Bible Reading for July 10, 2013

Today our passages are 1 Chronicles 9:1–10:14; Acts 27:21-44; Psalm 8:1-9; and Proverbs 18:23-24. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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1 Chronicles 9-10:14 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Chronicles 9

The People Who Returned from Babylonia and Settled in Jerusalem

 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 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 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.
   

The Priests Who Settled in Jerusalem

 ^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.
   

The Levites Who Settled in Jerusalem

 ^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.    

The Temple Guards Who Settled in Jerusalem

 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, ^[a] 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 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.
   

The Duties of the Levites

 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 oldest son, was a member of the Levite clan of Korah, and he was in charge of baking the bread used for offerings. ^[b] ³²The Levites from the Kohath clan were in charge of baking the sacred loaves of bread for each Sabbath. ^[c] 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 of these men were family leaders in the Levi tribe and were listed that way in their family records. They lived in Jerusalem.
   

King Saul's Family

(1 Chronicles 8.29-38)

 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. ^[d] ^40-41Jonathan was the father of Meribbaal, ^[e] the grandfather of Micah, and the great-grandfather of Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. ^[f] ^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.

1 Chronicles 10

King Saul and His Sons Die

(1 Samuel 31.1-13)

 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 ^[g] learned 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 armor, 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 armor 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.
   

Footnotes:

1. 1 Chronicles 9:19 Shallum son of Kore: Hebrew "Shallum son of Kore, grandson of Ebiasaph, and great-grandson of Korah."
2. 1 Chronicles 9:31 the bread used for offerings: See Leviticus 2.4-7.
3. 1 Chronicles 9:32 the sacred loaves of bread for each Sabbath: See Leviticus 24.5-9.
4. 1 Chronicles 9:39 Eshbaal: See the note at 8.33.
5. 1 Chronicles 9:40 Meribbaal: See the note at 8.34.
6. 1 Chronicles 9:40 and Ahaz: Most ancient translations and 8.35; the Hebrew text does not have this name.
7. 1 Chronicles 10:7 Jezreel Valley: Hebrew "the valley."

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Acts 27:21-44 (Contemporary English Version)

²¹Since none of us had eaten anything for a long time, Paul stood up and told the men:
   You should have listened to me! If you had stayed on in Crete, you would not have had this damage and loss. ²²But now I beg you to cheer up, because you will be safe. Only the ship will be lost.
    ²³I belong to God, and I worship him. Last night he sent an angel ²⁴to tell me, "Paul, don't be afraid! You will stand trial before the Emperor. And because of you, God will save the lives of everyone on the ship." ²⁵Cheer up! I am sure that God will do exactly what he promised. ²⁶But we will first be shipwrecked on some island.
    ²⁷For fourteen days and nights we had been blown around over the Mediterranean Sea. But about midnight the sailors realized that we were getting near land. ²⁸They measured and found that the water was about one hundred twenty feet deep. A little later they measured again and found it was only about ninety feet. ²⁹The sailors were afraid that we might hit some rocks, and they let down four anchors from the back of the ship. Then they prayed for daylight.
    ³⁰The sailors wanted to escape from the ship. So they lowered the lifeboat into the water, pretending that they were letting down an anchor from the front of the ship. ³¹But Paul said to Captain Julius and the soldiers, "If the sailors don't stay on the ship, you won't have any chance to save your lives." ³²The soldiers then cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall into the sea.
    ³³Just before daylight Paul begged the people to eat something. He told them, "For fourteen days you have been so worried that you haven't eaten a thing. ³⁴I beg you to eat something. Your lives depend on it. Do this and not one of you will be hurt."
    ³⁵After Paul had said this, he took a piece of bread and gave thanks to God. Then in front of everyone, he broke the bread and ate some. ³⁶They all felt encouraged, and each of them ate something. ³⁷There were 276 people on the ship, ³⁸and after everyone had eaten, they threw the cargo of wheat into the sea to make the ship lighter.
   

The Shipwreck

 ³⁹Morning came, and the ship's crew saw a coast that they did not recognize. But they did see a cove with a beach. So they decided to try to run the ship aground on the beach. ⁴⁰They cut the anchors loose and let them sink into the sea. At the same time they untied the ropes that were holding the rudders. Next, they raised the sail at the front of the ship and let the wind carry the ship toward the beach. ⁴¹But it ran aground on a sandbank. The front of the ship stuck firmly in the sand, and the rear was being smashed by the force of the waves.     ⁴²The soldiers decided to kill the prisoners to keep them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³But Captain Julius wanted to save Paul's life, and he did not let the soldiers do what they had planned. Instead, he ordered everyone who could swim to dive into the water and head for shore. ⁴⁴Then he told the others to hold on to planks of wood or parts of the ship. At last, everyone safely reached shore.

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Psalm 8:1-9 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 8

(A psalm by David for the music leader. (Psalm 8 leader: The Hebrew text adds " according to the gittith," which may refer to either a musical instrument or a tune.) )

The Wonderful Name of the LORD

 ¹Our LORD and Ruler,    your name is wonderful
   everywhere on earth!
   You let your glory be seen ^[a] in the heavens above.
    ²With praises from children
   and from tiny infants,
   you have built a fortress.
   It makes your enemies silent,
   and all who turn against you
   are left speechless.
    ³I often think of the heavens
   your hands have made,
   and of the moon and stars
   you put in place.
    ⁴Then I ask, "Why do you care
   about us humans?
   Why are you concerned
   for us weaklings?"
    ⁵You made us a little lower
   than you yourself, ^[b] and you have crowned us
   with glory and honor.
    ⁶You let us rule everything
   your hands have made.
   And you put all of it
   under our power--
    ⁷the sheep and the cattle,
   and every wild animal,
    ⁸the birds in the sky,
   the fish in the sea,
   and all ocean creatures.
    ⁹Our LORD and Ruler,
   your name is wonderful
   everywhere on earth!
   

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 8:1 You. . . seen: Or " I will worship your glory."
2. Psalm 8:5 you yourself: Or " the angels" or " the beings in heaven."

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Proverbs 18:23-24 (Contemporary English Version)

²³The poor must beg for help,
   but the rich can give
   a harsh reply.
    ²⁴Some friends don't help, ^[a] but a true friend is closer
   than your own family.
   

Footnotes:

1. Proverbs 18:24 Some. . . help: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.

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Verse of the Day

 

“God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.” - Philippians 1:6

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

English cleric, writer and collector, well known for his eccentricities Charles Caleb Colton wrote, “Those that are the loudest in their threats are the weakest in their actions.”