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18 The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had valiant[a] men who carried a shield and a sword, and archers, and who were expert in war, forty-four thousand seven hundred and sixty for going out as an army. 19 And they made war against the Hagrites, Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. 20 And they were helped against them, and the Hagrites and all who were with them were given into their hand, for they cried out to God in the battle, and he responded to their prayer because they trusted in him. 21 And they captured their livestock: fifty thousand of their camels; two hundred and fifty thousand sheep; two thousand donkeys; and one hundred thousand men alive. 22 For many were slain because the war was of God. And they lived under them until the exile.
The Half-Tribe of Manasseh
23 And the sons of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land from Bashan to Baal-Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. They were numerous. 24 Now these were the heads of their fathers’ households: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, mighty men of strength, famous men,[b] heads of their fathers’ households. 25 But they transgressed against the God of their ancestors[c] and prostituted themselves after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. 26 So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, king of Assyria, and the spirit of Tiglath-Pilneser, king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, until this day.
6 [d] The sons of Levi: Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. 2 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 3 The children of Amram: Aaron, Moses, and Miriam. The sons of Aaron: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. 4 Eleazar fathered Phinehas; Phinehas fathered Abishua; 5 Abishua fathered Bukki; Bukki fathered Uzzi; 6 Uzzi fathered Zerahiah; Zerahiah fathered Meraioth; 7 Meraioth fathered Amariah; Amariah fathered Ahitub; 8 Ahitub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered Ahimaaz; 9 Ahimaaz fathered Azariah; Azariah fathered Johanan; 10 and Johanan fathered Azariah. It was he who served as priest in the temple that Solomon built in Jerusalem. 11 And Azariah fathered Amariah; Amariah fathered Ahitub; 12 Ahitub fathered Zadok; Zadok fathered Shallum; 13 Shallum fathered Hilkiah; Hilkiah fathered Azariah; 14 Azariah fathered Seraiah; Seraiah fathered Jehozadak. 15 And Jehozadak went into exile when Yahweh sent Judah and Jerusalem into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.
The Descendants of Levi
16 The sons of Levi: Gershom, Kohath, and Merari. 17 Now these are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei. 18 The sons of Kohath: Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel. 19 The sons of Merari: Mahli and Mushi. Now these are the families of the Levites according to their ancestors.[e] 20 Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son, 21 Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son. 22 The sons of Kohath: Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son, 23 Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, Assir his son, 24 Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son. 25 The sons of Elkanah: Amasai and Ahimoth, 26 Elkanah his son, Zophai his son, Nahath his son, 27 Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son. 28 The sons of Samuel: Joel[f] his firstborn and Abijah the second. 29 The sons of Merari: Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son, 30 Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, and Asaiah his son.
David’s Appointees for Music in the Temple
31 Now these are the men whom David appointed for control of singing[g] in the house of Yahweh where the ark rested. 32 They were ministering with song before the tabernacle of the tent of assembly[h] until Solomon built the temple of Yahweh in Jerusalem. And they stood according to their order with respect to their duty. 33 Now these are those who served and their sons. Of the sons of the Kohathites: Heman the singer, the son of Joel, son of Samuel, 34 son of Elkanah, son of Jeroham, son of Eliel, son of Toah, 35 son of Zuph, son of Elkanah, son of Mahath, son of Amasai, 36 son of Elkanah, son of Joel, son of Azariah, son of Zephaniah, 37 son of Tahath, son of Assir, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, 38 son of Izhar, son of Kohath, son of Levi, son of Israel; 39 and his brother Asaph, who stood on his right namely, Asaph the son of Berechiah, son of Shimea, 40 son of Michael, son of Baaseiah, son of Malkijah, 41 son of Ethni, son of Zerah, son of Adaiah, 42 son of Ethan, son of Zimmah, son of Shimei, 43 son of Jahath, son of Gershom, son of Levi. 44 On the left were their brothers, the sons of Merari: Ethan the son of Kishi, son of Abdi, son of Malluch, 45 son of Hashabiah, son of Amaziah, son of Hilkiah, 46 son of Amzi, son of Bani, son of Shemer, 47 son of Mahli, son of Mushi, son of Merari, son of Levi. 48 And their brothers the Levites were appointed for all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God. 49 But Aaron and his sons made offerings on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense for all the work of the most holy place, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.
The Descendants of Aaron
50 Now these are the sons of Aaron: Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son, 51 Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son, 52 Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son, 53 Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son. 54 And these are their dwellings according to their settlements within their borders: to the sons of Aaron of the clans of Kohathites, for the first lot was theirs, 55 and they gave to them Hebron in the land of Judah and its surrounding pasturelands, 56 but the fields of the city and its villages they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh. 57 To the sons of Aaron they gave the cities of refuge: Hebron, Libnah with its pasturelands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasturelands, 58 Hilen with its pasturelands, Debir with its pasturelands, 59 Ashan with its pasturelands, and Beth-Shemesh with its pasturelands. 60 And from the tribe of Benjamin, Geba with its pasturelands, Alemeth with its pasturelands, and Anathoth with its pasturelands. All their cities were thirteen cities throughout their clans. 61 To the Kohathites who remained from the family of the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, were given by lot ten cities. 62 To the Gershomites according to their clans thirteen cities were allotted out of the tribe of Issachar, out of the tribe of Asher, out of the tribe of Naphtali, and out of the tribe of Manasseh in Bashan. 63 To the Merarites twelve cities were allotted according to their clans out of the tribe of Reuben, out of the tribe of Gad, and out of the tribe of Zebulun. 64 So the Israelites[i] gave the Levites the cities with their pasturelands. 65 And they gave by lot out of the tribe of Judah, out of the tribe of Simeon, and out of the tribe of Benjamin these cities that are mentioned by name. 66 And of the clans of the sons of Kohath were cities of their territory out of the tribe of Ephraim. 67 And they gave them the cities of refuge: Shechem with its pasturelands in the hill country of Ephraim, Gezer with its pasturelands, 68 Jokmeam with its pasturelands, Beth-Horon with its pasturelands, 69 Aijalon with its pasturelands, and Gath-Rimmon with its pasturelands. 70 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner with its pasturelands, and Bileam with its pasturelands for the remaining the clans of the Kohathites. 71 To the Gershomites were given out of the clan of the half-tribe of Manasseh: Golan in Bashan with its pasturelands and Ashtaroth with its pasturelands. 72 And out of the tribe of Issachar: Kedesh with its pasturelands, Daberath with its pasturelands, 73 Ramoth with its pasturelands, and Anem with its pasturelands. 74 And out of the tribe of Asher: Mashal with its pasturelands, Abdon with its pasturelands, 75 Hukok with its pasturelands, and Rehob with its pasturelands. 76 And out of the tribe of Naphtali: Kedesh in Galilee with its pasturelands, Hammon with its pasturelands, and Kiriathaim with its pasturelands. 77 To the remainder of the Merarites were allotted out of the tribe of Zebulun: Rimmono with its pasturelands, Tabor with its pasturelands. 78 And beyond the Jordan at Jericho, on the east side of the Jordan, out of the tribe of Reuben: Bezer in the wilderness with its pasturelands, Jahzah with its pasturelands, 79 Kedemoth with its pasturelands, and Mephaath with its pasturelands. 80 And out of the tribe of Gad: Ramoth in Gilead with its pasturelands, Mahanaim with its pasturelands, 81 Heshbon with its pasturelands, and Jazer with its pasturelands.
Paul Makes His Defense Before King Agrippa
26 So Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.” Then Paul extended his[a] hand and[b] began to defend himself:[c]
2 “Concerning all the things of which I am accused by the Jews, King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate that before you I am about to defend myself today, 3 because[d] you are especially acquainted with both all the customs and controversial questions with respect to the Jews. Therefore I beg you[e] to listen to me with patience.
4 “Now all the Jews know my manner of life from my youth, that had taken place from the beginning among my own people[f] and in Jerusalem, 5 having known me for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that in accordance with the strictest party of our religion I lived as a Pharisee. 6 And now I stand here on trial on the basis of hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, 7 to which our twelve tribes hope to attain as they earnestly serve him[g] night and day. Concerning this hope I am being accused by the Jews, O king! 8 Why is it thought incredible by you people[h] that God raises the dead? 9 Indeed, I myself thought it was necessary to do many things opposed to the name of Jesus the Nazarene, 10 which I also did in Jerusalem, and not only did I lock up many of the saints in prison, having received authority from the chief priests, but also when[i] they were being executed, I cast my vote[j] against them.[k] 11 And throughout all the synagogues I punished them often and[l] tried to force[m] them[n] to blaspheme, and because I[o] was enraged at them beyond measure, I was pursuing them[p] even as far as to foreign cities. 12 In this activity[q] I was traveling to Damascus with the authority and full power of the chief priests. 13 In the middle of the day along the road, O king, I saw a light from heaven, more than the brightness of the sun, shining around me and those who were traveling with me. 14 And when[r] we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Aramaic language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads!’ 15 So I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But get up and stand on your feet, because for this reason I have appeared to you, to appoint you a servant and witness both to the things in which you saw me and to the things in which I will appear to you, 17 rescuing you from the people and from the Gentiles to whom I am sending you, 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but to those in Damascus first, and in Jerusalem and all the region of Judea and to the Gentiles, I proclaimed that they should repent and turn to God, doing deeds worthy of repentance. 21 On account of these things the Jews seized me in[s] the temple courts[t] and[u] were attempting to kill me.[v] 22 Therefore I have experienced help from God until this day, and[w] I stand here testifying to both small and great, saying nothing except what both the prophets and Moses have said were going to happen, 23 that the Christ[x] was to suffer and that as the first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles.”
24 And as[y] he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “You are out of your mind, Paul! Your[z] great learning is driving[aa] you insane!”[ab] 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but am speaking words of truth and rationality. 26 For the king knows about these things, to whom also I am speaking freely, for I am not convinced that these things in any way have escaped[ac] his notice, because this was[ad] not done[ae] in a corner. 27 Do you believe the prophets, King Agrippa? I know that you believe.” 28 But Agrippa said to Paul, “In a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?”[af] 29 And Paul replied, “I pray to God, whether in a short time or in a long time, not only you but also all those who are listening to me today may become such people as I also am, except for these bonds!”
30 Both the king and the governor got up, and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. 31 And as they[ag] were going out, they were talking to one another, saying, “This man is not doing anything deserving death or imprisonment.” 32 And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
An Appeal for Forgiveness and Deliverance
For the music director; with stringed instruments, on the Sheminith.[a]
A psalm of David.[b]
6 O Yahweh, do not rebuke me in your anger,
and do not discipline me in your wrath.
2 Be gracious to me, O Yahweh, because I am feeble.
Heal me, O Yahweh, for my bones are terrified.
3 My soul is also very terrified.
But you, O Yahweh, how long?
4 Turn, O Yahweh; deliver my life.[c]
Save me for the sake of your steadfast love.[d]
5 For there is no remembrance of you in death.
In Sheol, who will give thanks to you?
6 I am weary with my groaning;
I flood[e] my bed every night.
With my tears I drench[f] my couch.
7 My eye wastes away because of vexation;
it grows old because of all my oppressors.
8 Depart from me, all workers of evil,
for Yahweh has heard the sound of my weeping.
9 Yahweh has heard my plea;
Yahweh has accepted my prayer.
10 All my enemies shall be ashamed and shall be very terrified.
They shall turn back; they shall suddenly be ashamed.
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