The One Year Bible TLB (147 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
It is harder to win back the friendship of an offended brother than to capture a fortified city.
*
His anger shuts you out like iron bars.
July 8There were 44,760 armed, trained, and brave troops in the army of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh.
19
They declared war on the Hagrites, the Jeturites, the Naphishites, and the Nodabites.
20
They cried out to God to help them, and he did, for they trusted in him. So the Hagrites and all their allies were defeated.
21
The booty included 50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, 2,000 donkeys, and 100,000 captives.
22
A great number of the enemy also died in the battle, for God was fighting against them. So the Reubenites lived in the territory of the Hagrites until the time of the exile.
23
The half-tribe of Manasseh spread through the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. They too were very numerous.
24
The chiefs of their clans were the following: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, Jahdiel.
Each of these men had a great reputation as a warrior and leader.
25
But they were not true to the God of their fathers; instead they worshiped the idols of the people whom God had destroyed.
26
So God caused King Pul of Assyria (also known as Tilgath-pilneser III) to invade the land and deport the men of Reuben, Gad, and the half-tribe of Manasseh. They took them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the Gozan River, where they remain to this day.
6:
1
These are the names of the sons of Levi:
Gershom, Kohath, Merari.
2
Kohath’s
sons were:
Amram,
Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel.
3
Amram’s
descendants included:
Aaron,
Moses, Miriam.
Aaron’s
sons were: Nadab, Abihu, Eleazar, Ithamar.
4-15
The oldest sons of the successive generations of Aaron were as follows:
*
Eleazar, the father of
Phinehas, the father of
Abishua, the father of
Bukki, the father of
Uzzi, the father of
Zerahiah, the father of
Meraioth, the father of
Amariah, the father of
Ahitub, the father of
Zadok, the father of
Ahimaaz, the father of
Azariah, the father of
Johanan, the father of
Azariah (the High Priest in Solomon’s Temple at Jerusalem), the father of
Amariah, the father of
Ahitub, the father of
Zadok, the father of
Shallum, the father of
Hilkiah, the father of
Azariah, the father of
Seraiah, the father of
Jehozadak (who went into exile when the Lord sent the people of Judah and Jerusalem into captivity under Nebuchadnezzar).
16
As previously stated,
*
the sons of Levi were:
Gershom, Kohath, Merari.
17
The sons of
Gershom
were: Libni, Shimei.
18
The sons of
Kohath
were:
Amram,
Izhar, Hebron, Uzziel.
19-21
The sons of
Merari
were: Mahli, Mushi.
The subclans of the Levites were:
In the Gershom clan: Libni, Jahath, Zimmah, Joah, Iddo, Zerah, Jeatherai.
22-24
In the Kohath clan: Amminadab, Korah, Assir,
Elkanah,
Ebiasaph, Assir, Tahath, Uriel, Uzziah, Shaul.
25-27
The subclan of
Elkanah
was further divided into the families of his sons: Amasai, Ahimoth, Elkanah, Zophai, Nahath, Eliab, Jeroham, Elkanah.
28
The families of the subclan of Samuel were headed by Samuel’s sons: Joel, the oldest; Abijah, the second.
29-30
The subclans of the clan of Merari were headed by his sons: Mahli, Libni, Shimei, Uzzah, Shimea, Haggiah, Asaiah.
31
King David appointed song leaders and choirs to praise God in the Tabernacle after he had placed the Ark in it.
32
Then, when Solomon built the Temple at Jerusalem, the choirs carried on their work there.
33-38
These are the names and ancestries
*
of choir leaders: Heman the Cantor was from the clan of Kohath; his genealogy was traced back through: Joel, Samuel, Elkanah III, Jeroham, Eliel, Toah, Zuph, Elkanah II, Mahath, Amasai, Elkanah I, Joel, Azariah, Zephaniah, Tahath, Assir, Ebiasaph, Korah, Izhar, Kohath, Levi, Israel.
39-43
Heman’s assistant
*
was his colleague Asaph, whose genealogy was traced back through: Berechiah, Shimea, Michael, Baaseiah, Malchijah, Ethni, Zerah, Adaiah, Ethan, Zimmah, Shimei, Jahath, Gershom, Levi.
44-47
Heman’s second assistant was Ethan, a representative from the clan of Merari, who stood on his left. Merari’s ancestry was traced back through: Kishi, Abdi, Malluch, Hashabiah, Amaziah, Hilkiah, Amzi, Bani, Shemer, Mahli, Mushi, Merari, Levi.
48
Their relatives—all the other Levites—were appointed to various other tasks in the Tabernacle.
49
But only Aaron and his descendants were the priests. Their duties included sacrificing burnt offerings and incense, handling all the tasks relating to the inner sanctuary—the Holy of Holies—and the tasks relating to the annual Day of Atonement for Israel. They saw to it that all the details commanded by Moses the servant of God were strictly followed.
50-53
The descendants of Aaron were: Eleazar, Phinehas, Abishua, Bukki, Uzzi, Zerahiah, Meraioth, Amariah, Ahitub, Zadok, Ahimaaz.
54
This is a record of the cities and land assigned by lot to the descendants of Aaron, all of whom were members of the Kohath clan:
55-57
Hebron and its surrounding pasturelands in Judah (although the fields and suburbs were given to Caleb the son of Jephunneh),
58-59
and the following Cities of Refuge with their surrounding pasturelands: Libnah, Jattir, Eshtemoa, Hilen, Debir, Ashan, Beth-shemesh.
60
Thirteen other cities with surrounding pastures—including Geba, Alemeth, and Anathoth—were given to the priests by the tribe of Benjamin.
61
Lots were then drawn to assign land to the remaining descendants of Kohath, and they received ten cities in the territory of the half-tribe of Manasseh.
62
The subclans of the Gershom clan received by lot thirteen cities in the Bashan area from the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and Manasseh.
63
The subclans of Merari received by lot twelve cities from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun.
64-65
Cities and pasturelands were also assigned by lot to the Levites (and then renamed) from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin.
66-69
The tribe of Ephraim gave these Cities of Refuge with the surrounding pasturelands to the subclans of Kohath: Shechem in Mount Ephraim, Gezer, Jokmeam, Beth-horon, Aijalon, Gath-rimmon.
70
The following Cities of Refuge and their pasturelands were given to the subclans of the Kohathites by the half-tribe of Manasseh: Aner, Bileam.
71
Cities of Refuge and pastureland given to the clan of Gershom by the half-tribe of Manasseh were: Golan, in Bashan; Ashtaroth.
72
The tribe of Issachar gave them Kedesh, Daberath,
73
Ramoth, and Anem, and the surrounding pastureland of each.
74
The tribe of Asher gave them Abdon, Mashal,
75
Hukok, and Rehob, with their pasturelands.
76
The tribe of Naphtali gave them Kedesh in Galilee, Hammon, and Kiriathaim with pasturelands.
77
The tribe of Zebulun gave Rimmono and Tabor to the Merari clan as Cities of Refuge.
78-79
And across the Jordan River, opposite Jericho, the tribe of Reuben gave them Bezer (a desert town), Jahzah, Kedemoth, and Mephaath, along with their pasturelands.
80
The tribe of Gad gave them Ramoth in Gilead, Mahanaim,
81
Heshbon, and Jazer, each with their surrounding pasturelands.
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Go ahead. Tell us your story.”
So Paul, with many gestures,
*
presented his defense:
2
“I am fortunate, King Agrippa,” he began, “to be able to present my answer before you,
3
for I know you are an expert on Jewish laws and customs. Now please listen patiently!
4
“As the Jews are well aware, I was given a thorough Jewish training from my earliest childhood in Tarsus
*
and later at Jerusalem, and I lived accordingly.
5
If they would admit it, they know that I have always been the strictest of Pharisees when it comes to obedience to Jewish laws and customs.
6
But the real reason behind their accusations is something else—it is because I am looking forward to the fulfillment of God’s promise made to our ancestors.
7
The twelve tribes of Israel strive night and day to attain this same hope I have! Yet, O King, for me it is a crime, they say!
8
But is it a crime to believe in the resurrection of the dead? Does it seem incredible to you that God can bring men back to life again?
9
“I used to believe that I ought to do many horrible things to the followers of Jesus of Nazareth.
*
10
I imprisoned many of the saints in Jerusalem, as authorized by the High Priests; and when they were condemned to death, I cast my vote against them.
11
I used torture to try to make Christians everywhere curse Christ. I was so violently opposed to them that I even hounded them in distant cities in foreign lands.
12
“I was on such a mission to Damascus, armed with the authority and commission of the chief priests,
13
when one day about noon, sir, a light from heaven brighter than the sun shone down on me and my companions.
14
We all fell down, and I heard a voice speaking to me in Hebrew,
‘Paul, Paul, why are you persecuting me? You are only hurting yourself.’
*
15
“‘Who are you, sir?’ I asked.
“And the Lord replied,
‘I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting.
16
Now stand up! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and my witness. You are to tell the world about this experience and about the many other occasions when I shall appear to you.
17
And I will protect you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am going to send you to the Gentiles
18
to open their eyes to their true condition so that they may repent and live in the light of God instead of in Satan’s darkness, so that they may receive forgiveness for their sins and God’s inheritance along with all people everywhere whose sins are cleansed away, who are set apart by faith in me.’
19
“And so, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to that vision from heaven!
20
I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and through Judea, and also to the Gentiles that all must forsake their sins and turn to God—and prove their repentance by doing good deeds.
21
The Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this and tried to kill me,
22
but God protected me so that I am still alive today to tell these facts to everyone, both great and small. I teach nothing except what the Prophets and Moses said—
23
that the Messiah would suffer and be the First to rise from the dead, to bring light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”
24
Suddenly Festus shouted, “Paul, you are insane. Your long studying has broken your mind!”
25
But Paul replied, “I am not insane, Most Excellent Festus. I speak words of sober truth.
26
And King Agrippa knows about these things. I speak frankly for I am sure these events are all familiar to him, for they were not done in a corner!
27
King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? But I know you do—”
28
Agrippa interrupted him. “With trivial proofs like these,
*
you expect me to become a Christian?”
29
And Paul replied, “Would to God that whether my arguments are trivial or strong, both you and everyone here in this audience might become the same as I am, except for these chains.”
30
Then the king, the governor, Bernice, and all the others stood and left.
31
As they talked it over afterwards they agreed, “This man hasn’t done anything worthy of death or imprisonment.”
32
And Agrippa said to Festus, “He could be set free if he hadn’t appealed to Caesar!”