⁵ And ^(A)Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶ Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷ The sons of Helah were Zereth, Zohar, and Ethnan; ⁸ and Koz begot Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.

⁹ Now Jabez was ^(B)more honorable than his brothers, and his mother called his name ^[a]Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰ And Jabez called on the God of Israel saying, “Oh, that You would bless me indeed, and enlarge my ^[b]territory, that Your hand would be with me, and that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!” So God granted him what he requested.

¹¹ Chelub the brother of ^(C)Shuhah begot Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹² And Eshton begot Beth-Rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of ^[c]Ir-Nahash. These were the men of Rechah.

¹³ The sons of Kenaz were ^(D)Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel were ^[d]Hathath, ¹⁴ and Meonothai who begot Ophrah. Seraiah begot Joab the father of ^(E)Ge Harashim,^[e] for they were craftsmen. ¹⁵ The sons of ^(F)Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah was ^[f]Kenaz. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. ¹⁷ The sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And ^[g]Mered’s wife bore Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸ (^[h]His wife Jehudijah bore Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Sochoh, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) And these were the sons of Bithiah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took.

¹⁹ The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the ^(G)Maachathite. ²⁰ And the sons of Shimon were Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan, and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.

²¹ The sons of ^(H)Shelah ^(I)the son of Judah were Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers of the house of Ashbea; ²² also Jokim, the men of Chozeba, and Joash; Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-Lehem. Now the ^[i]records are ancient. ²³ These were the potters and those who dwell at ^[j]Netaim and ^[k]Gederah; there they dwelt with the king for his work.

The Family of Simeon^(J)

²⁴ The ^(K)sons of Simeon were ^[l]Nemuel, Jamin, ^[m]Jarib, ^[n]Zerah, and Shaul, ²⁵ Shallum his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. ²⁶ And the sons of Mishma were Hamuel his son, Zacchur his son, and Shimei his son. ²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many children, ^(L)nor did any of their families multiply as much as the children of Judah.

²⁸ They dwelt at Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar Shual, ^29 [o]Bilhah, Ezem, ^[p]Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth Marcaboth, ^[q]Hazar Susim, Beth Biri, and at Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² And their villages were ^[r]Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five cities— ³³ and all the villages that were around these cities as far as ^[s]Baal. These were their dwelling places, and they maintained their genealogy: ³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, and Joshah the son of Amaziah; ³⁵ Joel, and Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel; ³⁶ Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, and Benaiah; ³⁷ Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these mentioned by name were leaders in their families, and their father’s house increased greatly.

³⁹ So they went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ And they found rich, good pasture, and the land was broad, quiet, and peaceful; for some Hamites formerly lived there.

⁴¹ These recorded by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah; and they ^(M)attacked^[t] their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and ^(N)utterly destroyed them, as it is to this day. So they dwelt in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks there. ⁴² Now some of them, five hundred men of the sons of Simeon, went to Mount Seir, having as their captains Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi. ⁴³ And they ^[u]defeated ^(O)the rest of the Amalekites who had escaped. They have dwelt there to this day.

The Family of Reuben^(P)

5 Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel—^(Q)he was indeed the firstborn, but because he ^(R)defiled his father’s bed, ^(S)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, so that the genealogy is not listed according to the birthright; ² yet ^(T)Judah prevailed over his brothers, and from him came a ^(U)ruler, although ^[v]the birthright was Joseph’s— ³ the sons of ^(V)Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

⁴ The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ and Beerah his son, whom ^[w]Tiglath-Pileser king of Assyria ^(W)carried into captivity. He was leader of the Reubenites. ⁷ And his brethren by their families, ^(X)when the genealogy of their generations was registered: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah, ⁸ and Bela the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who dwelt in ^(Y)Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal Meon. ⁹ Eastward they settled as far as the ^[x]entrance of the wilderness this side of the River Euphrates, because their cattle had ^[y]multiplied ^(Z)in the land of Gilead.

¹⁰ Now in the days of Saul they made war ^(AA)with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand; and they dwelt in their tents throughout the entire area east of Gilead.

The Family of Gad

¹¹ And the ^(AB)children of Gad dwelt next to them in the land of ^(AC)Bashan as far as ^(AD)Salcah: ¹² Joel was the chief, Shapham the next, then Jaanai and Shaphat in Bashan, ¹³ and their brethren of their father’s house: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jachan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all. ¹⁴ These were the children of Abihail the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was chief of their father’s house. ¹⁶ And the Gadites dwelt in Gilead, in Bashan and in its villages, and in all the ^[z]common-lands of ^(AE)Sharon within their borders. ¹⁷ All these were registered by genealogies in the days of ^(AF)Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^(AG)Jeroboam king of Israel.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

25 Now when Festus had come to the province, after three days he went up from ^(A)Caesarea to Jerusalem. ^2 (B)Then the ^[a]high priest and the chief men of the Jews informed him against Paul; and they petitioned him, ³ asking a favor against him, that he would summon him to Jerusalem—^(C)while they lay in ambush along the road to kill him. ⁴ But Festus answered that Paul should be kept at Caesarea, and that he himself was going there shortly. ⁵ “Therefore,” he said, “let those who have authority among you go down with me and accuse this man, to see ^(D)if there is any fault in him.”

⁶ And when he had remained among them more than ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day, sitting on the judgment seat, he commanded Paul to be brought. ⁷ When he had come, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood about ^(E)and laid many serious complaints against Paul, which they could not prove, ⁸ while he answered for himself, ^(F)“Neither against the law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor against Caesar have I offended in anything at all.”

⁹ But Festus, ^(G)wanting to do the Jews a favor, answered Paul and said, ^(H)“Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and there be judged before me concerning these things?”

¹⁰ So Paul said, “I stand at Caesar’s judgment seat, where I ought to be judged. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you very well know. ^11 (I)For if I am an offender, or have committed anything deserving of death, I do not object to dying; but if there is nothing in these things of which these men accuse me, no one can deliver me to them. ^(J)I appeal to Caesar.”

¹² Then Festus, when he had conferred with the council, answered, “You have appealed to Caesar? To Caesar you shall go!”

Paul Before Agrippa

¹³ And after some days King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea to greet Festus. ¹⁴ When they had been there many days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying: ^(K)“There is a certain man left a prisoner by Felix, ^15 (L)about whom the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me, when I was in Jerusalem, asking for a judgment against him. ^16 (M)To them I answered, ‘It is not the custom of the Romans to deliver any man ^[b]to destruction before the accused meets the accusers face to face, and has opportunity to answer for himself concerning the charge against him.’ ¹⁷ Therefore when they had come together, ^(N)without any delay, the next day I sat on the judgment seat and commanded the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they brought no accusation against him of such things as I ^[c]supposed, ^19 (O)but had some questions against him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died, whom Paul affirmed to be alive. ²⁰ And because I was uncertain of such questions, I asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and there be judged concerning these matters. ²¹ But when Paul ^(P)appealed to be reserved for the decision of Augustus, I commanded him to be kept till I could send him to Caesar.”

²² Then ^(Q)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.”

“Tomorrow,” he said, “you shall hear him.”

²³ So the next day, when Agrippa and Bernice had come with great ^[d]pomp, and had entered the auditorium with the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at Festus’ command ^(R)Paul was brought in. ²⁴ And Festus said: “King Agrippa and all the men who are here present with us, you see this man about whom ^(S)the whole assembly of the Jews petitioned me, both at Jerusalem and here, crying out that he was ^(T)not fit to live any longer. ²⁵ But when I found that ^(U)he had committed nothing deserving of death, ^(V)and that he himself had appealed to Augustus, I decided to send him. ²⁶ I have nothing certain to write to my lord concerning him. Therefore I have brought him out before you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the examination has taken place I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner and not to specify the charges against him.”

A Prayer for Guidance

To the Chief Musician. With ^[a]flutes. A Psalm of David.