The Daily Audio Bible

⁵ Ashur the father of T’koa had two wives, Hel’ah and Na‘arah. ⁶ Na‘arah bore him Achuzam, Hefer, Teimni and Achashtari; these were the sons of Na‘arah. ⁷ The sons of Hel’ah were Tzeret, Tzochar and Etnan. ⁸ Kotz fathered ‘Anuv, Tzovevah and the families of Acharchel the son of Harum. ⁹ Ya‘betz was honored more than his brothers; his mother called him Ya‘betz, she explained, “because I bore him in pain ^[a].” ¹⁰ Ya‘betz called on the God of Isra’el: “Please bless me by enlarging my territory. May your hand be with me! Keep me from harm, so that it will not cause me pain ^[b].” God granted his request.

¹¹ K’luv the brother of Shuchah fathered M’chir, who fathered Eshton. ¹² Eshton fathered Beit-Rafa, Paseach and T’chinah the father of ‘Ir-Nachash. These are the men of Rekhah.

¹³ The sons of K’naz: ‘Otni’el and S’rayah. The son of ‘Otni’el: Hatat. ¹⁴ M‘onotai fathered ‘Ofrah, and S’rayah fathered Yo’av the father of Gei-Harashim; for they were craftsmen ^[c].

¹⁵ The sons of Kalev the son of Y’funeh: ‘Iru, Elah and Na‘am. The son of Elah: K’naz. ¹⁶ The sons of Yehallel’el: Zif, Zifah, Tirya and Asar’el. ^17-18 The sons of ‘Ezrah: Yeter, Mered, ‘Efer and Yalon. These are the sons of Bityah the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered took as his wife: she conceived Miryam, Shamai and Yishbach the father of Esht’moa; while his Jewish wife bore Yered the father of G’dor, Hever the father of Sokho and Y’kuti’el the father of Zanoach.

¹⁹ The sons of the wife of Hodiyah the sister of Nacham were the father of Ke‘ilah the Garmi and Esht’moa the Ma‘akhati. ²⁰ The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon. The sons of Yish‘i: Zochet and Ben-Zochet.

²¹ The sons of Shelah the son of Y’hudah: ‘Er the father of Lekha, La‘adah the father of Mareshah and the clans of fine-linen-workers at Beit-Ashbea, ²² Yokim, the men of Kozeva, Saraf the ruler in Mo’av, and Yashuvi-Lechem (the records are ancient). ²³ These were potters and inhabitants of N’ta‘im and G’derah; they lived there, occupied with the king’s work.

²⁴ The sons of Shim‘on: N’mu’el, Yamin, Yariv, Zerach and Sha’ul. ²⁵ His son was Shalum, his son was Mivsam, and his son was Mishma. ²⁶ The descendants of Mishma: his son Hamu’el, his son Zakur, his son Shim‘i. ²⁷ Shim‘i had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their clans did not increase like those of Y’hudah. ²⁸ They lived at Be’er-Sheva, Moladah, Hatzar-Shu‘al, ²⁹ Bilhah, ‘Etzem, Tolad, ³⁰ B’tu’el, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beit-Markavot, Hatzar-Susim, Beit-Bir’i and Sha‘arayim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² Their villages were ‘Eitam, ‘Ayin, Rimmon, Tokhen and ‘Ashan, five cities, ³³ along with all the villages surrounding these cities, as far as Ba‘al. These are the places where they lived, and they have their official genealogy. ³⁴ Meshovav, Yamlekh, Yoshah the son of Amatzyah, ³⁵ Yo’el, Yehu the son of Yoshivyah the son of S’rayah the son of ‘Asi’el, ³⁶ Elyo‘einai, Ya‘akovah, Y’shochayah, ‘Asayah, ‘Adi’el, Y’simi’el, B’nayah, ³⁷ Ziza the son of Shif‘i the son of Alon the son of Y’da‘yah the son of Shimri the son of Sh’ma‘yah — ³⁸ these mentioned by name were princes in their clans, and their fathers’ houses increased greatly. ³⁹ Seeking pasture for their flocks they went to the entrance of Geder, as far as the east side of the valley. ⁴⁰ They found rich, good pastures; and the land was spacious, quiet and peaceful. Those who had lived there previously belonged to Ham. ⁴¹ Those whose names are written above came during the time of Hizkiyahu king of Y’hudah; they attacked their tents and the Me‘unim who were found there, destroyed them completely, and have lived there in place of them to this day; because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴² Some 500 of them who were descendants of Shim‘on went to Mount Se‘ir under the leadership of P’latyah, Ne‘aryah, Refayah and Uzi’el the sons of Yish‘i. ⁴³ They attacked the remnant of ‘Amalek who had escaped and have lived there to this day.

5 The sons of Re’uven the firstborn of Isra’el — he was the firstborn, but because he defiled his father’s bed, his birthright was given to the sons of Yosef the son of Isra’el, though not in such a way as for him to be regarded in the genealogy as the firstborn. ² For Y’hudah became greater than his brothers, inasmuch as the ruler came from him; nevertheless, the birthright went to Yosef. ³ So these are the sons of Re’uven the firstborn of Isra’el: Hanokh, Pallu, Hetzron and Karmi.

⁴ The descendants of Yo’el: his son Sh’ma‘yah, his son Gog, his son Shim‘i, ⁵ his son Mikhah, his son Re‘ayah, his son Ba‘al, ⁶ and his son Be’erah. Tilgat-Piln’eser king of Ashur carried him away captive; he was leader of the Re’uveni. ⁷ His brothers, by their clans, as listed in their genealogical records were: Ye‘i’el the leader, Z’kharyah ⁸ and Bela the son of ‘Azaz the son of Sh’ma the son of Yo’el. He lived in ‘Aro‘er, with territory extending to N’vo and Ba‘al-M‘on; ⁹ while to the east he occupied territory that extended to the beginning of the desert as one comes from the Euphrates River; because their cattle multiplied in the land of Gil‘ad. ¹⁰ In the time of Sha’ul they went to war with the Hagri’im; after defeating them they occupied their tents throughout all the territory east of Gil‘ad.

¹¹ The descendants of Gad lived across from them, in the territory from Bashan to Salkhah: ¹² Yo’el was the leader, Shafam second, then Yanai and Shafat in Bashan. ¹³ The houses of their fathers’ brothers were: Mikha’el, Meshulam, Sheva, Yorai, Ya‘kan, Zia and ‘Ever — seven altogether. ¹⁴ These are the sons of Avichayil the son of Huri the son of Yaroach the son of Gil‘ad the son of Mikha’el the son of Yeshishai the son of Yachdo the son of Buz; ¹⁵ Achi the son of ‘Avdi’el the son of Guni was leader of their fathers’ house. ¹⁶ They lived in Gil‘ad, in Bashan, in its towns and in all the pasture lands of the plain as far as their borders. ¹⁷ All these were listed in genealogies during the times of Yotam king of Y’hudah and Yarov‘am king of Isra’el.

25 Three days after Festus had entered the province, he went up from Caesarea to Yerushalayim. ² There the head cohanim and the Judean leaders informed him of the case against Sha’ul, and they asked him ³ to do them the favor of having the man sent to Yerushalayim. (They had plotted to have him ambushed and killed en route.) ⁴ Festus replied that Sha’ul was being kept under guard in Caesarea, and that he was about to go there shortly himself. ⁵ “So,” he said, “let competent men among you come down with me and press charges against the man, if he has done something wrong.”

⁶ After staying with them at most eight or ten days, Festus went down to Caesarea; and on the following day, he took his seat in court and ordered Sha’ul to be brought in. ⁷ When he arrived, the Judeans who had come down from Yerushalayim stood around him, bringing many serious charges against him which they could not prove. ⁸ In reply, Sha’ul said, “I have committed no offense — not against the Torah to which the Jews hold, not against the Temple, and not against the Emperor.”

⁹ But Festus, wanting to do the Judeans a favor, asked Sha’ul, “Would you be willing to go up to Yerushalayim and be tried before me there on these charges?” ¹⁰ Sha’ul replied, “I am standing right now in the court of the Emperor, and this is where I should be tried. I have done no wrong to the Judeans, as you very well know. ¹¹ If I am a wrongdoer, if I have done something for which I deserve to die, then I am ready to die. But if there is nothing to these charges which they are bringing against me, no one can give me to them just to grant a favor! I appeal to the Emperor!” ¹² Then Festus, after talking with his advisers, answered, “You have appealed to the Emperor; you will go to the Emperor!”

¹³ After some days, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived at Caesarea to pay their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ Since they were staying on there for some time, Festus had the opportunity to acquaint the king with Sha’ul’s situation. “There is a man here,” he said, “who was left behind in custody by Felix. ¹⁵ When I was in Yerushalayim, the head cohanim and the elders of the Judeans informed me about him and asked me to pronounce judgment against him. ¹⁶ My answer to them was that it is not the custom with Romans to give up an accused man just to grant a favor, before he has met his accusers face to face and had the opportunity to defend himself against the charge. ¹⁷ So when they arrived here with me, I did not delay, but took my seat in court the next day and ordered the man brought in.

¹⁸ “When the accusers stood up, instead of charging him with some serious crime as I had expected, ¹⁹ they disputed with him about certain points of their own religion, and particularly about somebody called Yeshua, who had died, but who Sha’ul claimed was alive. ²⁰ Being at a loss as to how to investigate such questions, I asked him if he would be willing to go to Yerushalayim and be tried on these matters there. ²¹ But since Sha’ul appealed to be kept in custody and have his case decided by His Imperial Majesty, I ordered him held until I could send him to the Emperor.”

²² Agrippa said to Festus, “I myself have been wanting to hear the man.” “Tomorrow,” he replied, “You will hear him.”

²³ So the next day, Agrippa and Bernice came with much pageantry; they entered the audience room accompanied by military commanders and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Sha’ul was brought in. ²⁴ Festus said, “King Agrippa and all of you here with us, do you see this man? The whole Judean community has complained to me about him both in Yerushalayim and here, crying that he shouldn’t be allowed to remain alive. ²⁵ But I discovered that he had done nothing that deserves a death sentence. Now when he himself appealed to the Emperor, I decided to send him. ²⁶ However, I have nothing specific to write to His Majesty about him. This is why I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa — so that after we have examined him, I might have something to write. ²⁷ It seems irrational to me to send a prisoner without also indicating what the charges against him are.”