Bible Readings for July 5, 2013

Today our passages are 1 Chronicles 1:1–2:17; Acts 23:11-35; Psalm 3:1-8; and Proverbs 18:14-15. The readings are the Contemporary English Version.

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1 Chronicles 1-2:17 (Contemporary English Version)

1 Chronicles 1

The Descendants of Adam

(Genesis 5.1-32; 10.1-32; 11.10-32)

 ^1-4Adam was the father of Seth, and his descendants were Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah, who had three sons: Shem, Ham, and Japheth.     ⁵Japheth was the father of Gomer, Magog, Madai, Javan, Tubal, Meshech, and Tiras, and they were the ancestors of the kingdoms named after them. ⁶Gomer was the ancestor of Ashkenaz, Riphath, ^[a] and Togarmah. ⁷Javan was the ancestor of Elishah, Tarshish, Kittim, and Dodanim. ^[b] ⁸Ham was the father of Ethiopia, ^[c] Egypt, Put, and Canaan, and they were the ancestors of the kingdoms named after them. ⁹Ethiopia was the ancestor of Seba, Havilah, Sabta, Raamah, and Sabteca. Raamah was the ancestor of Sheba and Dedan. ¹⁰Ethiopia was also the father of Nimrod, the world's first mighty warrior. ¹¹Egypt was the ancestor of Ludim, Anamim, Lehabim, Naphtuhim, ¹²Pathrusim, Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines. ^[d] ¹³Canaan's oldest son was Sidon; his other son was Heth. ^14-16Canaan was also the ancestor of the Jebusites, the Amorites, the Girgashites, the Hivites, and Arkites, the Sinites, the Arvadites, the Zemarites, and the Hamathites. ¹⁷Shem was the ancestor of Elam, Asshur, Arpachshad, Lud, Aram, Uz, Hul, Gether, and Meshech; ^[e] they were the ancestors of the kingdoms named after them. ¹⁸Arpachshad was Shelah's father and Eber's grandfather. ¹⁹Eber named his first son Peleg, ^[f] because in his time the earth was divided into tribal regions. Eber's second son was Joktan, ^20-23the ancestor of Almodad, Sheleph, Hazarmaveth, Jerah, Hadoram, Uzal, Diklah, Ebal, Abimael, Sheba, Ophir, Havilah, and Jobab. ^24-27Shem's descendants included Arpachshad, Shelah, Eber, Peleg, Reu, Serug, Nahor, Terah, and Abram, later renamed Abraham.
   

Abraham's Family

(Genesis 25.1-4,12-16)

 ²⁸Abraham was the father of Isaac and Ishmael.     ^29-31Ishmael had twelve sons, who were born in the following order: Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah.
    ³²Abraham and his slave woman Keturah had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. ³³Midian was the father of Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah.
   

Esau's Family

(Genesis 36.1-14)

 ³⁴Abraham's son Isaac was the father of Esau and Jacob. ^[g] ³⁵Esau was the father of Eliphaz, Reuel, Jeush, Jalam, and Korah. ³⁶Eliphaz was the father of Teman, Omar, Zephi, Gatam, Kenaz, Timna, and Amalek. ³⁷Reuel was the father of Nahath, Zerah, Shammah, and Mizzah.

The First Edomites and Their Kings

(Genesis 36.20-43)

 ³⁸Seir was the father of Lotan, Shobal, Zibeon, Anah, Dishon, Ezer, and Dishan. ³⁹Lotan was the father of Hori and Homam; Lotan's sister was Timna. ⁴⁰Shobal was the father of Alvan, ^[h] Manahath, Ebal, Shephi, and Onam. Zibeon was the father of Aiah and Anah. ⁴¹Anah was the father of Dishon and the grandfather of Hemdan, ^[i] Eshban, Ithran, and Cheran. ⁴²Ezer was the father of Bilhan, Zaavan, and Jaakan. ^[j] Dishan ^[k] was the father of Uz and Aran. ⁴³Before kings ruled in Israel, Bela son of Beor ruled the country of Edom from its capital of Dinhabah. ⁴⁴After Bela's death, Jobab son of Zerah from Bozrah became king. ⁴⁵After Jobab's death, Husham from the land of Teman became king. ⁴⁶After Husham's death, Hadad son of Bedad became king and ruled from Avith. Earlier, Bedad had defeated the Midianites in the territory of Moab. ⁴⁷After Hadad's death, Samlah from Masrekah became king; ⁴⁸after Samlah's death, Shaul from the town of Rehoboth on the Euphrates River became king; ⁴⁹and after Shaul's death, Baal Hanan son of Achbor became king. ⁵⁰After Baal Hanan's death, Hadad ruled from Pai. His wife was Mehetabel, the daughter of Matred and granddaughter of Mezahab.     ⁵¹The Edomite clans ^[l] were Timna, Alvah, ^[m] Jetheth, ⁵²Oholibamah, Elah, Pinon, ⁵³Kenaz, Teman, Mibzar, ⁵⁴Magdiel, and Iram.

1 Chronicles 2

The Descendants of Judah

 ^1-2Jacob ^[n] was the father of twelve sons: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Issachar, Zebulun, Dan, Joseph, Benjamin, Naphtali, Gad, and Asher. ³Judah and his Canaanite wife Bathshua had three sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah. But the LORD had Er put to death, because he disobeyed and did what the LORD hated. ⁴Judah and his daughter-in-law Tamar also had two sons: Perez and Zerah.     ⁵Perez was the father of Hezron and Hamul. ⁶Zerah was the father of Zimri, Ethan, Heman, Calcol, and Darda. ^[o] ⁷Achan, ^[p] who was a descendant of Zerah and the son of Carmi, caused trouble for Israel, because he kept for himself things that belonged only to the LORD. ^[q] ⁸Ethan's son was Azariah.

The Ancestors of King David

 ⁹Hezron was the father of Jerahmeel, Ram, and Caleb. ^[r] ¹⁰Ram was the father of Amminadab and the grandfather of Nahshon, a tribal leader of Judah. ¹¹Nahshon's descendants included Salma, Boaz, ¹²Obed, and Jesse. ^13-15Jesse had seven sons, who were born in the following order: Eliab, Abinadab, Shimea, Nethanel, Raddai, Ozem, and David. ¹⁶Jesse also had two daughters: Zeruiah and Abigail. Zeruiah was the mother of Abishai, Joab, and Asahel. ¹⁷Abigail's husband was Jether, who was a descendant of Ishmael, and their son was Amasa.

Footnotes:

1. 1 Chronicles 1:6 Riphath: Most Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient translations (see also Genesis 10.2-5); some Hebrew manuscripts "Diphath." In Hebrew the letters "d" and "r" look almost exactly the same.
2. 1 Chronicles 1:7 Dodanim: Most Hebrew manuscripts and one ancient translation (see also Genesis 10.2-5); some Hebrew manuscripts "Rodanim." In Hebrew the letters "d" and "r" look almost exactly the same.
3. 1 Chronicles 1:8 Ethiopia: The Hebrew text has "Cush," which was a region south of Egypt that included parts of the present countries of Ethiopia and Sudan.
4. 1 Chronicles 1:12 Casluhim, and Caphtorim, the ancestor of the Philistines: The Hebrew text has "Casluhim, the ancestor of the Philistines, and Caphtorim"; but see Jeremiah 47.4 and Amos 9.7.
5. 1 Chronicles 1:17 Meshech: Most Hebrew manuscripts; a few Hebrew manuscripts and some manuscripts of one ancient translation "Mash" (see also Genesis 10.21-31).
6. 1 Chronicles 1:19 Peleg: In Hebrew "Peleg" means "divided."
7. 1 Chronicles 1:34 Jacob: The Hebrew text has "Israel," which was Jacob's name after God renamed him.
8. 1 Chronicles 1:40 Alvan: Or "Alian."
9. 1 Chronicles 1:41 Hemdan: Most Hebrew manuscripts and some manuscripts of one ancient translation (see also Genesis 36.26); other Hebrew manuscripts "Hamran."
10. 1 Chronicles 1:42 Jaakan: Or "Akan" (see Genesis 36.27).
11. 1 Chronicles 1:42 Dishan: The Hebrew text has "Dishon," another spelling of the name (see Genesis 36.28).
12. 1 Chronicles 1:51 The Edomite clans: Or "The leaders of the Edomite clans."
13. 1 Chronicles 1:51 Alvah: Or "Aliah."
14. 1 Chronicles 2:1 Jacob: See the note at 1.34.
15. 1 Chronicles 2:6 Darda: Most Hebrew manuscripts and two ancient translations (see also 1 Kings 4.30,31); some Hebrew manuscripts "Dara."
16. 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achan: The Hebrew text has "Achar," which means "trouble."
17. 1 Chronicles 2:7 Achan. . . the LORD: See Joshua 7.1-26.
18. 1 Chronicles 2:9 Caleb: The Hebrew text has "Chelubai," another form of the name.

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Acts 23:11-35 (Contemporary English Version)

¹¹That night the Lord stood beside Paul and said, "Don't worry! Just as you have told others about me in Jerusalem, you must also tell about me in Rome."
   

A Plot To Kill Paul

 ^12-13The next morning more than forty Jewish men got together and vowed that they would not eat or drink anything until they had killed Paul. ¹⁴Then some of them went to the chief priests and the nation's leaders and said, "We have promised God that we would not eat a thing until we have killed Paul. ¹⁵You and everyone in the council must go to the commander and pretend that you want to find out more about the charges against Paul. Ask for him to be brought before your court. Meanwhile, we will be waiting to kill him before he gets there."     ¹⁶When Paul's nephew heard about the plot, he went to the fortress and told Paul about it. ¹⁷So Paul said to one of the army officers, "Take this young man to the commander. He has something to tell him."
    ¹⁸The officer took him to the commander and said, "The prisoner named Paul asked me to bring this young man to you, because he has something to tell you."
    ¹⁹The commander took the young man aside and asked him in private, "What do you want to tell me?"
    ²⁰He answered, "Some men are planning to ask you to bring Paul down to the Jewish council tomorrow. They will claim that they want to find out more about him. ²¹But please don't do what they say. More than forty men are going to attack Paul. They have made a vow not to eat or drink anything until they have killed him. Even now they are waiting to hear what you decide."
    ²²The commander sent the young man away after saying to him, "Don't let anyone know that you told me this."
   

Paul Is Sent to Felix the Governor

 ²³The commander called in two of his officers and told them, "By nine o'clock tonight have two hundred soldiers ready to go to Caesarea. Take along seventy men on horseback and two hundred foot soldiers with spears. ²⁴Get a horse ready for Paul and make sure that he gets safely through to Felix the governor."     ²⁵The commander wrote a letter that said:
    ²⁶Greetings from Claudius Lysias to the Honorable Governor Felix:
    ²⁷Some Jews grabbed this man and were about to kill him. But when I found out that he was a Roman citizen, I took some soldiers and rescued him.
    ²⁸I wanted to find out what they had against him. So I brought him before their council ²⁹and learned that the charges concern only their religious laws. This man isn't guilty of anything for which he should die or even be put in jail.
    ³⁰As soon as I learned that there was a plot against him, I sent him to you and told their leaders to bring charges against him in your court.
    ³¹The soldiers obeyed the commander's orders, and that same night they took Paul to the city of Antipatris. ³²The next day the foot soldiers returned to the fortress and let the soldiers on horseback take him the rest of the way. ³³When they came to Caesarea, they gave the letter to the governor and handed Paul over to him.
    ³⁴The governor read the letter. Then he asked Paul and found out that he was from Cilicia. ³⁵The governor said, "I will listen to your case as soon as the people come to bring their charges against you." After saying this, he gave orders for Paul to be kept as a prisoner in Herod's palace. ^[a]

Footnotes:

1. Acts 23:35 Herod's palace: The palace built by Herod the Great and used by the Roman governors of Palestine.

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Psalm 3:1-8 (Contemporary English Version)

Psalm 3

(Written by David when he was running from his son Absalom.)

An Early Morning Prayer

 ¹I have a lot of enemies, LORD.    Many fight against ²me and say,
   "God won't rescue you!"
    ³But you are my shield,
   and you give me victory
   and great honor.
    ⁴I pray to you, and you answer
   from your sacred hill.
    ⁵I sleep and wake up refreshed
   because you, LORD,
   protect me.
    ⁶Ten thousand enemies attack
   from every side,
   but I am not afraid.
    ⁷Come and save me, LORD God!
   Break my enemies' jaws
   and shatter their teeth,
    ⁸because you protect
   and bless your people.

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Proverbs 18:14-15 (Contemporary English Version)

¹⁴Being cheerful helps
   when we are sick,
   but nothing helps
   when we give up.
    ¹⁵Everyone with good sense
   wants to learn.

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Verse of the Day

“At that time you will say, 'Our LORD, we are thankful, and we worship only you. We will tell the nations how glorious you are and what you have done.'” - Isaiah 12:4

Today's passage is from the Contemporary English Version.

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Thought for the Day

American artist Andy Warhol wrote, “They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”