David Allied with the Philistines

27 And David said in his heart, “Now I shall perish someday by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape to the land of the Philistines; and Saul will ^[a]despair of me, to seek me anymore in any part of Israel. So I shall escape out of his hand.” ² Then David arose ^(A)and went over with the six hundred men who were with him ^(B)to Achish the son of Maoch, king of Gath. ³ So David dwelt with Achish at Gath, he and his men, each man with his household, and David ^(C)with his two wives, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess, and Abigail the Carmelitess, Nabal’s widow. ⁴ And it was told Saul that David had fled to Gath; so he sought him no more.

⁵ Then David said to Achish, “If I have now found favor in your eyes, let them give me a place in some town in the country, that I may dwell there. For why should your servant dwell in the royal city with you?” ⁶ So Achish gave him Ziklag that day. Therefore ^(D)Ziklag has belonged to the kings of Judah to this day. ⁷ Now ^[b]the time that David ^(E)dwelt in the country of the Philistines was one full year and four months.

⁸ And David and his men went up and raided ^(F)the Geshurites, ^(G)the ^[c]Girzites, and the ^(H)Amalekites. For those nations were the inhabitants of the land from ^[d]of old, ^(I)as you go to Shur, even as far as the land of Egypt. ⁹ Whenever David ^[e]attacked the land, he left neither man nor woman alive, but took away the sheep, the oxen, the donkeys, the camels, and the apparel, and returned and came to Achish. ¹⁰ Then Achish would say, “Where have you made a raid today?” And David would say, “Against the southern area of Judah, or against the southern area of ^(J)the Jerahmeelites, or against the southern area of ^(K)the Kenites.” ¹¹ David would save neither man nor woman alive, to bring news to Gath, saying, “Lest they should inform on us, saying, ‘Thus David did.’ ” And thus was his behavior all the time he dwelt in the country of the Philistines. ¹² So Achish believed David, saying, “He has made his people Israel utterly abhor him; therefore he will be my servant forever.”

Prayer for Safekeeping from Wickedness

A Psalm of David.

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.

The Twelve Apostles^(A)

10 And ^(B)when He had called His twelve disciples to Him, He gave them power over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease. ² Now the names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, ^(C)who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother; ³ Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James the son of Alphaeus, and ^[a]Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus; ^4 (D)Simon the ^[b]Cananite, and Judas ^(E)Iscariot, who also betrayed Him.

Sending Out the Twelve^(F)

⁵ These twelve Jesus sent out and commanded them, saying: ^(G)“Do not go into the way of the Gentiles, and do not enter a city of ^(H)the Samaritans. ^6 (I)But go rather to the ^(J)lost sheep of the house of Israel. ^7 (K)And as you go, preach, saying, ^(L)‘The kingdom of heaven ^[c]is at hand.’ ⁸ Heal the sick, ^[d]cleanse the lepers, ^[e]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(M)Freely you have received, freely give. ^9 (N)Provide neither gold nor silver nor ^(O)copper in your money belts, ¹⁰ nor bag for your journey, nor two tunics, nor sandals, nor staffs; ^(P)for a worker is worthy of his food.

^11 (Q)“Now whatever city or town you enter, inquire who in it is worthy, and stay there till you go out. ¹² And when you go into a household, greet it. ^13 (R)If the household is worthy, let your peace come upon it. ^(S)But if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ^14 (T)And whoever will not receive you nor hear your words, when you depart from that house or city, ^(U)shake off the dust from your feet. ¹⁵ Assuredly, I say to you, ^(V)it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!

Persecutions Are Coming^(W)

^16 (X)“Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. ^(Y)Therefore be wise as serpents and ^(Z)harmless^[f] as doves. ¹⁷ But beware of men, for ^(AA)they will deliver you up to councils and ^(AB)scourge you in their synagogues. ^18 (AC)You will be brought before governors and kings for My sake, as a testimony to them and to the Gentiles. ^19 (AD)But when they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For ^(AE)it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; ^20 (AF)for it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you.

^21 (AG)“Now brother will deliver up brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. ²² And ^(AH)you will be hated by all for My name’s sake. ^(AI)But he who endures to the end will be saved. ^23 (AJ)When they persecute you in this city, flee to another. For assuredly, I say to you, you will not have ^(AK)gone through the cities of Israel ^(AL)before the Son of Man comes.

^24 (AM)“A disciple is not above his teacher, nor a servant above his master. ²⁵ It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. If ^(AN)they have called the master of the house ^[g]Beelzebub, how much more will they call those of his household! ²⁶ Therefore do not fear them. ^(AO)For there is nothing covered that will not be revealed, and hidden that will not be known.

Jesus Teaches the Fear of God^(AP)

²⁷ “Whatever I tell you in the dark, ^(AQ)speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops. ^28 (AR)And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather ^(AS)fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in ^[h]hell. ²⁹ Are not two ^(AT)sparrows sold for a ^[i]copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. ^30 (AU)But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. ³¹ Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

Confess Christ Before Men^(AV)

^32 (AW)“Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, ^(AX)him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. ^33 (AY)But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.

Christ Brings Division^(AZ)

^34 (BA)“Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. ³⁵ For I have come to ^(BB)‘set^[j] a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law’; ³⁶ and ^(BC)‘a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.’ ^37 (BD)He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me. And he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. ^38 (BE)And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. ^39 (BF)He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for My sake will find it.

A Cup of Cold Water^(BG)

^40 (BH)“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. ^41 (BI)He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward. And he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. ^42 (BJ)And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.”