Through the Bible – Day 143

₁Benjamin had five sons, who were born in the following order: Bela, Ashbel, Aharah, ₂Nohah, and Rapha. ₃Bela was the father of Addar, Gera, Abihud, ₄Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, ₅Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram.

_6-7Ehud was the father of Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera. They were clan leaders in the town of Geba, but were later forced to move to the town of Manahath, and Gera led the way. He had two sons: Uzza and Ahihud.

_8-11Shaharaim and his wife Hushim had two sons: Abitub and Elpaal. But Shaharaim later divorced her and his other wife, Baara. Then he moved to the country of Moab and married Hodesh, and they had seven sons: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. They were all family leaders in his clan. ₁₂Elpaal was the father of Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who settled the towns of Ono and Lod, as well as the nearby villages.

₁₃Beriah and Shema were family leaders in the clan that lived in the town of Aijalon and that forced out the people of Gath. _14-16Beriah's descendants included Ahio, Shashak, Jeremoth, Zebadiah, Arad, Eder, Michael, Ishpah, and Joha. _17-18Elpaal's descendants included Zebadiah, Meshullam, Hizki, Heber, Ishmerai, Izliah, and Jobab. _19-21Shimei's descendants included Jakim, Zichri, Zabdi, Elienai, Zillethai, Eliel, Adaiah, Beraiah, and Shimrath. _22-25Shashak's descendants included Ishpan, Eber, Eliel, Abdon, Zichri, Hanan, Hananiah, Elam, Anthothijah, Iphdeiah, and Penuel. _26-27Jeroham's descendants included Shamsherai, Shehariah, Athaliah, Jaareshiah, Elijah, and Zichri. ₂₈These were the family leaders in their ancestor's clan, and they and their descendants lived in Jerusalem.

₂₉Jeiel settled the town of Gibeon. He and his wife Maacah lived there ₃₀along with their sons, who were born in the following order: Abdon, Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ₃₁Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, ₃₂and Mikloth the father of Shimeah. Some of them went to live in Jerusalem near their relatives.

₃₃Ner was the father of Kish and the grandfather of King Saul.

Saul had four sons: Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ₃₄Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, the grandfather of Micah, ₃₅and the great-grandfather of Pithon, Melech, Tarea, and Ahaz. ₃₆Saul's other descendants were Jehoaddah, Alemeth, Azmaveth, Zimri, Moza, ₃₇Binea, Raphah, Eleasah, Azel, ₃₈as well as Azel's six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. ₃₉Azel's brother Eshek was the father of Ulam, Jeush, and Eliphelet. ₄₀Ulam's sons were brave soldiers who were experts at using a bow and arrows. They had a total of one hundred and fifty children and grandchildren.

All of these belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.

₁Everyone in Israel was listed in the official family records that were included in the history of Israel's kings.

The people of Judah were taken to Babylonia as prisoners because they sinned against the LORD. ₂And the first people to return to their towns included priests, Levites, temple workers, and other Israelites. ₃People from the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh settled in Jerusalem.

_4-6There were six hundred and ninety people from the Judah tribe who settled in Jerusalem. They were all descendants of Judah's three sons: Perez, Shelah, and Zerah. Their leaders were Uthai, Asaiah, and Jeuel. Uthai was the son of Ammihud and a descendant of Omri, Imri, Bani, and Perez. Asaiah was a descendant of Shelah; Jeuel was a descendant of Zerah.

_7-9There were also nine hundred and fifty-six family leaders from the Benjamin tribe who settled in Jerusalem. They included: Sallu son of Meshullam, grandson of Hodaviah, and great-grandson of Hassenuah; Ibneiah son of Jeroham; Elah son of Uzzi and grandson of Michri; Meshullam son of Shephatiah, grandson of Reuel, and great-grandson of Ibnijah.

_10-12Here is a list of priests who settled in Jerusalem: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jachin; Azariah, who was a temple official, and whose ancestors included Hilkiah, Meshullam, Zadok, Meraioth, and Ahitub; Adaiah son of Jeroham, whose ancestors included Pashhur and Malchijah; Maasai son of Adiel, whose ancestors included Jahzerah, Meshullam, Meshillemith, and Immer.

₁₃There was a total of 1,760 priests, all of them family leaders in their clan and trained in the work at the temple.

_14-16Here is a list of Levites who settled in Jerusalem: Shemaiah from the Merari clan, whose ancestors included Hasshub, Azrikam, and Hashabiah; Bakbakkar; Heresh; Galal; Mattaniah son of Mica, whose ancestors included Zichri and Asaph; Obadiah son of Shemaiah, whose ancestors included Galal and Jeduthun; Berechiah son of Asa and grandson of Elkanah, who had lived in the villages near the town of Netophah.

₁₇Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their relatives were the guards at the temple gates. Shallum was the leader of this clan, ₁₈and for a long time they had been the guards at the King's Gate on the east side of the city. Before that, their ancestors guarded the entrance to the Levite camp.

₁₉Shallum son of Kore, as well as the other men in the Korahite clan, guarded the entrance to the temple, just as their ancestors had guarded the entrance to the sacred tent. ₂₀Phinehas son of Eleazar had supervised their work because the LORD was with him.

₂₁Zechariah son of Meshelemiah was also one of the guards at the temple.

₂₂There was a total of two hundred and twelve guards, all of them listed in the family records in their towns. Their ancestors had been chosen by King David and by Samuel the prophet to be responsible for this work, ₂₃and now they guarded the temple gates.

₂₄There was one full-time guard appointed to each of the four sides of the temple. ₂₅Their assistants lived in the villages outside the city, and every seven days a group of them would come into the city and take their turn at guard duty. ₂₆The four full-time guards were Levites, and they supervised the other guards and were responsible for the rooms in the temple and the supplies kept there. ₂₇They guarded the temple day and night and opened its doors every morning.

₂₈Some of the Levites were responsible for the equipment used in worship at the temple, and they had to count everything before and after it was used. ₂₉Others were responsible for the temple furnishings and its sacred objects, as well as the flour, wine, olive oil, incense, and spices. ₃₀But only the priests could mix the spices. ₃₁Mattithiah, Shallum's eldest son, was a member of the Levite clan of Korah, and he was in charge of baking the bread used for offerings. ₃₂The Levites from the Kohath clan were in charge of baking the sacred loaves of bread for each Sabbath.

₃₃The Levite family leaders who were the musicians also lived at the temple. They had no other responsibilities, because they were on duty day and night.

₃₄All these men were family leaders in the Levi tribe and were listed that way in their family records. They lived in Jerusalem.

₃₅Jeiel had settled the town of Gibeon, where he and his wife Maacah lived. ₃₆They had ten sons, who were born in the following order: Abdon, Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ₃₇Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth ₃₈the father of Shimeam. Some of them went to live in Jerusalem near their relatives.

₃₉Ner was the father of Kish and the grandfather of King Saul.

Saul had four sons: Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. _40-41Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, the grandfather of Micah, and the great-grandfather of Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. _42-44The descendants of Ahaz included Jarah, Alemeth, Azmaveth, Zimri, Moza, Binea, Rephaiah, Eleasah, and Azel and his six sons: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan.

₁The Philistines fought against Israel in a battle at Mount Gilboa. Israel's soldiers ran from the Philistines, and many of them were killed. ₂The Philistines closed in on Saul and his sons and killed three of them: Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. ₃The fighting was fierce around Saul, and he was badly wounded by enemy arrows.

₄Saul told the soldier who carried his weapons, “Kill me with your sword! I don't want those godless Philistines to torture and make fun of me.”

But the soldier was afraid to kill him. Then Saul stuck himself in the stomach with his own sword and fell on the blade. ₅When the soldier realized that Saul was dead, he killed himself in the same way.

₆Saul, three of his sons, and all his male relatives were dead. ₇The Israelites who lived in Jezreel Valley learnt that their army had run away and that Saul and his sons were dead. They ran away too, and the Philistines moved into the towns the Israelites left behind.

₈The next day the Philistines came back to the battlefield to carry away the weapons of the dead Israelite soldiers. When they found the bodies of Saul and his sons on Mount Gilboa, ₉they took Saul's weapons, pulled off his armour, and cut off his head. Then they sent messengers everywhere in Philistia to spread the news among their people and to thank the idols of their gods. ₁₀They put Saul's armour in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of their god Dagon.

₁₁When the people who lived in Jabesh in Gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, ₁₂some brave men went to get his body and the bodies of his three sons. The men brought the bodies back to Jabesh, where they buried them under an oak tree. Then for seven days, they went without eating to show their sorrow.

₁₃Saul died because he was unfaithful and disobeyed the LORD. He even asked advice from a woman who talked to spirits of the dead, ₁₄instead of asking the LORD. So the LORD had Saul killed and gave his kingdom to David, the son of Jesse.

₃The Pharisees and the teachers of the Law of Moses brought in a woman who had been caught in bed with a man who wasn't her husband. They made her stand in the middle of the crowd. ₄Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn't her husband. ₅The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”

₆They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.

₇They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!” ₈Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground. ₉The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.

₁₀Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn't there anyone left to accuse you?”

₁₁“No sir,” the woman answered.

Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don't sin any more.”

₁₂Once again Jesus spoke to the people. This time he said, “I am the light for the world! Follow me, and you won't be walking in the dark. You will have the light that gives life.”

₁₃The Pharisees objected, “You are the only one speaking for yourself, and what you say isn't true!”

₁₄Jesus replied:

₁₉“Where is your Father?” they asked.

“You don't know me or my Father!” Jesus answered. “If you knew me, you would know my Father.”

₂₀Jesus said this while he was still teaching in the place where the temple treasures were stored. But no one arrested him, because his time had not yet come.