Priests and Levites in Jerusalem

9 So ^(A)all Israel was ^[a]recorded by genealogies, and indeed, they were inscribed in the book of the kings of Israel. But Judah was carried away captive to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness. ^2 (B)And the first inhabitants who dwelt in their possessions in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and ^(C)the Nethinim.

Dwellers in Jerusalem

³ Now in ^(D)Jerusalem the children of Judah dwelt, and some of the children of Benjamin, and of the children of Ephraim and Manasseh: ⁴ Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, of the descendants of Perez, the son of Judah. ⁵ Of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. ⁶ Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel, and their brethren—six hundred and ninety. ⁷ Of the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; ⁸ Ibneiah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; ⁹ and their brethren, according to their generations—nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were heads of a father’s house in their fathers’ houses.

The Priests at Jerusalem

^10 (E)Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, and Jachin; ^11 [b]Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, the ^(F)officer over the house of God; ¹² Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashur, the son of Malchijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; ¹³ and their brethren, heads of their fathers’ houses—one thousand seven hundred and sixty. They were ^[c]very able men for the work of the service of the house of God.

The Levites at Jerusalem

¹⁴ Of the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; ¹⁵ Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah the son of Micah, the son of ^(G)Zichri, the son of Asaph; ^16 (H)Obadiah the son of ^(I)Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

The Levite Gatekeepers

¹⁷ And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren. Shallum was the chief. ¹⁸ Until then they had been gatekeepers for the camps of the children of Levi at the King’s Gate on the east.

¹⁹ Shallum the son of Kore, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his brethren, from his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, ^[d]gatekeepers of the tabernacle. Their fathers had been keepers of the entrance to the camp of the Lord. ²⁰ And ^(J)Phinehas the son of Eleazar had been the officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. ^21 (K)Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was ^[e]keeper of the door of the tabernacle of meeting.

²² All those chosen as gatekeepers were two hundred and twelve. ^(L)They were recorded by their genealogy, in their villages. David and Samuel ^(M)the seer had appointed them to their trusted office. ²³ So they and their children were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, the house of the tabernacle, by assignment. ²⁴ The gatekeepers were assigned to the four directions: the east, west, north, and south. ²⁵ And their brethren in their villages had to come with them from time to time ^(N)for seven days. ²⁶ For in this trusted office were four chief gatekeepers; they were Levites. And they had charge over the chambers and treasuries of the house of God. ²⁷ And they lodged all around the house of God because ^[f]they had the ^(O)responsibility, and they were in charge of opening it every morning.

Other Levite Responsibilities

²⁸ Now some of them were in charge of the serving vessels, for they brought them in and took them out by count. ²⁹ Some of them were appointed over the furnishings and over all the implements of the sanctuary, and over the ^(P)fine flour and the wine and the oil and the incense and the spices. ³⁰ And some of the sons of the priests made ^(Q)the ointment of the spices.

³¹ Mattithiah of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had the trusted office ^(R)over the things that were baked in the pans. ³² And some of their brethren of the sons of the Kohathites ^(S)were in charge of preparing the showbread for every Sabbath.

³³ These are ^(T)the singers, heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites, who lodged in the chambers, and were free from other duties; for they were employed in that work day and night. ³⁴ These heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites were heads throughout their generations. They dwelt at Jerusalem.

The Family of King Saul

³⁵ Jeiel the father of Gibeon, whose wife’s name was ^(U)Maacah, dwelt at Gibeon. ³⁶ His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, ^[g]Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸ And Mikloth begot ^[h]Shimeam. They also dwelt alongside their relatives in Jerusalem, with their brethren. ^39 (V)Ner begot Kish, Kish begot Saul, and Saul begot Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-Baal. ⁴⁰ The son of Jonathan was Merib-Baal, and Merib-Baal begot Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, ^[i]Tahrea, ^(W)and^[j] Ahaz. ⁴² And Ahaz begot ^[k]Jarah; Jarah begot Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri begot Moza; ⁴³ Moza begot Binea, ^[l]Rephaiah his son, Eleasah his son, and Azel his son.

⁴⁴ And Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

Tragic End of Saul and His Sons^(X)

10 Now ^(Y)the Philistines fought against Israel; and the men of Israel fled from before the Philistines, and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ² Then the Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons. And the Philistines killed Jonathan, ^[m]Abinadab, and Malchishua, Saul’s sons. ³ The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armorbearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and abuse me.” But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. ⁵ And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. ⁶ So Saul and his three sons died, and all his house died together. ⁷ And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities and fled; then the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

⁸ So it happened the next day, when the Philistines came to ^[n]strip the slain, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹ And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent word throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among the people. ^10 (Z)Then they put his armor in the ^[o]temple of their gods, and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.

¹¹ And when all Jabesh Gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹² all the ^(AA)valiant men arose and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons; and they brought them to ^(AB)Jabesh, and buried their bones under the tamarisk tree at Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

¹³ So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he had ^[p]committed against the Lord, ^(AC)because he did not keep the word of the Lord, and also because ^(AD)he consulted a medium for guidance. ¹⁴ But he did not inquire of the Lord; therefore He killed him, and ^(AE)turned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

ח HETH

Israel’s Rejection of Christ

9 I ^(A)tell the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience also bearing me witness in the Holy Spirit, ^2 (B)that I have great sorrow and continual grief in my heart. ³ For ^(C)I could wish that I myself were accursed from Christ for my brethren, my ^[a]countrymen according to the flesh, ⁴ who are Israelites, ^(D)to whom pertain the adoption, ^(E)the glory, ^(F)the covenants, ^(G)the giving of the law, ^(H)the service of God, and ^(I)the promises; ^5 (J)of whom are the fathers and from ^(K)whom, according to the flesh, Christ came, ^(L)who is over all, the eternally blessed God. Amen.

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Purpose^(M)

^6 (N)But it is not that the word of God has taken no effect. For ^(O)they are not all Israel who are of Israel, ^7 (P)nor are they all children because they are the seed of Abraham; but, ^(Q)“In Isaac your seed shall be called.” ⁸ That is, those who are the children of the flesh, these are not the children of God; but ^(R)the children of the promise are counted as the seed. ⁹ For this is the word of promise: ^(S)“At this time I will come and Sarah shall have a son.”

¹⁰ And not only this, but when ^(T)Rebecca also had conceived by one man, even by our father Isaac ¹¹ (for the children not yet being born, nor having done any good or evil, that the purpose of God according to election might stand, not of works but of ^(U)Him who calls), ¹² it was said to her, ^(V)“The older shall serve the younger.” ¹³ As it is written, ^(W)“Jacob I have loved, but Esau I have hated.”

Israel’s Rejection and God’s Justice

¹⁴ What shall we say then? ^(X)Is there unrighteousness with God? Certainly not! ¹⁵ For He says to Moses, ^(Y)“I will have mercy on whomever I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whomever I will have compassion.” ¹⁶ So then it is not of him who wills, nor of him who runs, but of God who shows mercy. ¹⁷ For ^(Z)the Scripture says to the Pharaoh, ^(AA)“For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I may show My power in you, and that My name may be declared in all the earth.” ¹⁸ Therefore He has mercy on whom He wills, and whom He wills He ^(AB)hardens.

¹⁹ You will say to me then, “Why does He still find fault? For ^(AC)who has resisted His will?” ²⁰ But indeed, O man, who are you to reply against God? ^(AD)Will the thing formed say to him who formed it, “Why have you made me like this?” ²¹ Does not the ^(AE)potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make ^(AF)one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

²² What if God, wanting to show His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering ^(AG)the vessels of wrath ^(AH)prepared for destruction, ²³ and that He might make known ^(AI)the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy, which He had ^(AJ)prepared beforehand for glory, ²⁴ even us whom He ^(AK)called, ^(AL)not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles?

²⁵ As He says also in Hosea:

²⁷ Isaiah also cries out concerning Israel:

²⁹ And as Isaiah said before:

Present Condition of Israel

³⁰ What shall we say then? ^(AT)That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, ^(AU)even the righteousness of faith; ³¹ but Israel, ^(AV)pursuing the law of righteousness, ^(AW)has not attained to the law ^[d]of righteousness. ³² Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, ^[e]by the works of the law. For ^(AX)they stumbled at that stumbling stone. ³³ As it is written: