gozan, to this day.

Descendants of Levi

6 ^{[c] (P)}The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. ^2 (Q)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. ^3 (R)The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. ^(S)The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ^4 (T)(U)Eleazar fathered ^(V)Phinehas, Phinehas fathered Abishua, ⁵ Abishua fathered Bukki, Bukki fathered Uzzi, ⁶ Uzzi fathered Zerahiah, Zerahiah fathered ^(W)Meraioth, ⁷ Meraioth fathered Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ^8 (X)Ahitub fathered ^(Y)Zadok, Zadok fathered Ahimaaz, ⁹ Ahimaaz fathered Azariah, Azariah fathered Johanan, ¹⁰ and Johanan fathered Azariah (^(Z)it was he who served as priest ^(AA)in the house that Solomon built in Jerusalem). ^11 (AB)Azariah fathered ^(AC)Amariah, Amariah fathered Ahitub, ¹² Ahitub fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered ^(AD)Shallum, ¹³ Shallum fathered ^(AE)Hilkiah, Hilkiah fathered Azariah, ¹⁴ Azariah fathered ^(AF)Seraiah, Seraiah fathered Jehozadak; ¹⁵ and ^(AG)Jehozadak went into exile when the Lord sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile ^(AH)by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

^16 [d] The ^(AI)sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. ¹⁷ And these are the names of the sons of Gershom: ^(AJ)Libni and Shimei. ^18 (AK)The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron and Uzziel. ^19 (AL)The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. These are the clans of the Levites according to their fathers. ^20 (AM)Of Gershom: Libni his son, ^(AN)Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, ²¹ Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. ^22 (AO)The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, ²³ Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, ²⁴ Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. ²⁵ The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth, ²⁶ Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, ²⁷ Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. ²⁸ The sons of Samuel: Joel^[e] his firstborn, the second Abijah.^{[f] 29 (AP)}The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, ³⁰ Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.

³¹ These are the men ^(AQ)whom David put in charge of the service of song in the house of the Lord ^(AR)after the ark rested there. ³² They ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting until Solomon built the house of the Lord in Jerusalem, and they performed their service according to their order. ³³ These are the men who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer the son of Joel, son of ^(AS)Samuel, ³⁴ son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, ³⁵ son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, ³⁶ son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, ³⁷ son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, ³⁸ son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel; ³⁹ and his brother ^(AT)Asaph, who stood on his right hand, namely, Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, ⁴⁰ son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malchijah, ⁴¹ son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, ⁴² son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, ⁴³ son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. ⁴⁴ On the left hand were their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch, ⁴⁵ son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, ⁴⁶ son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, ⁴⁷ son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. ⁴⁸ And their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

⁴⁹ But Aaron and his sons made offerings ^(AU)on the altar of burnt offering and on ^(AV)the altar of incense for all the work of the Most Holy Place, and ^(AW)to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded. ^50 (AX)These are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, ⁵¹ Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, ⁵² Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, ⁵³ Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.

⁵⁴ These are their dwelling places according to their ^(AY)settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the ^(AZ)clans of Kohathites, for theirs was the first lot, ⁵⁵ to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, ^56 (BA)but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. ^57 (BB)To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, ⁵⁸ Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, ⁵⁹ Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasturelands; ⁶⁰ and from the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon,^[g] Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities throughout their clans were thirteen.

^61 (BC)To the rest of the Kohathites were given by lot out of the clan of the tribe, out of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities. ⁶² To the Gershomites according to their clans were allotted thirteen cities out of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali and Manasseh in Bashan. ^63 (BD)To the Merarites according to their clans were allotted twelve cities out of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun. ^64 (BE)So the people of Israel gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands. ⁶⁵ They gave by lot out of the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin ^(BF)these cities that are mentioned by name.

^66 (BG)And some of the clans of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim. ⁶⁷ They were given the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, ^68 (BH)Jokmeam with its pasturelands, Beth-horon with its pasturelands, ⁶⁹ Aijalon with its pasturelands, Gath-rimmon with its pasturelands, ⁷⁰ and out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands, for the rest of the clans of the Kohathites.

^71 (BI)To the Gershomites were given out of the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and ^(BJ)Ashtaroth with its pasturelands; ⁷² and out of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, ⁷³ Ramoth with its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands; ⁷⁴ out of the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, ⁷⁵ Hukok with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands; ⁷⁶ and out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands. ^77 (BK)To the rest of the Merarites were allotted out of the tribe of Zebulun: ^(BL)Rimmono with its pasturelands, ^(BM)Tabor with its pasturelands, ⁷⁸ and ^(BN)beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands, ⁷⁹ Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands; ⁸⁰ and out of the tribe of Gad: ^(BO)Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, ^(BP)Mahanaim with its pasturelands, ^81 (BQ)Heshbon with its pasturelands, and ^(BR)Jazer with its pasturelands.

Paul's Defense Before Agrippa

26 So ^(A)Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense:

² “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today ^(B)against all the accusations of the Jews, ³ especially because you are familiar with all the ^(C)customs and ^(D)controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently.

^4 (E)“My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among ^(F)my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. ⁵ They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that ^(G)according to the strictest ^(H)party of our ^(I)religion I have lived as ^(J)a Pharisee. ⁶ And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in ^(K)the promise made by God to our fathers, ^7 (L)to which ^(M)our twelve tribes hope to ^(N)attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope ^(O)I am accused by Jews, O king! ⁸ Why is it thought ^(P)incredible by any of you that God raises the dead?

^9 (Q)“I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of ^(R)Jesus of Nazareth. ^10 (S)And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority ^(T)from the chief priests, but ^(U)when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. ¹¹ And ^(V)I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them ^(W)blaspheme, and ^(X)in raging fury against them I ^(Y)persecuted them even to foreign cities.

Paul Tells of His Conversion

¹² “In this connection ^(Z)I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. ¹³ At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. ¹⁴ And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me ^(AA)in the Hebrew language,^[a] ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ ¹⁵ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. ¹⁶ But rise and ^(AB)stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, ^(AC)to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, ^17 (AD)delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—^(AE)to whom I ^(AF)am sending you ^18 (AG)to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from ^(AH)the power of Satan to God, that they may receive ^(AI)forgiveness of sins and ^(AJ)a place among those who are sanctified ^(AK)by faith in me.’

¹⁹ “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to ^(AL)the heavenly vision, ²⁰ but declared first ^(AM)to those in Damascus, ^(AN)then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also ^(AO)to the Gentiles, that they should ^(AP)repent and ^(AQ)turn to God, performing deeds ^(AR)in keeping with their repentance. ²¹ For this reason ^(AS)the Jews seized me in the temple and tried to kill me. ^22 (AT)To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so ^(AU)I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what ^(AV)the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: ^23 (AW)that the Christ ^(AX)must suffer and that, ^(AY)by being the first ^(AZ)to rise from the dead, ^(BA)he would proclaim ^(BB)light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

²⁴ And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, ^(BC)you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” ²⁵ But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, ^(BD)most excellent Festus, but I am speaking ^(BE)true and ^(BF)rational words. ²⁶ For ^(BG)the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly. For I am persuaded that none of these things has escaped his notice, for this has not been done in a corner. ²⁷ King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you believe.” ²⁸ And Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time would you persuade me to be ^(BH)a Christian?”^{[b] 29} And Paul said, “Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day ^(BI)might become such as I am—except for ^(BJ)these chains.”

³⁰ Then the king rose, and ^(BK)the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. ³¹ And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, ^(BL)“This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” ³² And Agrippa said to Festus, ^(BM)“This man could have been set ^(BN)free if he had not appealed ^(BO)to Caesar.”

O Lord, Deliver My Life

To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; according to ^(A)The Sheminith.^[a] A Psalm of David.