Bible Readings for July 9, 2015

Today our passages are 1 Chronicles 7:1–8:40; Acts 27:1-20; Psalm 7:1-17; and Proverbs 18:22. The readings are from the Contemporary English Version. 

---

1 Chronicles 7-8:40 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Chronicles 7

The Descendants of Issachar

 ¹Issachar was the father of four sons: Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron.     ²Tola was the father of Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, who were all brave soldiers and family leaders in their clan. There were 22,600 people in Tola's family by the time David became king.
    ³Uzzi was the father of Izrahiah and the grandfather of Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah, who were also family leaders. ⁴Their families were so large that they had 36,000 soldiers in their clans. ⁵In fact, according to family records, the tribe of Issachar had a total of 87,000 warriors.
   

The Descendants of Benjamin and Dan

 ⁶Benjamin was the father of three sons: Bela, Becher, and Jediael.     ⁷Bela was the father of Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri. They were all brave soldiers and family leaders in their father's clan. The number of soldiers in their clan was 22,034.
    ⁸Becher was the father of Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth. ⁹The official family records listed 20,200 soldiers in the families of this clan, as well as their family leaders.
    ¹⁰Jediael was the father of Bilhan and the grandfather of Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. ¹¹They were family leaders in their clan, which had 17,200 soldiers prepared to fight in battle. ¹²Ir was the father of Shuppim and Huppim, who also belonged to this clan.
   Dan ^[a] was the father of Hushim.

The Descendants of Naphtali

 ¹³Naphtali's mother was Bilhah, ^[b] and he was the father of Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum.

The Descendants of Manasseh

 ¹⁴Manasseh and his Syrian wife ^[c] were the parents of Asriel and Machir the father of Gilead. ¹⁵Machir found a wife for Huppim and one for Shuppim. Machir had a sister named Maacah. Zelophehad was also a descendant of Manasseh, and he had five daughters. ^[d] ¹⁶Machir and his wife Maacah were the parents of Peresh and Sheresh. Peresh was the father of Ulam and Rekem. ¹⁷Ulam was the father of Bedan. These were all descendants of Gilead, the son of Machir and the grandson of Manasseh.     ¹⁸Gilead's sister Hammolecheth was the mother of Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.
    ¹⁹Shemida, another descendant of Manasseh, was the father of Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.
   

The Descendants of Ephraim

 ²⁰Ephraim was the father of Shuthelah and the ancestor of Bered, Tahath, Eleadah, Tahath, ²¹Zabad, and Shuthelah.    Ephraim had two other sons, Ezer and Elead. But they were killed when they tried to steal livestock from the people who lived in the territory of Gath. ²²Ephraim mourned for his sons a long time, and his relatives came to comfort him. ²³Some time later his wife gave birth to another son, and Ephraim named him Beriah, because he was born during a time of misery. ^[e] ²⁴Ephraim's daughter was Sheerah. She built the towns of Lower Beth-Horon, Upper Beth-Horon, and Uzzen-Sheerah.
    ²⁵Ephraim also had a son named Rephah, and his descendants included Resheph, Telah, Tahan, ²⁶Ladan, Ammihud, Elishama, ²⁷Nun, and Joshua.
    ²⁸The descendants of Ephraim took over the territory as far south as Bethel, as far east as Naaran, and as far west as Gezer. Their territory included all the villages around these towns, as well as Shechem, Ayyah, and the nearby villages.
    ²⁹The descendants of Manasseh settled in the territory that included Beth-Shan, Taanach, Megiddo, Dor, and the nearby villages.
   The descendants of Joseph ^[f] lived in these towns and villages.

The Descendants of Asher

 ³⁰Asher had four sons, Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, and Beriah, and one daughter, Serah.     ³¹Beriah was the father of Heber and Malchiel the father of Birzaith. ³²Heber was the father of three sons, Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and one daughter, Shua. ³³Japhlet was the father of Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. ³⁴Shomer was the father of Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah, and Aram. ³⁵And Japhlet's brother Hotham ^[g] was the father of Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal. ³⁶Zophah was the father of Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, ³⁷Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera. ³⁸Jether was the father of Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara. ³⁹Ulla was the father of Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.
    ⁴⁰These were the descendants of Asher, and they were all respected family leaders and brave soldiers. The tribe of Asher had a total of 26,000 soldiers.
   

1 Chronicles 8

More Descendants of Benjamin

 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 ^[h] 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, ^[i] Nadab, ³¹Gedor, Ahio, Zecher, ³²and Mikloth the father of Shimeah. Some of them went to live in Jerusalem near their relatives.

The Descendants of King Saul

 ³³Ner was the father of Kish and the grandfather of King Saul.    Saul had four sons: Jonathan, Malchishua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ^[j] ³⁴Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, ^[k] 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 fifty children and grandchildren. All of these belonged to the tribe of Benjamin.
   

Footnotes:

1. 1 Chronicles 7:12 Dan: The Hebrew text has "Aher," which can mean "someone else" (see Genesis 46.23-25).
2. 1 Chronicles 7:13 Bilhah: One of Jacob's wives and the mother of Dan and Naphtali (see Genesis 46.23-25).
3. 1 Chronicles 7:14 wife: See the note at 2.46.
4. 1 Chronicles 7:15 Zelophehad. . . daughters: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text (see also Numbers 26.28-33).
5. 1 Chronicles 7:23 Beriah. . . misery: In Hebrew "Beriah" sounds like "in misery."
6. 1 Chronicles 7:29 Joseph: Hebrew "Joseph son of Israel."
7. 1 Chronicles 7:35 Hotham: The Hebrew text has "Helem," another spelling of the name.
8. 1 Chronicles 8:29 Jeiel: One ancient translation and 9.35; the Hebrew text does not have this name.
9. 1 Chronicles 8:30 Ner: One ancient translation and 9.36; the Hebrew text does not have this name.
10. 1 Chronicles 8:33 Eshbaal: Also called "Ishbosheth" (see 2 Samuel 2.8 and the note there).
11. 1 Chronicles 8:34 Meribbaal: Also called "Mephibosheth" (see 2 Samuel 4.4 and the note there).

---

Acts 27:1-20 (Contemporary English Version)

Acts 27

Paul Is Taken to Rome

 ¹When it was time for us to sail to Rome, Captain Julius from the Emperor's special troops was put in charge of Paul and the other prisoners. ²We went aboard a ship from Adramyttium that was about to sail to some ports along the coast of Asia. Aristarchus from Thessalonica in Macedonia sailed on the ship with us.     ³The next day we came to shore at Sidon. Captain Julius was very kind to Paul. He even let him visit his friends, so they could give him whatever he needed. ⁴When we left Sidon, the winds were blowing against us, and we sailed close to the island of Cyprus to be safe from the wind. ⁵Then we sailed south of Cilicia and Pamphylia until we came to the port of Myra in Lycia. ⁶There the army captain found a ship from Alexandria that was going to Italy. So he ordered us to board that ship.
    ⁷We sailed along slowly for several days and had a hard time reaching Cnidus. The wind would not let us go any farther in that direction, so we sailed past Cape Salmone, where the island of Crete would protect us from the wind. ⁸We went slowly along the coast and finally reached a place called Fair Havens, not far from the town of Lasea.
    ⁹By now we had already lost a lot of time, and sailing was no longer safe. In fact, even the Great Day of Forgiveness ^[a] was past. ¹⁰Then Paul spoke to the crew of the ship, "Men, listen to me! If we sail now, our ship and its cargo will be badly damaged, and many lives will be lost." ¹¹But Julius listened to the captain of the ship and its owner, rather than to Paul. ¹²The harbor at Fair Havens wasn't a good place to spend the winter. Because of this, almost everyone agreed that we should at least try to sail along the coast of Crete as far as Phoenix. It had a harbor that opened toward the southwest and northwest, ^[b] and we could spend the winter there.

The Storm at Sea

 ¹³When a gentle wind from the south started blowing, the men thought it was a good time to do what they had planned. So they pulled up the anchor, and we sailed along the coast of Crete. ¹⁴But soon a strong wind called "The Northeaster" blew against us from the island. ¹⁵The wind struck the ship, and we could not sail against it. So we let the wind carry the ship.     ¹⁶We went along the island of Cauda on the side that was protected from the wind. We had a hard time holding the lifeboat in place, ¹⁷but finally we got it where it belonged. Then the sailors wrapped ropes around the ship to hold it together. They lowered the sail and let the ship drift along, because they were afraid it might hit the sandbanks in the gulf of Syrtis.
    ¹⁸The storm was so fierce that the next day they threw some of the ship's cargo overboard. ¹⁹Then on the third day, with their bare hands they threw overboard some of the ship's gear. ²⁰For several days we could not see either the sun or the stars. A strong wind kept blowing, and we finally gave up all hope of being saved.
   

Footnotes:

1. Acts 27:9 Great Day of Forgiveness: This Jewish festival took place near the end of September. The sailing season was dangerous after the middle of September, and it was stopped completely between the middle of November and the middle of March.
2. Acts 27:12 southwest and northwest: Or "northeast and southeast."

---

Psalm 7:1-17 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 7

(Written by David. (Psalm 7 Written by David: The Hebrew text has " a shiggaion by David," which may refer to a psalm of mourning.) He sang this to the LORD because of Cush from the tribe of Benjamin.)

The LORD Always Does Right

 ¹You, LORD God,    are my protector.
   Rescue me and keep me safe
   from all who chase me.
    ²Or else they will rip me apart
   like lions
   attacking a victim,
   and no one will save me.
    ³I am innocent, LORD God!
    ⁴I have not betrayed a friend
   or had pity on an enemy ^[a] who attacks for no reason.
    ⁵If I have done any of this,
   then let my enemies
   chase and capture me.
   Let them stomp me to death
   and leave me in the dirt.
    ⁶Get angry, LORD God!
   Do something!
   Attack my furious enemies.
   See that justice is done.
    ⁷Make the nations come to you,
   as you sit on your throne ^[b] above them all.
    ⁸Our LORD, judge the nations!
   Judge me
   and show that I
   am honest and innocent.
    ⁹You know every heart and mind,
   and you always do right.
   Now make violent people stop,
   but protect all of us
   who obey you.
    ¹⁰You, God, are my shield,
   the protector of everyone
   whose heart is right.
    ¹¹You see that justice is done,
   and each day
   you take revenge.
    ¹²Whenever your enemies refuse
   to change their ways,
   you sharpen your sword
   and string your bow.
    ¹³Your deadly arrows are ready
   with flaming tips.
    ¹⁴An evil person is like a woman
   about to give birth
   to a hateful, deceitful,
   and rebellious child.
    ¹⁵Such people dig a deep hole,
   then fall in it themselves.
    ¹⁶The trouble they cause
   comes back on them,
   and their heads are crushed
   by their own evil deeds.
    ¹⁷I will praise you, LORD!
   You always do right.
   I will sing about you,
   the LORD Most High.
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 7:4 had pity on an enemy: Or " failed to have pity on an enemy."
2. Psalm 7:7 sit. . . throne: Or " return to your place."

---

Proverbs 18:22 (Contemporary English Version)

²²A man's greatest treasure
   is his wife--
   she is a gift from the LORD.

---

Verse of the Day

“I pray that Christ Jesus and the church will forever bring praise to God. His power at work in us can do far more than we dare ask or imagine. Amen.” - Ephesians 3:20-21

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

---

 

Thought for the Day

 

American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s, Beverly Sills wrote, “I've always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up.”