People of Jerusalem

9 So all Israel was enrolled in genealogies; and behold, they are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And ^(A)Judah was taken into exile to Babylon for their infidelity.

^2 (B)Now the first inhabitants who lived on their own property in their cities were people of Israel, including the priests, the Levites, and ^(C)the ^[a]temple servants. ³ Some of the sons of Judah, some of the sons of Benjamin, and some of the sons of Ephraim and Manasseh lived in ^(D)Jerusalem: ⁴ Uthai the son of Ammihud, the son of Omri, the son of Imri, the son of Bani, from the sons of Perez the ^(E)son of Judah. ⁵ From the Shilonites were Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. ⁶ From the sons of Zerah were Jeuel and their relatives, 690 of them. ⁷ From the sons of Benjamin were Sallu the son of Meshullam, the son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah, ⁸ and Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, and Elah the son of Uzzi, the son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, the son of Reuel, the son of Ibnijah; ⁹ and their relatives according to their generations, ^(F)956. All these men were heads of fathers’ households according to their fathers’ houses.

^10 (G)From the priests were Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, ¹¹ and ^[b]Azariah the son of Hilkiah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Zadok, the son of Meraioth, the son of Ahitub, ^(H)the chief officer of the house of God; ¹² and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, the son of Pashhur, the son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, the son of Jahzerah, the son of Meshullam, the son of Meshillemith, the son of Immer; ¹³ and their relatives, heads of their fathers’ households, 1,760 competent men for the work of the service of the house of God.

^14 (I)Of the Levites, there were Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, the son of Azrikam, the son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; ¹⁵ and Bakbakkar, Heresh, and Galal; and Mattaniah the son of Mica, the son of ^[c]Zichri, the son of Asaph, ¹⁶ and ^[d]Obadiah the son of ^[e]Shemaiah, the son of Galal, the son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, the son of Elkanah, who lived in the settlements of the Netophathites.

¹⁷ Now the gatekeepers were ^[f]Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives (Shallum the chief ¹⁸ being stationed until now at ^(J)the king’s gate to the east). These were the gatekeepers for the camp of the sons of Levi. ¹⁹ Shallum the son of Kore, the son of ^[g]Ebiasaph, the son of Korah, and his relatives of his father’s house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, doorkeepers of the tent; and their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance. ^20 (K)Phinehas the son of Eleazar was supervisor over them previously, and the Lord was with him. ^21 (L)Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper of the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²² Those who were chosen to be gatekeepers at the thresholds were 212 in all. They were registered by genealogy in their settlements, ^(M)those whom David and Samuel the seer appointed ^(N)in their official capacity. ²³ So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, the house of the tent, in their divisions of service. ²⁴ The gatekeepers were ^[h]on the four sides, to the east, west, north, and south. ²⁵ Their relatives in their settlements ^(O)were to come in every seven days from time to time to be with ^[i]them; ²⁶ for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, served in an official capacity, and were in charge of the chambers and in charge of the treasuries in the house of God. ²⁷ They spent the night around the house of God, ^(P)because the watch was ^[j]committed to them; and they were in charge of opening it morning by morning.

²⁸ Now some of them were in charge of the utensils of the service, for ^[k]they counted them when they brought them in and when they took them out. ²⁹ Some of them also were appointed over the furniture and over all the utensils of the sanctuary, and ^(Q)over the finely milled flour, the wine, the olive oil, the frankincense, and the balsam oil. ³⁰ Some of ^(R)the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the balsam oil. ³¹ Mattithiah, one of the Levites, who was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, had ^(S)the ^[l]responsibility for the baking of cakes in pans. ³² Some of their relatives of the sons of the Kohathites ^(T)were in charge of the showbread to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³ Now these are ^(U)the singers, heads of fathers’ households of the Levites, who lived in the chambers of the temple free of other duties; for they were ^[m]engaged ^(V)in their work day and night. ³⁴ These were heads of fathers’ households of the Levites according to their generations, chief men ^[n]who lived in Jerusalem.

Ancestry and Descendants of Saul

^35 (W)Jeiel the father of Gibeon lived in Gibeon, and his wife’s name was Maacah, ³⁶ and his firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷ Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. ³⁸ Mikloth fathered Shimeam. And they also lived with their relatives in Jerusalem opposite their other relatives. ^39 (X)Ner fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰ The son of Jonathan was ^[o]Merib-baal; and Merib-baal fathered Micah. ⁴¹ The sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, ^(Y)and Ahaz. ⁴² Ahaz fathered Jarah, Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri fathered Moza. ⁴³ Moza fathered Binea, and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴ Azel had six sons whose names were these: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

Defeat and Death of Saul and His Sons

10 ^(Z)Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled from the Philistines but fell fatally wounded on Mount Gilboa. ² And the Philistines also overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines ^[p]killed Jonathan, ^[q](AA)Abinadab, and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³ The battle became severe against Saul, and the archers found him; and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴ Then Saul said to his armor bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, otherwise these uncircumcised Philistines will come and abuse me.” But his armor bearer would not, for he was very afraid. ^(AB)So Saul took his own sword and fell on it. ⁵ When his armor bearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell on his sword and died. ^6 (AC)So Saul died with his three sons, and all those of his house died together.

⁷ When all the people of Israel who were in the valley saw that they had fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled; and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸ It came about the next day, when the Philistines came to strip those killed, that they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ^9 (AD)So they stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers around the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰ They put his armor in the house of their gods and ^[r]impaled his head in the house of Dagon.

Jabesh-gilead’s Tribute to Saul

¹¹ When all Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, ^12 (AE)all the valiant men got up and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh; and they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh, and fasted for seven days.

^13 (AF)So Saul died for his unfaithfulness which he committed against the Lord, because of the word of the Lord which he did not keep; and also ^(AG)because he asked counsel of a medium, making inquiry of her, ¹⁴ and did not inquire of the Lord. Therefore He killed him and ^(AH)turned the kingdom over to David, the son of Jesse.

Jesus, the Example

12 Therefore, since we also have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let’s ^(A)rid ourselves of every obstacle and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let’s ^(B)run with ^(C)endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking only at Jesus, the ^[a](D)originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him ^(E)endured the cross, ^(F)despising the shame, and has ^(G)sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

³ For ^(H)consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary ^[b](I)and lose heart.

A Father’s Discipline

^4 (J)You have not yet resisted ^[c](K)to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; ⁵ and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,

⁷ It is for discipline that you endure; ^(P)God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸ But if you are without discipline, ^(Q)of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹ Furthermore, we had ^[d]earthly fathers to discipline us, and we ^(R)respected them; shall we not much more be subject to ^(S)the Father of ^[e]spirits, and ^(T)live? ¹⁰ For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, ^(U)so that we may share His holiness. ^11 (V)For the moment, all discipline seems not to be pleasant, but painful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterward it yields the ^(W)peaceful fruit of righteousness.

¹² Therefore, ^[f](X)strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, ¹³ and ^(Y)make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is impaired may not be dislocated, but rather ^(Z)be healed.

^14 (AA)Pursue peace with all people, and the ^(AB)holiness without which no one will ^(AC)see the Lord. ¹⁵ See to it that no one ^(AD)comes short of the grace of God; that no ^(AE)root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become ^(AF)defiled; ¹⁶ that there be no ^(AG)sexually immoral or ^(AH)godless person like Esau, ^(AI)who sold his own birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷ For you know that even afterward, ^(AJ)when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no place for repentance, though he sought for it with tears.

Contrast of Sinai and Zion

^18 (AK)For you have not come to ^(AL)a mountain that can be touched and to a blazing fire, and to darkness and gloom and whirlwind, ¹⁹ and to the ^(AM)blast of a trumpet and the ^(AN)sound of words, which sound was such that those who heard ^(AO)begged that no further word be spoken to them. ²⁰ For they could not ^[g]cope with the command, “^(AP)If even an animal touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹ And so terrible was the sight, that Moses said, “^(AQ)I am terrified and trembling.” ²² But ^(AR)you have come to Mount Zion and to ^(AS)the city of ^(AT)the living God, ^(AU)the heavenly Jerusalem, and to ^(AV)myriads of ^[h]angels, ²³ to the general assembly and ^(AW)church of the firstborn who ^(AX)are enrolled in heaven, and to God, ^(AY)the Judge of all, and to the ^(AZ)spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴ and to Jesus, the ^(BA)mediator of a new covenant, and to the ^(BB)sprinkled blood, which speaks better than ^(BC)the blood of Abel.

The Unshaken Kingdom

^25 (BD)See to it that you do not refuse Him who is ^(BE)speaking. For ^(BF)if those did not escape when they ^(BG)refused him who ^(BH)warned them on earth, ^[i]much less will we escape who turn away from Him who ^(BI)warns us from heaven. ²⁶ And ^(BJ)His voice shook the earth then, but now He has promised, saying, “^(BK)Yet once more I will shake not only the earth, but also the heaven.” ²⁷ This expression, “Yet once more,” denotes ^(BL)the removing of those things which can be shaken, as of created things, so that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸ Therefore, since we receive a ^(BM)kingdom which cannot be shaken, let’s ^[j]show gratitude, by which we may ^(BN)offer to God an acceptable service with reverence and awe; ²⁹ for ^(BO)our God is a consuming fire.