Wives Provided for the Tribe of Benjamin

¹Now the men of Israel had sworn kat Mizpah, “No one of us shall give his daughter in marriage to Benjamin.” ²And the people came to lBethel and sat there till evening before God, and they lifted up their voices and wept bitterly. ³And they said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, why has this happened in Israel, that today there should be one tribe lacking in Israel?” ⁴And the next day the people rose early and mbuilt there an altar and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings. ⁵And the people of Israel said, “Which of all the tribes of Israel did not come up in the assembly to the Lord?” nFor they had taken a great oath concerning him who did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah, saying, “He shall surely be put to death.” ⁶And the people of Israel ohad compassion for Benjamin their brother and said, “One tribe is cut off from Israel this day. ⁷pWhat shall we do for wives for those who are left, since we have sworn by the Lord that we will not give them any of our daughters for wives?”

⁸And they said, “What one is there of the tribes of Israel that did not come up to the Lord to Mizpah?” And behold, no one had come to the camp from qJabesh-gilead, to the assembly. ⁹For when the people were mustered, behold, not one of the inhabitants of qJabesh-gilead was there. ¹⁰So the congregation sent 12,000 of their bravest men there and commanded them, r“Go and strike the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead with the edge of the sword; also the women and the little ones. ¹¹This is what you shall do: severy male and every woman that has lain with a male you shall devote to destruction.” ¹²And they found among the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead 400 young virgins who had not known a man by lying with him, and they brought them to the camp at tShiloh, which is in the land of Canaan.

¹³Then the whole congregation sent word to the people of Benjamin who were at the urock of Rimmon and vproclaimed peace to them. ¹⁴And Benjamin returned at that time. And they gave them the women whom they had saved alive of the women of Jabesh-gilead, but they were not enough for them. ¹⁵And the people whad compassion on Benjamin because the Lord had made a breach in the tribes of Israel.

¹⁶Then the elders of the congregation said, x“What shall we do for wives for those who are left, since the women are destroyed out of Benjamin?” ¹⁷And they said, “There must be an inheritance for the survivors of Benjamin, that a tribe not be blotted out from Israel. ¹⁸Yet we cannot give them wives from our daughters.” yFor the people of Israel had sworn, “Cursed be he who gives a wife to Benjamin.” ¹⁹So they said, “Behold, there is the yearly feast of the Lord at Shiloh, which is north of Bethel, on the east of zthe highway that goes up from Bethel to Shechem, and south of Lebonah.” ²⁰And they commanded the people of Benjamin, saying, “Go and lie in ambush in the vineyards ²¹and watch. If the daughters of Shiloh come out to adance in the dances, then come out of the vineyards and snatch each man his wife from the daughters of Shiloh, and go to the land of Benjamin. ²²And when their fathers or their brothers come to complain to us, we will say to them, ‘Grant them graciously to us, because we did not take for each man of them his wife in battle, neither did you give them to them, else you would now be guilty.’” ²³And the people of Benjamin did so and took their wives, according to their number, from the dancers whom they carried off. Then they went and returned to their inheritance band rebuilt the towns and lived in them. ²⁴And the people of Israel departed from there at that time, every man to his tribe and family, and they went out from there every man to his inheritance.

²⁵cIn those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

Paul Appeals to Caesar

¹Now three days after Festus had arrived in ithe province, he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea. ²And the chief priests and the principal men of the Jews jlaid out their case against Paul, and they urged him, ³asking as a favor against Paul1 that he summon him to Jerusalem—because kthey were planning an ambush to kill him on the way. ⁴Festus replied that Paul was being kept at Caesarea and that he himself intended to go there shortly. ⁵“So,” said he, “let the men of authority among you go down with me, and if there is anything wrong about the man, let them bring charges against him.”

⁶After he stayed among them not more than eight or ten days, he went down to Caesarea. And the next day he took his seat on lthe tribunal and ordered Paul to be brought. ⁷When he had arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges against him mthat they could not prove. ⁸Paul argued in his defense, “Neither nagainst othe law of the Jews, nor against the temple, nor pagainst Caesar have I committed any offense.” ⁹But Festus, qwishing to do the Jews a favor, said to Paul, “Do you wish to go up to Jerusalem and there be tried on these charges before me?” ¹⁰But Paul said, “I am standing before Caesar's rtribunal, where I ought to be tried. To the Jews I have done no wrong, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. sI appeal to Caesar.” ¹²Then Festus, when he had conferred with his council, answered, “To Caesar you have appealed; to Caesar you shall go.”

Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice

¹³Now when some days had passed, Agrippa the king and Bernice arrived at Caesarea and greeted Festus. ¹⁴And as they stayed there many days, Festus laid Paul's case before the king, saying, t“There is a man left prisoner by Felix, ¹⁵and when I was at Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews laid out their case uagainst him, asking for a sentence of condemnation against him. ¹⁶vI answered them that it was not the custom of the Romans to give up anyone wbefore the accused met the accusers face to face and had opportunity to make his defense concerning the charge laid against him. ¹⁷xSo when they came together here, I made no delay, but on the next day took my seat on ythe tribunal and ordered the man to be brought. ¹⁸When the accusers stood up, they brought no charge in his case of such evils as I supposed. ¹⁹Rather they zhad certain points of dispute with him about their own religion and about aa certain Jesus, who was dead, but whom Paul asserted to be alive. ²⁰Being at a loss how to investigate these questions, I basked whether he wanted to go to Jerusalem and be tried there regarding them. ²¹But cwhen Paul had appealed to be kept in custody for the decision of dthe emperor, I ordered him to be held until I could send him to Caesar.” ²²Then eAgrippa said to Festus, “I would like to hear the man myself.” “Tomorrow,” said he, “you will hear him.”

²³So on the next day fAgrippa and Bernice came with great pomp, and they entered the audience hall with the military tribunes and the prominent men of the city. Then, at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. ²⁴And Festus said, “King Agrippa and all who are present with us, you see this man about whom gthe whole Jewish people petitioned me, both in Jerusalem and here, hshouting that he ought not to live any longer. ²⁵But I found that ihe had done nothing deserving death. And jas he himself appealed to kthe emperor, I decided to go ahead and send him. ²⁶But I have nothing definite to write to my lord about him. Therefore I have brought him before you all, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that, after we have examined him, I may have something to write. ²⁷For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.”

The Obedience of the Rechabites

¹The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the days of nJehoiakim the son of Josiah, king of Judah: ²“Go to the house of the oRechabites and speak with them and bring them to the house of the Lord, into one of pthe chambers; then offer them wine to drink.” ³So I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, son of Habazziniah and his brothers and all his sons and the whole house of the Rechabites. ⁴I brought them to the house of the Lord into pthe chamber of the sons of Hanan the son of Igdaliah, qthe man of God, which was near pthe chamber of the officials, above pthe chamber of rMaaseiah the son of Shallum, skeeper of the threshold. ⁵Then I set before the Rechabites pitchers full of wine, and cups, and I said to them, “Drink wine.” ⁶But they answered, “We will drink no wine, for tJonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, ‘You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons forever. ⁷You shall not build a house; you shall not sow seed; you shall not plant or have a vineyard; but you shall live in tents all your days, uthat you may live many days in the land where you sojourn.’ ⁸We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, ourselves, our wives, our sons, or our daughters, ⁹and not to build houses to dwell in. We have no vineyard or field or seed, ¹⁰but we have lived in tents and have obeyed and done all that Jonadab our father commanded us. ¹¹But vwhen Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, ‘Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of wthe army of the Chaldeans and wthe army of the Syrians.’ xSo we are living in Jerusalem.”

¹²Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: ¹³“Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, yWill you not receive instruction and listen to my words? declares the Lord. ¹⁴The command that Jonadab the son of Rechab gave to his sons, to drink no wine, has been kept, and they drink none to this day, for they have obeyed their father's command. I have spoken to you zpersistently, but you have not listened to me. ¹⁵I have sent to you all my servants the prophets, sending them zpersistently, saying, a‘Turn now every one of you from his evil way, and amend your deeds, and bdo not go after other gods to serve them, and then you shall dwell in the land that I gave to you and your fathers.’ cBut you did not incline your ear or listen to me. ¹⁶The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have kept the command that their father gave them, but this people has not obeyed me. ¹⁷Therefore, thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I am bringing upon Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the disaster that I have pronounced against them, dbecause I have spoken to them and they have not listened, dI have called to them and they have not answered.”

¹⁸But to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said, “Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father and kept all his precepts and done all that he commanded you, ¹⁹therefore thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Jonadab the son of Rechab shall never lack a man eto stand before me.”

Psalm 7

In You Do I Take Refuge

A lShiggaion1 of David, which he sang to the Lord concerning the words of Cush, a Benjaminite.

¹O Lord my God, in you do I mtake refuge;

nsave me from all my pursuers and deliver me,

²lest like oa lion they tear my soul apart,

rending it in pieces, with pnone to deliver.

³O Lord my God, qif I have done this,

if there is rwrong in my hands,

⁴if I have repaid smy friend2 with evil

or tplundered my enemy without cause,

⁵let the enemy pursue my soul and overtake it,

and let him utrample my life to the ground

and lay my glory in the dust. Selah

⁶vArise, O Lord, in your anger;

wlift yourself up against the fury of my enemies;

xawake for me; you have appointed a judgment.

⁷Let the assembly of the peoples be gathered about you;

over it return on high.

⁸The Lord yjudges the peoples;

zjudge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness

and according to the integrity that is in me.

⁹Oh, let the evil of the wicked come to an end,

and may you establish the righteous—

you who atest bthe minds and hearts,3

O righteous God!

¹⁰My shield is cwith God,

who saves dthe upright in heart.

¹¹God is ea righteous judge,

and a God who feels findignation every day.

¹²If a man4 does not repent, God5 will gwhet his sword;

he has hbent and ireadied his bow;

¹³he has prepared for him his deadly weapons,

making his jarrows kfiery shafts.

¹⁴Behold, the wicked man lconceives evil

and is lpregnant with mischief

and gives birth to lies.

¹⁵He makes ma pit, digging it out,

and falls into the hole that he has made.

¹⁶His nmischief returns upon his own head,

and on his own skull his violence descends.

¹⁷I will give to the Lord the thanks due to his righteousness,

and I will osing praise to the name of the Lord, the Most High.

Psalm 8

How Majestic Is Your Name

To the choirmaster: according to The pGittith.1 A Psalm of David.

¹O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your qname in all the earth!

You have set your rglory above the heavens.

²sOut of the mouth of babies and infants,

you have established tstrength because of your foes,

to still uthe enemy and the avenger.

³When I vlook at your heavens, the work of your wfingers,

the moon and the stars, xwhich you have set in place,

⁴ywhat is man that you are zmindful of him,

and athe son of man that you bcare for him?

⁵Yet you have made him a little lower than cthe heavenly beings2

and crowned him with dglory and honor.

⁶You have given him edominion over the works of your hands;

fyou have put all things under his feet,

⁷all sheep and oxen,

and also the beasts of the field,

⁸the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea,

whatever passes along the paths of the seas.

⁹O Lord, our Lord,

how majestic is your name in all the earth!