David Flees to the Philistines

27 Then David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will despair of seeking me any longer within the borders of Israel, and I shall escape out of his hand.” ² So David arose and went over, he and ^(A)the six hundred men who were with him, ^(B)to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ And David lived with Achish at Gath, he and his men, every man with his household, and David with ^(C)his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel, and Abigail of Carmel, Nabal's widow. ⁴ And when it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath, he no longer sought him.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If ^(D)I have found favor in your eyes, let a place be given me in one of the country towns, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So that day Achish gave him ^(E)Ziklag. Therefore Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ^7 (F)And the number of the days that David lived in the country of the Philistines was a year and four months.

⁸ Now David ^(G)and his men went up and made raids against ^(H)the Geshurites, ^(I)the Girzites, and ^(J)the Amalekites, for these were the inhabitants of the land from of old, ^(K)as far as Shur, to the land of Egypt. ⁹ And David would strike the land and would leave neither man nor woman alive, but would take away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the garments, and come back to Achish. ¹⁰ When Achish asked, “Where have you ^(L)made a raid today?” David would say, “Against the Negeb of Judah,” or, “Against the Negeb of ^(M)the Jerahmeelites,” or, “Against the Negeb of ^(N)the Kenites.” ¹¹ And David would leave neither man nor woman alive to bring news to Gath, thinking, “lest they should tell about us and say, ‘So David has done.’” Such was his custom all the while he lived in the country of the Philistines. ¹² And Achish trusted David, thinking, “He has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel; therefore he shall always be my servant.”

Give Ear to My Voice

A Psalm of David.

A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles

9 So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And ^(A)Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. ^2 (B)Now the first to ^(C)dwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the ^(D)temple servants. ³ And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: ⁴ Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of ^(E)Perez the son of Judah. ⁵ And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons. ⁶ Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, 690. ⁷ Of the Benjaminites: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah, ⁸ 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 their kinsmen according to their generations, ^(F)956. All these were heads of fathers' houses according ^(G)to their fathers' houses.

^10 (H)Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the ^(I)chief officer of the house of God; ¹² and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; ¹³ besides their kinsmen, heads of their fathers' houses, 1,760, mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.

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

¹⁷ The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen (Shallum was the chief); ¹⁸ until then they were ^(K)in the king's gate on the east side as the gatekeepers of the camps of the Levites. ¹⁹ Shallum the son of Kore, son of ^(L)Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his fathers' house, the ^(M)Korahites, 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 ^(N)Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the chief officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. ^21 (O)Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²² All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were 212. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. ^(P)David and Samuel ^(Q)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 ^(R)in their villages were obligated to come ^(S)in every seven days, in turn, to be with these, ²⁶ for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted to be over ^(T)the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. ²⁷ And they lodged around the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and ^(U)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 ^(V)fine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. ³⁰ Others, of the sons of the priests, ^(W)prepared the mixing of the spices, ³¹ and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of ^(X)Shallum the ^(Y)Korahite, was entrusted with ^(Z)making the flat cakes. ³² Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had ^(AA)charge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³ Now these, the ^(AB)singers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were 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. These lived in Jerusalem.

Saul's Genealogy Repeated

^35 (AC)In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah, ³⁶ and his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth; ³⁸ and Mikloth was the father of Shimeam; and these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. ^39 (AD)Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰ And the son of Jonathan was ^(AE)Merib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and ^(AF)Ahaz.^{[a] 42} And Ahaz fathered ^(AG)Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. ⁴³ Moza fathered Binea, and ^(AH)Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

The Twelve Apostles

10 ^(A)And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. ^2 (B)The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and ^(D)Andrew his brother; ^(E)James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and ^(F)Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus;^{[a] 4} Simon the Zealot,^[b] and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

Jesus Sends Out the Twelve Apostles

^5 (G)These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them, “Go nowhere among the Gentiles and enter no town of ^(H)the Samaritans, ^6 (I)but go rather to ^(J)the lost sheep of ^(K)the house of Israel. ⁷ And proclaim as you go, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’^{[c] 8 (M)}Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers,^[d] cast out demons. ^(N)You received without paying; give without pay. ^9 (O)Acquire no gold or silver or copper for your belts, ¹⁰ no bag for your journey, or two tunics^[e] or sandals or a staff, for ^(P)the laborer deserves his food. ¹¹ And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. ¹² As you enter the house, ^(Q)greet it. ¹³ And if the house is ^(R)worthy, let ^(S)your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let ^(T)your peace return to you. ¹⁴ And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. ¹⁵ Truly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for ^(W)the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.

Persecution Will Come

^16 (X)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be ^(Y)wise as serpents and ^(Z)innocent as doves. ¹⁷ Beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you over to courts and flog you ^(AB)in their synagogues, ^18 (AC)and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, ^(AD)to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. ^19 (AE)When ^(AF)they deliver you over, ^(AG)do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for ^(AH)what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. ^20 (AI)For it is not you who speak, but ^(AJ)the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ^21 (AK)Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, ^22 (AL)and you will be hated by all for my name's sake. ^(AM)But the one who endures to the end will be saved. ²³ When they ^(AN)persecute you in one town, ^(AO)flee to the next, for truly, I say to you, you will not have gone through all the towns of Israel ^(AP)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (AQ)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant^[f] above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for the disciple to be like his teacher, and the servant like his master. ^(AR)If they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how much more will they malign^[g] those of his household.

Have No Fear

²⁶ “So have no fear of them, ^(AS)for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. ²⁷ What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on ^(AT)the housetops. ²⁸ And ^(AU)do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him ^(AV)who can destroy both soul and body in hell.^{[h] 29} Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?^[i] And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father. ³⁰ But ^(AW)even the hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Fear not, therefore; ^(AX)you are of more value than many sparrows. ^32 (AY)So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, ³³ but ^(AZ)whoever denies me before men, ^(BA)I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Not Peace, but a Sword

^34 (BB)“Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. ^(BC)I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. ^35 (BD)For I have come ^(BE)to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. ^36 (BF)And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. ^37 (BG)Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. ³⁸ And ^(BH)whoever does not take his cross and ^(BI)follow me is not worthy of me. ^39 (BJ)Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

^40 (BK)“Whoever receives you receives me, and ^(BL)whoever receives me receives him who sent me. ^41 (BM)The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet's reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person's reward. ⁴² And ^(BN)whoever gives one of ^(BO)these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”