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. If you find these readings helpful, please consider sending an offering directly to Cove Presbyterian Church, 3404 Main Street, Weirton, West Virginia or through PayPal by using the link below.
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 Chronicles 7:12 Dan: The Hebrew text has "Aher," which can mean "someone else" (see Genesis 46.23-25).
- 1 Chronicles 7:13 Bilhah: One of Jacob's wives and the mother of Dan and Naphtali (see Genesis 46.23-25).
- 1 Chronicles 7:14 wife: See the note at 2.46.
- 1 Chronicles 7:15 Zelophehad. . . daughters: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text (see also Numbers 26.28-33).
- 1 Chronicles 7:23 Beriah. . . misery: In Hebrew "Beriah" sounds like "in misery."
- 1 Chronicles 7:29 Joseph: Hebrew "Joseph son of Israel."
- 1 Chronicles 7:35 Hotham: The Hebrew text has "Helem," another spelling of the name.
- 1 Chronicles 8:29 Jeiel: One ancient translation and 9.35; the Hebrew text does not have this name.
- 1 Chronicles 8:30 Ner: One ancient translation and 9.36; the Hebrew text does not have this name.
- 1 Chronicles 8:33 Eshbaal: Also called "Ishbosheth" (see 2 Samuel 2.8 and the note there).
- 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:
- 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.
- 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:
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 author, Dean Koontz wrote, “Human beings can always be relied upon to exert, with vigor, their God-given right to be stupid.”
A man goes to see his pastor. 'Pastor, something terrible is happening and I have to talk to you about it.' The pastor asked, 'What's wrong?'
The man replied, 'My wife is poisoning me.'
The pastor, very surprised by this, asks, 'How can that be?'
The man then pleads, 'I'm telling you, I'm certain she's poisoning me, what should I do?'
The pastor then offers, 'Tell you what. Let me talk to her, I'll see what I can find out and I'll let you know.'
A week later the pastor calls the man and says, 'Well, I spoke to your wife. I spoke to her on the phone for three hours. You want my advice?'
The man said yes and the pastor replied, 'Take the poison.'
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