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.

Children and Parents^(A)

6 Children, ^(B)obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. ^2 (C)“Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise: ³ “that it may be well with you and you may live long on the earth.”

⁴ And ^(D)you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but ^(E)bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

Bondservants and Masters

^5 (F)Bondservants, be obedient to those who are your masters according to the flesh, ^(G)with fear and trembling, ^(H)in sincerity of heart, as to Christ; ^6 (I)not with eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as bondservants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, ⁷ with goodwill doing service, as to the Lord, and not to men, ^8 (J)knowing that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.

⁹ And you, masters, do the same things to them, giving up threatening, knowing that ^[a]your own ^(K)Master also is in heaven, and ^(L)there is no partiality with Him.

The Whole Armor of God

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. ^11 (M)Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the ^[b]wiles of the devil. ¹² For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against ^(N)principalities, against powers, against ^(O)the rulers of ^[c]the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. ^13 (P)Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand ^(Q)in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.

¹⁴ Stand therefore, ^(R)having girded your waist with truth, ^(S)having put on the breastplate of righteousness, ^15 (T)and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; ¹⁶ above all, taking ^(U)the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. ¹⁷ And ^(V)take the helmet of salvation, and ^(W)the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; ^18 (X)praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, ^(Y)being watchful to this end with all perseverance and ^(Z)supplication for all the saints— ¹⁹ and for me, that utterance may be given to me, ^(AA)that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel, ²⁰ for which ^(AB)I am an ambassador in chains; that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.

A Gracious Greeting

²¹ But that you also may know my affairs and how I am doing, ^(AC)Tychicus, a beloved brother and ^(AD)faithful minister in the Lord, will make all things known to you; ^22 (AE)whom I have sent to you for this very purpose, that you may know our affairs, and that he may ^(AF)comfort your hearts.

²³ Peace to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. ²⁴ Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. Amen.