The Daily Audio Bible

⁵ Tekoa's father Ashhur had two wives called Helah and Naarah. ⁶ The sons of Ashhur and his wife Naarah were: Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni and Haahashtari. ⁷ The sons of Ashhur and his wife Helah were: Zereth, Izhar, Ethnan ⁸ and Koz. Koz became the father of Anub, Hazzobebah and the clans of Harum's son, Aharhel.

⁹ Another of Judah's descendants was called Jabez. People respected him more than his brothers. His mother called him Jabez, because she said, ‘I had a lot of pain at his birth.’^{[a] 10} Jabez prayed to Israel's God for help. He said, ‘Please bless me very much and give me more land. Please take care of me so that nothing hurts me and I do not have pain.’ God did what Jabez had prayed for.

¹¹ Kelub, Shuhah's brother, became the father of Mehir. Mehir became the father of Eshton. ¹² Eshton became the father of Beth-Rapha, Paseah and Tehinnah. Tehinnah became the father of Ir-Nahash. Those people lived at Recah.

¹³ The sons of Kenaz were: Othniel and Seraiah.

Othniel's sons were: Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴ Meonothai became the father of Ophrah.

Seraiah became the father of Joab. Joab was the ancestor of the people who live in Ge-Harashim. Those people had special skills to make things.^[b]

¹⁵ The sons of Jephunneh's son Caleb were: Iru, Elah and Naam. Elah's son was Kenaz.

¹⁶ Jehallelel's sons were: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria and Asarel.

^17-18 Ezrah's sons were: Jether, Mered, Epher and Jalon.

Mered married Bithiah. Her father was the king of Egypt. The children of Mered and Bithiah were: Miriam, Shammai and Ishbah. Ishbah became the father of Eshtemoa.

Mered had another wife who belonged to Judah's tribe. Her sons were Jered, Heber and Jekuthiel. Jered became the father of Gedor. Heber became the father of Soco. And Jekuthiel became the father of Zanoah.

¹⁹ Hodiah's wife was Naham's sister. She gave birth to two sons. One of them became the father of Keilah, the ancestor of the Garmites. The other son became the father of Eshtemoa, the ancestor of the Maakathites.

²⁰ Shimon's sons were: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-Hanan and Tilon.

Ishi's descendants were Zoheth and Ben-Zoheth.

^21-22 These were the sons of Judah's son, Shelah: Er, Laadah, Jokim, Joash, Saraph and Jashubi-Lehem. Er became the father of Lecah. Laadah became the father of Mareshah. Joash and Saraph both married women from Moab and they returned to live in Lehem. Other clans that were descendants of Shelah worked with linen at Beth-Ashbea, and some lived in Cozeba. (These lists are from old history books.) ²³ Those people made pots. They lived in Netaim and Gederah. They lived there and they worked for the king.

The descendants of Simeon

²⁴ Simeon's descendants were: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah and Shaul.

²⁵ Shaul's son was Shallum. Shallum's son was Mibsam. Mibsam's son was Mishma.

²⁶ Mishma's descendants were his son Hammuel, Hammuel's son Zaccur, and Zaccur's son Shimei.

²⁷ Shimei had 16 sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have many children. So their clan did not become as large as the people of Judah's tribe. ²⁸ Shimei's descendants lived in these cities and towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, ²⁹ Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹ Beth-Marcaboth, Hazar-Susim, Beth-Biri and Shaaraim. They lived in those places until David became king. ³² They also lived in these five villages: Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Token and Ashan. ³³ There were also other villages round the same towns, as far as Baalath town. Those were the places where they lived. They wrote down a list of the names of their ancestors.

³⁴ The leaders of their clans were: Meshobab, Jamlech, Amaziah's son Joshah, ³⁵ Joel, Jehu (son of Joshibiah, who was the son of Seraiah and grandson of Asiel), ³⁶ Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah ³⁷ and Ziza. Ziza was the son of Shiphi, who was the son of Allon and grandson of Jedaiah. Jedaiah was the son of Shimri and grandson of Shemaiah.

³⁸ Those men were the leaders of their clans. Their families became very large. ³⁹ They travelled to the east side of the valley to find grass for their sheep to eat. They went as far as Gedor. ⁴⁰ They found good fields that had plenty of grass. The soil was good and the place was large. There were no troubles in that region. Some descendants of Ham had been living there.^[c]

⁴¹ When Hezekiah was the king of Judah, those leaders of Simeon's clans attacked the people who lived there. Some of those people were called Meunites. The men of Simeon destroyed their homes and they killed all the people. So even today none of those people still live there. Simeon's people lived there instead, because there was good grass for their sheep.

⁴² Later, another 500 men of Simeon's tribe went to the hill country of Seir. Their leaders were Ishi's sons: Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel. ⁴³ They killed all the descendants of Amalek who were still alive. They took their land and they still live there now.

The descendants of Reuben

5 Reuben was Israel's firstborn son. That is, Reuben was born first. But he had sex with his father's slave wife. So his father took away the benefits that belong to a firstborn son. Instead, Israel gave those benefits to his son Joseph's sons. So Reuben does not have the first place in the list of Israel's sons. ² Judah became stronger than all his brothers. Israel's ruler came from his tribe. But it was Joseph who received the benefits that belong to the firstborn son.^[d]

³ The sons of Reuben, Israel's oldest son, were: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.

⁴ Joel's descendants were: His son Shemaiah. Shemaiah's son Gog. Gog's son Shimei. ⁵ Shimei's son Micah. Micah's son Reaiah. Reaiah's son Baal. ⁶ Baal's son Beerah. Beerah was a leader of Reuben's tribe. Tiglath-Pileser, king of Assyria, took him away to Assyria as his prisoner.

⁷ The lists of Reuben's descendants include these leaders of their clans: Jeiel was the first, then Zechariah and Bela. ⁸ Bela was the son of Azaz. Azaz was the son of Shema. Shema was the son of Joel.

Reuben's people lived in the region of Aroer, as far north as Nebo and Baal-Meon. ⁹ Their east border was the desert that goes all the way to the Euphrates River. They had too many animals to feed in the region of Gilead. So they had to live in all those other places too.

¹⁰ When Saul was Israel's king, the men of Reuben's tribe attacked the Hagrites. They won the fight. Then they moved into their land to live. That was the whole region that was east of Gilead.

The descendants of Gad

¹¹ Gad's descendants lived in the region of Bashan, near the people of Reuben's tribe. Their land went as far as Salecah town in the east.

¹² Joel was the most important leader. Shapham was the second leader. Janai and Shaphat were also leaders in Bashan. ¹³ Their relatives in each of their seven clans were: Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia and Eber.

¹⁴ They were all descendants of Abihail. Abihail was Huri's son. Huri was Jaroah's son. Jaroah was Gilead's son. Gilead was Michael's son. Michael was Jeshishai's son. Jeshishai was Jahdo's son. Jahdo was the son of Buz. ¹⁵ Ahi, son of Abdiel and grandson of Guni, was the leader of their clan. ¹⁶ Gad's descendants lived in Gilead, in Bashan, and in the small towns near there. They also lived in the whole land of Sharon where there was grass to feed their animals. ¹⁷ The names of Gad's descendants were written down at the time when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

Festus travels to Jerusalem to speak to the leaders of the Jews

25 Three days after Festus began to rule in Caesarea, he travelled from there to Jerusalem. ² When he arrived there, the leaders of the priests and the Jewish leaders told him about Paul. They spoke bad things against Paul. ³ They said to Festus, ‘Please listen to us. We really want you to bring Paul here to Jerusalem. You can judge him here. Then we would be very happy.’ They wanted to kill Paul while he was travelling to Jerusalem.

⁴ But Festus answered them, ‘Paul will remain in prison in Caesarea. I myself will return there soon. ⁵ So your leaders should go to Caesarea with me. If this man has done anything wrong, they can speak against him there. I will listen and I will judge.’

⁶ Festus stayed for another eight or ten days in Jerusalem. Then he returned to Caesarea. On the next day, he sat down on his special seat as judge. He said to his soldiers, ‘Bring Paul here!’ ⁷ Some of the Jewish leaders had also come from Jerusalem. When Paul came into the room, they all stood round him. They began to speak to Festus against Paul. They said that he had done very many bad things. But they could not show Festus that these things were really true.

⁸ Then Paul spoke to show what was true. He said, ‘I have not done anything wrong against our Jewish laws or against the temple in Jerusalem. Also, I have not done anything wrong against your Roman ruler, Caesar.’

⁹ Festus wanted to make the Jewish leaders happy. So he asked Paul, ‘I would like to judge this problem in Jerusalem. Would you be happy to go there? Then I can decide if what these men are saying against you is true.’

¹⁰ Paul answered him, ‘I am already in the place where Caesar's officers judge people. This is the right place for you to judge me. I have never done anything wrong against the Jews. You yourself know very well that it is true. ¹¹ Have I done something bad that you should kill me for it? If that is true, then I will agree to it. It is right that I should die. But these Jews are not speaking true words against me. Nobody should let them take hold of me. So now I ask you to send me to Caesar himself. I want him to be the judge.’

¹² Festus talked to his officers about what Paul had said. Then he said to Paul, ‘You have asked to go to Caesar, for him to be your judge. So prepare yourself to go to Caesar!’

King Agrippa and Bernice visit Festus

¹³ Several days after this, King Agrippa and Bernice came to Caesarea. They wanted to say ‘welcome’ to Festus as the new ruler.^[a]

¹⁴ They stayed in Caesarea for many days. While they were there, Festus explained to King Agrippa the problem about Paul. He said, ‘There is a man here that Felix left in prison. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the important Jews and the leaders of their priests spoke to me about him. They said, “Paul has done some very bad things. You should judge him and he should die.”

¹⁶ I answered them, “You are saying that this man has done wrong things. He must first stand in front of you who are speaking against him. Then he can answer you, and I can judge who is right. That is what our Roman law says must happen.”

¹⁷ So when I came back here, the Jewish leaders and the leaders of their priests came with me. I did not wait for long. On the next day I sat down on my special seat as judge. I told my soldiers to bring this man to me. ¹⁸ The men who had spoken against him stood up. I thought they would say that Paul had done some very bad thing. But they did not say that. ¹⁹ Instead, they were arguing with Paul about what the Jews teach about God. They were arguing about a man who is called Jesus. Jesus had died. But Paul was saying that he is alive. ²⁰ I did not know how I could judge all these problems. So I told Paul, “I want to take you to Jerusalem. Would you be happy to go there? Then I will listen to what these men are saying against you. I will judge there who is right.” ²¹ But Paul did not want to go to Jerusalem. He said to me, “Please keep me safe here in prison. Then send me to Caesar. He himself should decide what to do with me.” So I said to my soldiers, “Guard Paul here until I send him to Caesar.” ’

²² Agrippa said to Festus, ‘I would like to hear this man myself.’

Festus replied, ‘You will hear him tomorrow.’

²³ The next day, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea's public meeting room. They wore beautiful clothes to show that they were great people. Some Roman soldiers' officers and important men in the city also arrived there. Festus said to his soldiers, ‘Bring Paul here to us!’ So they brought Paul into the room. ²⁴ Festus said, ‘King Agrippa, and everyone here today, listen to me! You see this man who is standing in front of you. Many Jews in Jerusalem, and also Jews here in Caesarea, have spoken to me about him. They say very loudly, “This man has done very bad things. He should not continue to live!” ²⁵ But I could not find any reason to kill him. He has not done anything against our law. But he has asked for Caesar himself to judge him. So I have decided to send him to Rome. ²⁶ But I do not know what to write about him to our ruler, Caesar. So I have brought him here to stand in front of all of you. I ask you, King Agrippa, to listen carefully to what Paul says. Then we can talk about the problem together. As a result, I will know what to write about him to Caesar. ²⁷ I need to tell Caesar what wrong things this man has done. If I cannot do that, it would not be right to send him to Rome.’

Tell the music leader to use flutes.

This is a song that David wrote.

Pray about your enemies^[a]