The Daily Audio Bible

⁵ Ashhur father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah;^{(A) 6} Naarah bore him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari.^[a] These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷ The sons of Helah: Zereth, Izhar,^[b] and Ethnan. ⁸ Koz became the father of Anub, Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel son of Harum. ⁹ Jabez was honored more than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.”^{(B) 10} Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory and that your hand might be with me and that you would keep me from hurt and harm!” And God granted what he asked. ¹¹ Chelub the brother of Shuhah became the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹² Eshton became the father of Beth-rapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah. ¹³ The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah; and the sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai.^{[c](C) 14} Meonothai became the father of Ophrah, and Seraiah became the father of Joab father of Ge-harashim,^[d] so-called because they were artisans.^{(D) 15} The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the son of Elah: Kenaz. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. ¹⁷ The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. These are the sons of Bithiah, daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered married,^[e] and she conceived and bore^[f] Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸ And his Judean wife bore Jered father of Gedor, Heber father of Soco, and Jekuthiel father of Zanoah. ¹⁹ The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰ The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The sons of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. ²¹ The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er father of Lecah, Laadah father of Mareshah, and the families of the guild of linen workers at Beth-ashbea;^{(E) 22} and Jokim, and the men of Cozeba, and Joash, and Saraph, who married into Moab but returned to Lehem^[g] (the records^[h] are ancient). ²³ These were the potters and inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king in his service.

Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ The sons of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, Shaul;^{[i](F) 25} Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma: Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, Shimei his son. ²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, nor did all their family multiply like the Judeans. ²⁸ They lived in Beer-sheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual,^{(G) 29} Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag,^{(H) 31} Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their towns until David became king. ³² And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five towns, ³³ along with all their villages that were around these towns as far as Baal. These were their settlements. And they kept a genealogical record.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah son of Seraiah son of Asiel, ³⁶ Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ Ziza son of Shiphi son of Allon son of Jedaiah son of Shimri son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these mentioned by name were leaders in their families, and their clans increased greatly. ³⁹ They journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks, ⁴⁰ where they found rich, good pasture, and the land was very broad, quiet, and peaceful, for the former inhabitants there belonged to Ham.^{(I) 41} These, registered by name, came in the days of King Hezekiah of Judah and attacked their tents and the Meunim who were found there and exterminated them to this day and settled in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks.^{(J) 42} And some of them, five hundred men of the Simeonites, went to Mount Seir, having as their leaders Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, sons of Ishi; ⁴³ they destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped, and they have lived there to this day.^(K)

Descendants of Reuben

5 The sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. (He was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, so that he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright;^{(L) 2} though Judah became prominent among his brothers and a ruler came from him, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph.)^{(M) 3} The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.^{(N) 4} The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ Beerah his son, whom King Tiglath-pileser^[j] of Assyria carried away into exile; he was a chieftain of the Reubenites. ⁷ And his kindred by their families, when the genealogy of their generations was reckoned: the chief, Jeiel, and Zechariah,^{(O) 8} and Bela son of Azaz, son of Shema, son of Joel, who lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon.^{(P) 9} He also lived to the east as far as the beginning of the desert this side of the Euphrates, because their cattle had multiplied in the land of Gilead.^{(Q) 10} And in the days of Saul they made war on the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, and they lived in their tents throughout all the region east of Gilead.^(R)

Descendants of Gad

¹¹ The sons of Gad lived beside them in the land of Bashan as far as Salecah:^{(S) 12} Joel the chief, Shapham the second, Janai, and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ And their kindred according to their clans: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, son of Jaroah, son of Gilead, son of Michael, son of Jeshishai, son of Jahdo, son of Buz; ¹⁵ Ahi son of Abdiel, son of Guni, was chief in their clan, ¹⁶ and they lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasturelands of Sharon to their limits.^{(T) 17} All of these were enrolled by genealogies in the days of King Jotham of Judah and in the days of King Jeroboam of Israel.^(U)

Paul Appeals to the Emperor

25 Three days after Festus had arrived in the province, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem, ² where the chief priests and the leaders of the Jews gave him a report against Paul. They appealed to him^{(A) 3} and requested, as a favor to them against Paul,^[a] to have him transferred to Jerusalem. They were, in fact, planning an ambush to kill him along the way.^{(B) 4} Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly.^{(C) 5} “So,” he said, “let those of you who have the authority come down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them accuse him.”

⁶ After he had stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea; the next day he took his seat on the tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷ When he arrived, the Jews who had gone down from Jerusalem surrounded him, bringing many serious charges against him, which they could not prove.^{(D) 8} Paul said in his defense, “I have in no way committed an offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against the emperor.”^{(E) 9} But Festus, wishing to do the Jews a favor, asked Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and be tried there before me on these charges?”^{(F) 10} Paul said, “I am standing before the emperor’s tribunal; this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Jews, as you very well know. ¹¹ Now if I am in the wrong and have committed something for which I deserve to die, I am not trying to escape death, but if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can turn me over to them. I appeal to the emperor.”^{(G) 12} Then Festus, after he had conferred with his council, replied, “You have appealed to the emperor; to the emperor you will go.”

Festus Consults King Agrippa

¹³ After several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to welcome Festus. ¹⁴ Since they were staying there several days, Festus laid Paul’s case before the king, saying, “There is a man here who was left in prison by Felix.^{(H) 15} When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews informed me about him and asked for a sentence against him.^{(I) 16} I told them that it was not the custom of the Romans to hand over anyone before the accused had met the accusers face to face and had been given an opportunity to make a defense against the charge.^{(J) 17} So when they met here, I lost no time but on the next day took my seat on the tribunal and ordered the man to be brought.^{(K) 18} When the accusers stood up, they did not charge him with any of the crimes^[b] that I was expecting. ¹⁹ Instead, they had certain points of disagreement with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, who had died but whom Paul asserted to be alive.^{(L) 20} Since I was at a loss how to investigate these questions, I asked whether he wished to go to Jerusalem and be tried there on these charges.^{[c](M) 21} But when Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of his Imperial Majesty, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to the emperor.”^{(N) 22} Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he said, “you will hear him.”^(O)

Paul Brought before Agrippa

²³ So on the next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then Festus gave the order and Paul was brought in.^{(P) 24} And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all here present with us, you see this man about whom the whole Jewish community petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that he ought not to live any longer.^{(Q) 25} But I found that he had done nothing deserving death, and when he appealed to his Imperial Majesty, I decided to send him.^{(R) 26} But I have nothing definite to write to our sovereign about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write, ²⁷ for it seems to me unreasonable to send a prisoner without indicating the charges against him.”

Psalm 5

Trust in God for Deliverance from Enemies

To the leader: for the flutes. A Psalm of David.