The Daily Audio Bible

⁵ Ashhur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶ Naarah bore to him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah. ⁷ The sons of Helah were Zereth, ^[a]Izhar, and Ethnan. ⁸ Koz fathered Anub and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel, the son of Harum. ⁹ Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.” ¹⁰ Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would ^[b]keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!” And God brought about what he requested.

¹¹ Chelub the brother of Shuhah fathered Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹² Eshton fathered Beth-rapha and Paseah, and Tehinnah the father of ^[c]Ir-nahash. These are the men of Recah.

¹³ Now the sons of Kenaz were Othniel and Seraiah. And the sons of Othniel were Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴ Meonothai fathered Ophrah, and Seraiah fathered Joab the father of ^[d]Ge-harashim, for they were craftsmen. ¹⁵ The sons of Caleb the son of Jephunneh were Iru, Elah, and Naam; and the ^[e]son of Elah was ^[f]Kenaz. ¹⁶ The sons of Jehallelel were Ziph and Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel. ¹⁷ The ^[g]sons of Ezrah were Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife conceived and gave birth to ^[h]Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸ (His Jewish wife gave birth to Jered, the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah.) ^[i]These were the sons of Bithia the daughter of Pharaoh, whom Mered ^[j]married. ¹⁹ The sons of the wife of Hodiah, the sister of Naham, were the ^[k]fathers of Keilah the Garmite and Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰ The sons of Shimon were Amnon and Rinnah, and Benhanan and Tilon. And the sons of Ishi were Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. ²¹ The sons of Shelah the son of Judah were Er the father of Lecah and Laadah the father of Mareshah, and the families of the house of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea; ²² and Jokim, the men of Cozeba, Joash, Saraph, who ruled in Moab, and Jashubi-lehem. And the ^[l]records are ancient. ²³ These were the potters and the inhabitants of Netaim and Gederah; they lived there with the king for his work.

Descendants of Simeon

²⁴ The sons of Simeon were ^[m]Nemuel and Jamin, ^[n]Jarib, ^[o]Zerah, and Shaul; ²⁵ Shallum was his son, Mibsam his son, and Mishma his son. ²⁶ The sons of Mishma were Hammuel his son, Zaccur his son, and Shimei his son. ²⁷ Now Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters; but his brothers did not have many sons, nor did all their family increase like the sons of Judah. ²⁸ They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, and Hazar-shual, ²⁹ in Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³² Their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, five cities, ³³ and all their settlements that were around the same cities as far as ^[p]Baal. These were their dwellings, and they have their genealogy.

³⁴ Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah the son of Amaziah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu the son of Joshibiah, the son of Seraiah, the son of Asiel, ³⁶ and Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷ and Ziza the son of Shiphi, the son of Allon, the son of Jedaiah, the son of Shimri, the son of Shemaiah— ³⁸ these ^[q]mentioned by name were leaders in their families; and their fathers’ houses spread out greatly. ³⁹ They went to the entrance of Gedor, as far as the east side of the valley, to seek pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ They found pasture that was rich and good, and ^(A)the land was spread out on both sides, and peaceful and undisturbed; for those who lived there previously were Hamites. ^41 (B)These people, recorded by name, came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and they ^[r]attacked their tents and the Meunites who were found there, and utterly destroyed them to this day; and they lived in their place, because there was pasture there for their flocks. ⁴² From them, from the sons of Simeon, five hundred men went to ^(C)Mount Seir, with Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, as their leaders. ^43 (D)They ^[s]destroyed the remnant of the Amalekites who escaped, and they have lived there to this day.

Genealogy from Reuben

5 Now the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel (for ^(E)he was the firstborn, but because ^(F)he defiled his father’s bed, ^(G)his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel; so he is not enrolled in the genealogy according to the birthright. ^2 (H)Though Judah prevailed over his brothers, and ^(I)from him came the leader, yet the birthright belonged to Joseph), ^3 (J)the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel were Hanoch and Pallu, and Hezron and Carmi. ⁴ The sons of Joel were Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, ^(K)Shimei his son, ⁵ Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶ and Beerah his son, whom ^[t]Tilgath-pilneser king of Assyria took into exile; he was leader of the Reubenites. ⁷ His relatives by their families, ^(L)in the genealogy of their generations, were Jeiel the chief, then Zechariah ⁸ and Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, who lived in ^(M)Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹ Toward the east he settled as far as the entrance of the wilderness from the river Euphrates, ^(N)because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰ In the days of Saul ^(O)they made war with the Hagrites, who fell by their hand, so that they ^[u]occupied their tents throughout the ^[v]land east of Gilead.

¹¹ Now the sons of Gad lived opposite them in the land of ^(P)Bashan, as far as ^(Q)Salecah. ¹² Joel was the head and Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat in Bashan. ¹³ Their relatives of their fathers’ households were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber, seven. ¹⁴ These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz; ¹⁵ Ahi the son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their fathers’ households. ¹⁶ They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and in its towns, and in all the pasture lands of ^(R)Sharon, as far as their ^[w]borders. ¹⁷ All of these were enrolled in the genealogies in the days of ^(S)Jotham king of Judah, and in the days of ^(T)Jeroboam king of Israel.

Paul before Festus

25 Festus, then, after arriving in ^(A)the province, went up to Jerusalem from ^(B)Caesarea three days later. ² And the chief priests and the leading men of the Jews ^(C)brought charges against Paul, and they were pleading with ^[a]Festus, ³ requesting a ^[b]concession against ^[c]Paul, that he might ^[d]have him brought to Jerusalem (at the same time, ^(D)setting an ambush to kill him on the way). ⁴ Festus then ^(E)answered that Paul ^(F)was being kept in custody in ^(G)Caesarea, and that he himself was about to leave shortly. ⁵ “Therefore,” he *said, “have the influential men among you ^[e]go there with me, and if there is anything wrong ^[f]about the man, have them bring charges against him.”

⁶ After Festus had spent no more than eight or ten days among them, he went down to ^(H)Caesarea, and on the next day he took his seat on ^(I)the tribunal and ordered that Paul be brought. ⁷ After Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing ^(J)many, and serious, charges against him ^(K)which they could not prove, ⁸ while Paul said in his own defense, “^(L)I have not done anything wrong either against the Law of the Jews, or against the temple, or against Caesar.” ⁹ But Festus, ^(M)wanting to do the Jews a favor, replied to Paul and said, “^(N)Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem and ^[g]stand trial before me on these charges?” ¹⁰ But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar’s ^(O)tribunal, where I ought to be tried. I have done nothing wrong to the Jews, as you also very well know. ¹¹ If, therefore, I am in the wrong and have committed something deserving death, I am not trying to avoid execution; but if there is nothing to the accusations which these men are bringing against me, no one can hand me over to them. I ^(P)appeal to Caesar.” ¹² Then when Festus had conferred with ^[h]his council, he answered, “You have appealed to Caesar; to Caesar you shall go.”

¹³ Now when several days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in ^(Q)Caesarea, paying their respects to Festus. ¹⁴ And while they were spending many days there, Festus presented Paul’s case to the king, saying, “There is a man who was ^(R)left as a prisoner by Felix; ¹⁵ and when I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews ^(S)brought charges against him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶ I ^(T)replied to them that it is not the custom of the Romans to hand over any person before ^(U)the accused meets his accusers face to face, and has an opportunity to make his defense against the charges. ¹⁷ So after they had assembled here, I did not delay, but on the next day took my seat on ^(V)the tribunal and ordered that the man be brought. ¹⁸ When the accusers stood up, they did not begin bringing any charges ^[i]against him of crimes that I suspected, ¹⁹ but they simply had some ^(W)points of disagreement with him about their own ^[j](X)religion and about a dead man, Jesus, whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰ And ^(Y)being at a loss how to investigate ^[k]such matters, I ^[l]asked whether he was willing to go to Jerusalem and stand trial there on these matters. ²¹ But when Paul ^(Z)appealed to be held in custody for ^[m]the Emperor’s decision, I ordered that he be kept in custody until I send him to Caesar.” ²² Then ^(AA)Agrippa said to Festus, “I also would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” he *said, “you shall hear him.”

Paul before Agrippa

²³ So, on the next day when ^(AB)Agrippa and ^(AC)Bernice came amid great pomp and entered the auditorium, ^[n]accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought before them. ²⁴ And Festus *said, “King Agrippa, and all you gentlemen present with us, you see this man about whom ^(AD)all the people of the Jews appealed to me, both in Jerusalem and here, shouting that ^(AE)he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵ But I found that he had committed ^(AF)nothing deserving death; and since he himself ^(AG)appealed to ^[o]the Emperor, I decided to send him. ^26 [p]Yet, I have nothing definite about him to write to my lord. Therefore, I have brought him before you all and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that after the investigation has taken place, I may have something to write. ²⁷ For it seems absurd to me in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him as well.”

Prayer for Protection from the Wicked.

For the music director; for ^[a]flute accompaniment. A Psalm of David.