M’Cheyne Bible Reading Plan

Wives for the Men of Benjamin

21 The men of Israel had made a promise at Mizpah. They had said, “Not one of us will give his daughter to be married to a man from Benjamin.”

² The people went to Bethel. They sat there until evening in front of God. They wept loudly and bitterly. ³ “Lord, you are the God of Israel,” they cried. “Why has this happened to Israel? Why is one tribe missing from Israel today?”

⁴ Early the next day the people built an altar. They brought burnt offerings and friendship offerings.

⁵ Then the Israelites asked, “Has anyone failed to come here in front of the Lord? Is anyone missing from all the tribes of Israel?” The people had made a promise. They had said that anyone who failed to come to Mizpah in front of the Lord must be put to death.

⁶ The Israelites were very sad because of what had happened to the tribe of Benjamin. After all, they were their fellow Israelites. “Today one tribe has been cut off from Israel,” they said. ⁷ “How can we provide wives for the men who are left? We’ve made a promise in front of the Lord. We’ve promised not to give any of our daughters to be married to them.” ⁸ Then they asked, “Has any tribe of Israel failed to come here to Mizpah in front of the Lord?” They discovered that no one from Jabesh Gilead had come. No one from there had gathered together with the others in the camp. ⁹ They counted the people. They found that none of the people of Jabesh Gilead had come to Mizpah.

¹⁰ So the community sent 12,000 fighting men to Jabesh Gilead. They directed them to take their swords and kill those living there. That included the women and children. ¹¹ “Here is what you must do,” they said. “Kill every male. Also kill every woman who is not a virgin.” ¹² They found 400 young women in Jabesh Gilead who had never slept with a man. So they took them to the camp at Shiloh in Canaan.

¹³ Then the whole community sent an offer of peace to the men of Benjamin. The men were at the rock of Rimmon. ¹⁴ So the men of Benjamin returned at that time. They were given the women of Jabesh Gilead who had been spared. But there weren’t enough women for all of them.

¹⁵ The people were very sad because of what had happened to the tribe of Benjamin. The Lord had left a gap in the tribes of Israel. They weren’t complete without Benjamin. ¹⁶ The elders of the community spoke up. They said, “All the women of Benjamin have been wiped out. So how will we find wives for the men who are left? ¹⁷ The men of Benjamin who are still alive need to have children,” they said. “If they don’t, a tribe of Israel will be wiped out. ¹⁸ But we can’t give them our daughters to be their wives. We Israelites have made a promise. We’ve said, ‘May anyone who gives a wife to a man from Benjamin be under the Lord’s curse.’ ¹⁹ Look, a feast is celebrated every year in Shiloh to honor the Lord. Shiloh is north of Bethel. It’s east of the road that goes from Bethel to Shechem. It’s south of Lebonah.”

²⁰ So they told the men of Benjamin what to do. They said, “Go. Hide in the vineyards ²¹ and watch. The young women of Shiloh will come out. They’ll join in the dancing. When they do, run out of the vineyards. Each of you grab a young woman from Shiloh to be your wife. Then return to the land of Benjamin. ²² Their fathers or brothers might not be happy with what we’re doing. If they aren’t, we’ll say to them, ‘Do us a favor. Help the men of Benjamin. We didn’t get wives for them during the battle. You aren’t guilty of doing anything wrong. After all, you didn’t give your daughters to them. Your daughters were stolen from you.’ ”

²³ So that’s what the men of Benjamin did. While the young women were dancing, each man caught one. He carried her away to be his wife. Then the men returned to their own share of land. They built the towns again. They made their homes in them.

²⁴ At that time the Israelites also left. They went home to their tribes and family groups. Each one went to his own share of land.

²⁵ In those days Israel didn’t have a king. The people did anything they thought was right.

Paul’s Trial in Front of Festus

25 Three days after Festus arrived, he went up from Caesarea to Jerusalem. ² There the chief priests and the Jewish leaders came to Festus. They brought their charges against Paul. ³ They tried very hard to get Festus to have Paul taken to Jerusalem. They asked for this as a favor. They were planning to hide and attack Paul along the way. They wanted to kill him. ⁴ Festus answered, “Paul is being held at Caesarea. Soon I’ll be going there myself. ⁵ Let some of your leaders come with me. If the man has done anything wrong, they can bring charges against him there.”

⁶ Festus spent eight or ten days in Jerusalem with them. Then he went down to Caesarea. The next day he called the court together. He ordered Paul to be brought to him. ⁷ When Paul arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him. They brought many strong charges against him. But they couldn’t prove that these charges were true.

⁸ Then Paul spoke up for himself. He said, “I’ve done nothing wrong against the law of the Jews or against the temple. I’ve done nothing wrong against Caesar.”

⁹ But Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor. So he said to Paul, “Are you willing to go up to Jerusalem? Are you willing to go on trial there? Are you willing to face these charges in my court?”

¹⁰ Paul answered, “I’m already standing in Caesar’s court. This is where I should go on trial. I haven’t done anything wrong to the Jews. You yourself know that very well. ¹¹ If I am guilty of anything worthy of death, I’m willing to die. But the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true. No one has the right to hand me over to them. I make my appeal to Caesar!”

¹² Festus talked it over with the members of his court. Then he said, “You have made an appeal to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!”

Festus Talks With King Agrippa

¹³ A few days later King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea. They came to pay a visit to Festus. ¹⁴ They were spending many days there. So Festus talked with the king about Paul’s case. He said, “There’s a man here that Felix left as a prisoner. ¹⁵ When I went to Jerusalem, the Jewish chief priests and the elders brought charges against the man. They wanted him to be found guilty.

¹⁶ “I told them that this is not the way Romans do things. We don’t judge people before they have faced those bringing charges against them. They must have a chance to argue against the charges for themselves. ¹⁷ When the Jewish leaders came back with me, I didn’t waste any time. I called the court together the next day. I ordered the man to be brought in. ¹⁸ Those bringing charges against him got up to speak. But they didn’t charge him with any of the crimes I had expected. ¹⁹ Instead, they argued with him about their own beliefs. They didn’t agree about a man named Jesus. They said Jesus was dead, but Paul claimed Jesus was alive. ²⁰ I had no idea how to look into such matters. So I asked Paul if he would be willing to go to Jerusalem. There he could be tried on these charges. ²¹ But Paul made an appeal to have the Emperor decide his case. So I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.”

²² Then Agrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear this man myself.”

Festus replied, “Tomorrow you will hear him.”

Paul in Front of Agrippa

²³ The next day Agrippa and Bernice arrived. They were treated like very important people. They entered the courtroom. The most important military officers and the leading men of the city came with them. When Festus gave the command, Paul was brought in. ²⁴ Festus said, “King Agrippa, and everyone else here, take a good look at this man! A large number of Jews have come to me about him. They came to me in Jerusalem and also here in Caesarea. They keep shouting that he shouldn’t live any longer. ²⁵ I have found that he hasn’t done anything worthy of death. But he made his appeal to the Emperor. So I decided to send him to Rome. ²⁶ I don’t have anything certain to write about him to His Majesty. So I have brought him here today. Now all of you will be able to hear him. King Agrippa, it will also be very good for you to hear him. As a result of this hearing, I will have something to write. ²⁷ It doesn’t make sense to send a prisoner on to Rome without listing the charges against him.”

The Family Line of Rekab

35 A message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It came during the time Jehoiakim was king over Judah. Jehoiakim was the son of Josiah. The message said, ² “Go to the members of the family line of Rekab. Invite them to come to one of the side rooms in my house. Then give them wine to drink.”

³ So I went to get Jaazaniah. He was the son of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was the son of Habazziniah. I also went to get Jaazaniah’s brothers and all his sons. That included all the members of the family line of Rekab. ⁴ I brought them into the Lord’s house. I took them into the room of the sons of Hanan. He was the son of Igdaliah. He was also a man of God. His room was next to the room of the officials. Their room was above the room of Maaseiah. He was the son of Shallum. He also was one of those who guarded the temple doors. ⁵ Then I got bowls full of wine and some cups. I set them down in front of the men from the family line of Rekab. I said to them, “Drink some wine.”

⁶ But they replied, “We don’t drink wine. That’s because Jehonadab gave us a command. He was the son of Rekab. He was also one of our own people from long ago. He commanded, ‘You and your children after you must never drink wine. ⁷ Also you must never build houses. You must never plant crops or vineyards. You must never have any of these things. Instead, you must always live in tents. Then you will live a long time in the land where you are wandering around.’ ⁸ We have done everything Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, commanded us to do. So we and our wives and our children have never drunk wine. ⁹ We have never built houses to live in. We’ve never had vineyards, fields or crops. ¹⁰ We’ve always lived in tents. We’ve completely obeyed everything Jehonadab commanded our people of long ago. ¹¹ But Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, marched into this land. Then we said, ‘Come. We must go to Jerusalem. There we can escape the armies of Babylon and Aram.’ So we have remained in Jerusalem.”

¹² Then a message from the Lord came to Jeremiah. It said, ¹³ “The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘Go. Speak to the people of Judah and Jerusalem. Tell them, “Won’t you ever learn a lesson? Won’t you ever obey my words?” announces the Lord. ¹⁴ “Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, ordered his children not to drink wine. And they have kept his command. To this day they do not drink wine. They obey the command Jehonadab gave their people long ago. But I have spoken to you again and again. In spite of that, you have not obeyed me. ¹⁵ Again and again I sent all my servants the prophets to you. They said, ‘Each of you must turn from your evil ways. You must change the way you act. Do not worship other gods. Do not serve them. Then you will live in the land. I gave it to you and your people of long ago.’ But you have not paid any attention. You have not listened to me. ¹⁶ The children of Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, have obeyed the command Jehonadab gave them long ago. But the people of Judah have not obeyed me.” ’ ”

¹⁷ So the Lord God who rules over all speaks. The God of Israel says, “Listen! I am going to bring horrible trouble on Judah. I will also bring it on everyone who lives in Jerusalem. I will bring on them every trouble I said I would. I spoke to them. But they did not listen. I called out to them. But they did not answer.”

¹⁸ Then Jeremiah spoke to the members of the family line of Rekab. Jeremiah said, “The Lord who rules over all is the God of Israel. He says, ‘You have obeyed the command Jehonadab gave your people of long ago. You have followed all his directions. You have done everything he ordered.’ ¹⁹ So the Lord who rules over all speaks. The God of Israel says, ‘Jehonadab, the son of Rekab, will always have someone from his family line to serve me.’ ”

A shiggaion of David. He sang it to the Lord about Cush, who was from the tribe of Benjamin.

For the director of music. According to gittith. A psalm of David.