The Daily Audio Bible
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9 So all Israel was enrolled by genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And Judah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.(A) 2 Now the first to live again in their possessions in their towns were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.(B)
Inhabitants of Jerusalem after the Exile
3 And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:(C) 4 Uthai son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez son of Judah. 5 And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. 6 Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kin, six hundred ninety. 7 Of the Benjaminites: Sallu son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah, 8 Ibneiah son of Jeroham, Elah son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; 9 and their kindred according to their generations, nine hundred fifty-six. All these were heads of families according to their ancestral houses.
Priestly Families
10 Of the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin,(D) 11 and Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the chief officer of the house of God; 12 and Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; 13 besides their kindred, heads of their ancestral houses, one thousand seven hundred sixty, qualified for the work of the service of the house of God.
Levitical Families
14 Of the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari;(E) 15 and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal, and Mattaniah son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; 16 and Obadiah son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.
17 The gatekeepers were: Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman; and their kinsman Shallum was the chief, 18 stationed previously in the king’s gate on the east side. These were the gatekeepers of the camp of the Levites.(F) 19 Shallum son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kindred of his ancestral house, the Korahites, were in charge of the work of the service, guardians of the thresholds of the tent, as their ancestors had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, guardians of the entrance. 20 And Phinehas son of Eleazar was chief over them in former times; the Lord was with him.(G) 21 Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting.(H) 22 All these who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds were two hundred twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. David and the seer Samuel established them in their office of trust.(I) 23 So they and their descendants were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. 24 The gatekeepers were on the four sides: east, west, north, and south; 25 and their kindred who were in their villages were obliged to come in every seven days, in turn, to be with them,(J) 26 for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were in charge of the chambers and the treasures of the house of God. 27 And they would spend the night near the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and they had charge of opening it every morning.(K)
28 Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. 29 Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the choice flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices.(L) 30 Others of the sons of the priests prepared the mixing of the spices,(M) 31 and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite, was in charge of making the flat cakes. 32 Also some of their kindred of the Kohathites had charge of the rows of bread, to prepare them for each Sabbath.(N)
33 Now these are the singers, the heads of ancestral houses of the Levites, living in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night.(O) 34 These were heads of ancestral houses of the Levites, according to their generations; these leaders lived in Jerusalem.
The Family of King Saul
35 In Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah.(P) 36 His firstborn son was Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, 37 Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth; 38 and Mikloth became the father of Shimeam; and these also lived opposite their kindred in Jerusalem, with their kindred. 39 Ner became the father of Kish, Kish of Saul, Saul of Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Esh-baal;(Q) 40 and the son of Jonathan was Merib-baal; and Merib-baal became the father of Micah. 41 The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz;[a](R) 42 and Ahaz became the father of Jarah, and Jarah of Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri; and Zimri became the father of Moza. 43 Moza became the father of Binea; and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. 44 Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru,[b] Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.
Death of Saul and His Sons
10 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.(S) 2 The Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines killed Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchishua, the sons of Saul. 3 The battle pressed hard on 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, so that these uncircumcised may not come and make sport of me.” But his armor-bearer was unwilling, for he was terrified. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.(T) 5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword and died. 6 Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. 7 When all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army[c] had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their towns and fled, and the Philistines came and occupied them.
8 The next day when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9 They stripped him and took his head and his armor and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. 10 They put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon.(U) 11 But when all Jabesh-gilead heard everything that the Philistines had done to Saul, 12 all the valiant warriors got up and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons and brought them to Jabesh. Then they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.
13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness; he was unfaithful to the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord; moreover, he had consulted a medium, seeking guidance,(V) 14 and did not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord[d] put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.(W)
21 Since they had been without food for a long time, Paul then stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me and not have set sail from Crete and thereby avoided this damage and loss.(A) 22 I urge you now to keep up your courage, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.(B) 23 For last night there stood by me an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I worship,(C) 24 and he said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before the emperor, and, indeed, God has granted safety to all those who are sailing with you.’(D) 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will be exactly as I have been told.(E) 26 But we will have to run aground on some island.”(F)
27 When the fourteenth night had come, as we were drifting across the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors suspected that they were nearing land. 28 So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms; a little farther on they took soundings again and found fifteen fathoms. 29 Fearing that we might run on the rocks, they let down four anchors from the stern and prayed for day to come. 30 But when the sailors tried to escape from the ship and had lowered the boat into the sea on the pretext of putting out anchors from the bow,(G) 31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat and set it adrift.
33 Just before daybreak, Paul urged all of them to take some food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day that you have been in suspense and remaining without food, having eaten nothing. 34 Therefore I urge you to take some food, for it will help you survive, for none of you will lose a hair from your heads.”(H) 35 After he had said this, he took bread, and giving thanks to God in the presence of all, he broke it and began to eat.(I) 36 Then all of them were encouraged and took food for themselves.(J) 37 (We were in all two hundred seventy-six[a] persons in the ship.) 38 After they had satisfied their hunger, they lightened the ship by throwing the wheat into the sea.(K)
The Shipwreck
39 In the morning they did not recognize the land, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they planned to run the ship ashore, if they could.(L) 40 So they cast off the anchors and left them in the sea. At the same time they loosened the ropes that tied the steering-oars; then hoisting the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.(M) 41 But striking a reef,[b] they ran the ship aground; the bow stuck and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the force of the waves.(N) 42 The soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, so that none might swim away and escape;(O) 43 but the centurion, wishing to save Paul, kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and make for the land(P) 44 and the rest to follow, some on planks and others on pieces of the ship. And so it was that all were brought safely to land.(Q)
Psalm 8
Divine Majesty and Human Dignity
To the leader: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.
1 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory above the heavens.(A)
2 Out of the mouths of babes and infants
you have founded a bulwark because of your foes,
to silence the enemy and the avenger.(B)
3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars that you have established;(C)
4 what are humans that you are mindful of them,
mortals[a] that you care for them?(D)
5 Yet you have made them a little lower than God[b]
and crowned them with glory and honor.(E)
6 You have given them dominion over the works of your hands;
you have put all things under their feet,(F)
7 all sheep and oxen,
and also the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea,
whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
9 O Lord, our Sovereign,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!(G)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.