Herod Causes Trouble for the Church

12 At that time King Herod^[a] caused terrible suffering for some members of the church. ² He ordered soldiers to cut off the head of James, the brother of John. ^3 (A) When Herod saw that this pleased the Jewish people, he had Peter arrested during the Festival of Thin Bread. ⁴ He put Peter in jail and ordered four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to put him on trial in public after the festival.

⁵ While Peter was being kept in jail, the church never stopped praying to God for him.

Peter Is Rescued

⁶ The night before Peter was to be put on trial, he was asleep and bound by two chains. A soldier was guarding him on each side, and two other soldiers were guarding the entrance to the jail. ⁷ Suddenly an angel from the Lord appeared, and light flashed around in the cell. The angel poked Peter in the side and woke him up. Then he said, “Quick! Get up!”

The chains fell off his hands, ⁸ and the angel said, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” Peter did what he was told. Then the angel said, “Now put on your coat and follow me.” ⁹ Peter left with the angel, but he thought everything was only a dream. ¹⁰ They went past the two groups of soldiers, and when they came to the iron gate to the city, it opened by itself. They went out and were going along the street, when all at once the angel disappeared.

¹¹ Peter now realized what had happened, and he said, “I am certain that the Lord sent his angel to rescue me from Herod and from everything the Jewish leaders planned to do to me.” ¹² Then Peter went to the house of Mary the mother of John whose other name was Mark. Many of the Lord's followers had come together there and were praying.

¹³ Peter knocked on the gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ When she heard Peter's voice, she was too excited to open the gate. She ran back into the house and said Peter was standing there.

¹⁵ “You are crazy!” everyone told her. But she kept saying it was Peter. Then they said, “It must be his angel.”^{[b] 16} But Peter kept on knocking, until finally they opened the gate. They saw him and were completely amazed.

¹⁷ Peter motioned for them to keep quiet. Then he told how the Lord had led him out of jail. He also said, “Tell James^[c] and the others what has happened.” After that, he left and went somewhere else.

¹⁸ The next morning the soldiers who had been on guard were terribly worried and wondered what had happened to Peter. ¹⁹ Herod ordered his own soldiers to search for him, but they could not find him. Then he questioned the guards and had them put to death. After this, Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.

Herod Dies

^20 (B) Herod and the people of Tyre and Sidon were very angry with each other. But their country got its food supply from the region that he ruled. So a group of them went to see Blastus, who was one of Herod's high officials. They convinced Blastus that they wanted to make peace between their cities and Herod, ²¹ and a day was set for them to meet with him.

Herod came dressed in his royal robes. He sat down on his throne and made a speech. ²² The people shouted, “You speak more like a god than a man!” ²³ At once an angel from the Lord struck him down because he took the honor that belonged to God. Later, Herod was eaten by worms and died.

²⁴ God's message kept spreading. ²⁵ And after Barnabas and Saul had done the work they were sent to do, they went back to Jerusalem^[d] with John, whose other name was Mark.

Judah's Land

15 The clans of the Judah tribe were given land that went south along the border of Edom, and at its farthest point south it even reached the Zin Desert. ² Judah's southern border started at the south end of the Dead Sea. ³ As it went west from there, it ran south of Scorpion Pass^[a] to Zin, and then came up from the south to Kadesh-Barnea. It continued past Hezron up to Addar, turned toward Karka, ⁴ and ran along to Azmon. After that, it followed the Egyptian Gorge and ended at the Mediterranean Sea. This was also Israel's southern border.

⁵ Judah's eastern border ran the full length of the Dead Sea.

The northern border started at the northern end of the Dead Sea.^{[b] 6} From there it went west up to Beth-Hoglah, continued north of Beth-Arabah, and went up to the Monument of Bohan,^[c] who belonged to the Reuben tribe. ⁷ From there, it went to Trouble Valley^[d] and Debir,^[e] then turned north and went to Gilgal,^[f] which is on the north side of the valley across from Adummim Pass. It continued on to Enshemesh, Enrogel, ⁸ and up through Hinnom Valley on the land sloping south from Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem itself belonged to the Jebusites.

Next, the border went up to the top of the mountain on the west side of Hinnom Valley and at the north end of Rephaim Valley. ⁹ At the top of the mountain it turned and went to Nephtoah Spring and then to the ruins^[g] on Mount Ephron. From there, it went to Baalah, which is now called Kiriath-Jearim.

¹⁰ From Baalah the northern border curved west to Mount Seir and then ran along the northern ridge of Mount Jearim, where Chesalon is located. Then it went down to Beth-Shemesh^[h] and over to Timnah. ¹¹ It continued along to the hillside north of Ekron, curved around to Shikkeron, and then went to Mount Baalah. After going to Jabneel, the border finally ended at the Mediterranean Sea, ¹² which was Judah's western border.

The clans of Judah lived within these borders.

Caleb's Land

(Judges 1.12-15)

^13 (A) Joshua gave Caleb some land among the people of Judah, as God had told him to do. Caleb's share was Hebron, which at that time was known as Arba's Town,^[i] because Arba was the famous ancestor of the Anakim.^[j]

¹⁴ Caleb attacked Hebron and forced the three Anakim clans of^[k] Sheshai, Ahiman, and Talmai to leave. ¹⁵ Next, Caleb started a war with the town of Debir, which at that time was called Kiriath-Sepher. ¹⁶ He told his men, “The man who captures Kiriath-Sepher can marry my daughter Achsah.”

¹⁷ Caleb's nephew Othniel^[l] captured Kiriath-Sepher, and Caleb let him marry Achsah. ¹⁸ Right after the wedding, Achsah started telling Othniel that he^[m] ought to ask her father for a field. She went to see her father, and while she was getting down from^[n] her donkey, Caleb asked her, “What's bothering you?”

¹⁹ She answered, “I need your help. The land you gave me is in the Southern Desert, so I really need some spring-fed ponds^[o] for a water supply.”

Caleb gave her a couple of small ponds, named Higher Pond and Lower Pond.^[p]

Towns in Judah's Land

²⁰ The following is a list of the towns in each region given to the Judah clans:

^21-32 The first region was located in the Southern Desert along the border with Edom, and it had the following 29 towns with their surrounding villages:

Kabzeel, Eder, Jagur, Kinah, Dimonah, Aradah,^[q] Kedesh, Hazor of Ithnan,^[r] Ziph, Telem, Bealoth, Hazor-Hadattah, Kerioth-Hezron, which is also called Hazor, Amam, Shema, Moladah, Hazar-Gaddah, Heshmon, Beth-Pelet, Hazar-Shual, Beersheba and its surrounding villages,^[s] Baalah, Iim, Ezem, Eltolad, Chesil, Hormah, Ziklag, Madmannah, Sansannah, Lebaoth, Shilhim, and Enrimmon.^[t]

^33-36 The second region was located in the northern part of the lower foothills, and it had the following 14 towns with their surrounding villages:

Eshtaol, Zorah, Ashnah, Zanoah, En-Gannim, Tappuah, Enam, Jarmuth, Adullam, Socoh, Azekah, Shaaraim, Adithaim, Gederah, and Gederothaim.

^37-41 The third region was located in the southern part of the lower foothills, and it had the following 16 towns with their surrounding villages:

Zenan, Hadashah, Migdalgad, Dilan, Mizpeh, Joktheel, Lachish, Bozkath, Eglon, Cabbon, Lahmas,^[u] Chitlish, Gederoth, Beth-Dagon, Naamah, and Makkedah.

^42-44 The fourth region was located in the central part of the lower foothills, and it had the following nine towns with their surrounding villages:

Libnah, Ether, Ashan, Iphtah, Ashnah, Nezib, Keilah, Achzib, and Mareshah.

^45-47 The fifth region was located along the Mediterranean seacoast, and it had the following towns with their surrounding settlements and villages:

Ekron and the towns between there and the coast, Ashdod and the larger towns nearby, Gaza, the towns from Gaza to the Egyptian Gorge, and the towns along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea.

^48-51 The sixth region was in the southwestern part of the hill country, and it had the following eleven towns with their surrounding villages:

Shamir, Jattir, Socoh, Dannah, Kiriath-Sannah, which is now called Debir, Anab, Eshtemoh,^[v] Anim, Goshen, Holon, and Giloh.

^52-54 The seventh region was located in the south-central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following nine towns with their surrounding villages:

Arab, Dumah,^[w] Eshan, Janim, Beth-Tappuah, Aphekah, Humtah, Kiriath-Arba, which is now called Hebron, and Zior.

^55-57 The eighth region was located in the southeastern part of the hill country, and it had the following ten towns with their surrounding villages:

Maon, Carmel, Ziph, Juttah, Jezreel,^[x] Jokdeam,^[y] Zanoah, Kain, Gibeah,^[z] and Timnah.

^58-59 The ninth region was located in the central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following six towns with their surrounding villages:

Halhul, Beth-Zur, Gedor, Maarath, Beth-Anoth, and Eltekon.

The tenth region was located in the north-central part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following eleven towns with their surrounding villages:

Tekoa, Ephrath, which is also called Bethlehem, Peor, Etam, Culon, Tatam, Shoresh, Kerem, Gallim, Bether, and Manahath.^[aa]

⁶⁰ The eleventh region was located in the northern part of Judah's hill country, and it had the following two towns with their surrounding villages:

Rabbah, and Kiriath-Baal, which is also called Kiriath-Jearim.

^61-62 The twelfth region was located in the desert along the Dead Sea, and it had the following six towns with their surrounding villages:

Beth-Arabah, Middin, Secacah, Nibshan, Salt Town, and En-Gedi.

The Jebusites

^63 (B) The Jebusites lived in Jerusalem, and the people of the Judah tribe could not capture the city and get rid of them. That's why Jebusites still live in Jerusalem along with the people of Judah.^[ab]

Ephraim's Land

16 ^1-4 Ephraim and Manasseh are the two tribes descended from Joseph, and the following is a description of the land they received. The southern border of their land started at the Jordan River east of the spring at Jericho. From there it went west through the desert up to the hill country around Bethel. From Bethel it went to Luz and then^[ac] to the border of the Archites in Ataroth.^[ad] It continued west down to the land that belonged to the Japhlet clan, then went on to Lower Beth-Horon, Gezer, and the Mediterranean Sea.

⁵ The following is a description of the land that was divided among the clans of the Ephraim tribe. Their southern border started at Ataroth-Addar and went west to Upper Beth-Horon ^6-8 and the Mediterranean Sea. Their northern border started on the east at Janoah, curved a little to the north, then came back south to Michmethath and Tappuah, where it followed the Kanah Gorge west to the Mediterranean Sea.

The eastern border started on the north near Janoah and went between Janoah on the southwest and Taanath-Shiloh on the northeast. Then it went south to Ataroth, Naarah, and on as far as the edge of the land that belonged to Jericho. At that point it turned east and went to the Jordan River. The clans of Ephraim received this region as their tribal land. ⁹ Ephraim also had some towns and villages that were inside Manasseh's tribal land.

^10 (C) Ephraim could not force the Canaanites out of Gezer, so there are still some Canaanites who live there among the Israelites. But now these Canaanites have to work as slaves for the Israelites.

Manasseh's Land West of the Jordan River

17 ^1-6 (D) Manasseh was Joseph's oldest son, and Machir was Manasseh's oldest son. Machir had a son named Gilead, and some of his descendants had already received the regions of Gilead and Bashan because they were good warriors. The other clans of the Manasseh tribe descended from Gilead's sons Abiezer, Helek, Asriel, Shechem, Hepher, and Shemida. The following is a description of the land they received.

Hepher's son Zelophehad did not have any sons, but he did have five daughters: Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah. One day the clans that were descendants of Zelophehad's five daughters went to the priest Eleazar, Joshua, and the leaders of Israel. The people of these clans said, “The Lord told Moses to give us land just as he gave land to our relatives.”^[ae]

Joshua followed the Lord's instructions and gave land to these five clans, as he had given land to the five clans that had descended from Hepher's brothers.^[af] So Manasseh's land west of the Jordan River was divided into ten parts.

⁷ The land of the Manasseh tribe went from its northern border with the Asher tribe south to Michmethath, which is to the east of Shechem. The southern border started there, but curved even farther south to include the people who lived around Tappuah Spring.^{[ag] 8} The town of Tappuah was on Manasseh's border with Ephraim. Although the land around Tappuah belonged to Manasseh, the town itself belonged to Ephraim.

^9-10 Then the border went west to the Kanah Gorge and ran along the northern edge of the gorge to the Mediterranean Sea. The land south of the gorge belonged to Ephraim. And even though there were a few towns that belonged to Ephraim north of the gorge, the land north of the gorge belonged to Manasseh.

The western border of Manasseh was the Mediterranean Sea, and the tribe shared a border with the Asher tribe on the northwest and with the Issachar tribe on the northeast.

¹¹ Manasseh was supposed to have the following towns with their surrounding villages inside the borders of Issachar's and Asher's tribal lands:

Beth-Shan, Ibleam, Endor, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, which is also called Naphath.^[ah]

^12 (E) But the people of Manasseh could not capture these towns, so the Canaanites kept on living in them. ¹³ When the Israelites grew stronger, they made the Canaanites in these towns work as their slaves, though they never did force them to leave.

Joseph's Descendants Ask for More Land

¹⁴ One day the Joseph tribes^[ai] came to Joshua and asked, “Why didn't you give us more land? The Lord has always been kind to us, and we have too many people for this small region.”

¹⁵ Joshua replied, “If there's not enough room for you in the hill country of Ephraim, then go into the forest that belonged to the Perizzites and the Rephaim.^[aj] Clear out the trees and make more room for yourselves there.”

¹⁶ “Even if we do that,” they answered, “there still won't be enough land for us in the hill country. And we can't move down into Jezreel Valley, because the Canaanites who live in Beth-Shan and in other parts of the valley have iron chariots.”

¹⁷ “Your tribes do have a lot of people,” Joshua admitted. “I'll give you more land. Your tribes are powerful, ¹⁸ so you can have the rest of the hill country, but it's a forest, and you'll have to cut down the trees and clear the land. You can also have Jezreel Valley. Even though the Canaanites there are strong and have iron chariots, you can force them to leave the valley.”

Job Continues

Gold and Silver Are Mined

Where Is Wisdom Found?