1 Chronicles 9

A Genealogy of the Returned Exiles

¹So all Israel was recorded in genealogies, and these are written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. And sJudah was taken into exile in Babylon because of their breach of faith. ²tNow the first to udwell again in their possessions in their cities were Israel, the priests, the Levites, and the vtemple servants. ³And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: ⁴Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of wPerez the son of Judah. ⁵And of the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn, and his sons. ⁶Of the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their kinsmen, 690. ⁷Of the Benjaminites: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, son of Hassenuah, ⁸Ibneiah the son of Jeroham, Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri, and Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; ⁹and their kinsmen according to their generations, x956. All these were heads of fathers' houses according yto their fathers' houses.

¹⁰zOf the priests: Jedaiah, Jehoiarib, Jachin, ¹¹and Azariah the son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the achief officer of the house of God; ¹²and Adaiah the son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malchijah, and Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; ¹³besides their kinsmen, heads of their fathers' houses, 1,760, mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.

¹⁴bOf the Levites: Shemaiah the son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, of the sons of Merari; ¹⁵and Bakbakkar, Heresh, Galal and Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zichri, son of Asaph; ¹⁶and Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun, and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of the Netophathites.

¹⁷The gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their kinsmen (Shallum was the chief); ¹⁸until then they were cin the king's gate on the east side as the gatekeepers of the camps of the Levites. ¹⁹Shallum the son of Kore, son of dEbiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of his fathers' house, the eKorahites, were in charge of the work of the service, keepers of the thresholds of the tent, as their fathers had been in charge of the camp of the Lord, keepers of the entrance. ²⁰And fPhinehas the son of Eleazar was the chief officer over them in time past; the Lord was with him. ²¹gZechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the entrance of the tent of meeting. ²²All these, who were chosen as gatekeepers at the thresholds, were 212. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. hDavid and Samuel ithe seer established them in their office of trust. ²³So they and their sons were in charge of the gates of the house of the Lord, that is, the house of the tent, as guards. ²⁴The gatekeepers were on the four sides, east, west, north, and south. ²⁵And their kinsmen who were jin their villages were obligated to come kin every seven days, in turn, to be with these, ²⁶for the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted to be over lthe chambers and the treasures of the house of God. ²⁷And they lodged around the house of God, for on them lay the duty of watching, and mthey had charge of opening it every morning.

²⁸Some of them had charge of the utensils of service, for they were required to count them when they were brought in and taken out. ²⁹Others of them were appointed over the furniture and over all the holy utensils, also over the nfine flour, the wine, the oil, the incense, and the spices. ³⁰Others, of the sons of the priests, oprepared the mixing of the spices, ³¹and Mattithiah, one of the Levites, the firstborn of pShallum the eKorahite, was entrusted with qmaking the flat cakes. ³²Also some of their kinsmen of the Kohathites had rcharge of the showbread, to prepare it every Sabbath.

³³Now these, the ssingers, the heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, were in the chambers of the temple free from other service, for they were on duty day and night. ³⁴These were heads of fathers' houses of the Levites, according to their generations, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem.

Saul's Genealogy Repeated

³⁵tIn Gibeon lived the father of Gibeon, Jeiel, and the name of his wife was Maacah, ³⁶and his firstborn son Abdon, then Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, ³⁷Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth; ³⁸and Mikloth was the father of Shimeam; and these also lived opposite their kinsmen in Jerusalem, with their kinsmen. ³⁹uNer fathered Kish, Kish fathered Saul, Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. ⁴⁰And the son of Jonathan was vMerib-baal, and Merib-baal fathered Micah. ⁴¹The sons of Micah: Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and wAhaz.1 ⁴²And Ahaz fathered xJarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza. ⁴³Moza fathered Binea, and yRephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. ⁴⁴Azel had six sons and these are their names: Azrikam, Bocheru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan; these were the sons of Azel.

1 Chronicles 10

The Death of Saul and His Sons

¹zNow the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa. ²And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul. ³The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was wounded by the archers. ⁴Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it. ⁵And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died. ⁶Thus Saul died; he and his three sons and all his house died together. ⁷And when all the men of Israel who were in the valley saw that the army1 had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled, and the Philistines came and lived in them.

⁸The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. ⁹And they stripped him and took his head and his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to the people. ¹⁰And they put his armor in the temple of their gods and fastened his head in the temple of Dagon. ¹¹But when all Jabesh-gilead heard all that the Philistines had done to Saul, ¹²all the valiant men arose and took away the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons, and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

¹³So Saul died afor his breach of faith. He broke faith with the Lord in that he did not keep the command of the Lord, and also bconsulted a medium, seeking guidance. ¹⁴He cdid not seek guidance from the Lord. Therefore the Lord put him to death and dturned the kingdom over to David the son of Jesse.

Jesus, Founder and Perfecter of Our Faith

¹Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and wsin which clings so closely, and xlet us run ywith endurance the race that is zset before us, ²looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, awho for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising bthe shame, and cis seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do Not Grow Weary

³dConsider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or efainthearted. ⁴In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

f“My son, gdo not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

⁶For hthe Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷It is for discipline that you have to endure. iGod is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? ⁸If you are left without discipline, jin which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. ⁹Besides this, we have had earthly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to kthe Father of spirits land live? ¹⁰For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, mthat we may share his holiness. ¹¹nFor the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields othe peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

¹²Therefore plift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, ¹³and qmake straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint rbut rather be healed. ¹⁴sStrive for peace with everyone, and for the tholiness uwithout which no one will see the Lord. ¹⁵See to it that no one vfails to obtain the grace of God; that no w“root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; ¹⁶that no one is xsexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. ¹⁷For you know that yafterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.

A Kingdom That Cannot Be Shaken

¹⁸For you have not come to zwhat may be touched, a blazing fire and darkness and gloom and a tempest ¹⁹and athe sound of a trumpet and a voice whose words bmade the hearers beg that no further messages be spoken to them. ²⁰For they could not endure the order that was given, c“If even a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned.” ²¹Indeed, dso terrifying was the sight that Moses said, “I tremble with fear.” ²²But you have come to eMount Zion and to the city of the living God, fthe heavenly Jerusalem, and to ginnumerable angels in festal gathering, ²³and to hthe assembly1 of the firstborn who are ienrolled in heaven, and to jGod, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, ²⁴and to Jesus, kthe mediator of a new covenant, and to lthe sprinkled blood mthat speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

²⁵See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For nif they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven. ²⁶At that time ohis voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, p“Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” ²⁷This phrase, “Yet once more,” indicates qthe removal of things that are shaken—that is, things that have been made—in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. ²⁸Therefore let us be grateful for receiving ra kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus slet us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, ²⁹for our tGod is a consuming fire.

Woe to Those at Ease in Zion

¹w“Woe to those who are at ease in Zion,

and to those who feel secure on xthe mountain of Samaria,

ythe notable men of zthe first of the nations,

to whom the house of Israel comes!

²Pass over to aCalneh, and see,

and from there go to bHamath the great;

then go down to cGath of the Philistines.

dAre you better than these kingdoms?

Or is their territory greater than your territory,

³eO you who put far away the day of disaster

fand bring near the seat of violence?

⁴“Woe to those gwho lie on hbeds of ivory

gand stretch themselves out on their couches,

and eat lambs from the flock

iand calves from the midst of the stall,

⁵jwho sing idle songs to the sound of the harp

and like David jinvent for themselves instruments of music,

⁶kwho drink wine in bowls

and lanoint themselves with the finest oils,

but are not grieved over the ruin of Joseph!

⁷mTherefore they shall now be the first of those who go into exile,

and the revelry of those who stretch themselves out shall pass away.”

⁸nThe Lord God has sworn by himself, declares the Lord, the God of hosts:

“I abhor othe pride of Jacob

and hate his strongholds,

pand I will deliver up the city and all that is in it.”

⁹And qif ten men remain in one house, they shall die. ¹⁰And when one's relative, rthe one who anoints him for burial, shall take him up to bring the bones out of the house, and shall say to him who is in the innermost parts of the house, “Is there still anyone with you?” he shall say, “No”; and he shall say, s“Silence! We must not mention the name of the Lord.”

¹¹For behold, the Lord commands,

and tthe great house shall be struck down into fragments,

and the little house into bits.

¹²Do horses run on rocks?

Does one plow there1 with oxen?

uBut you have turned justice into vpoison

uand the fruit of righteousness into wormwood2—

¹³you who rejoice in Lo-debar,3

who say, w“Have we not by our own strength

captured Karnaim4 for ourselves?”

¹⁴“For behold, xI will raise up against you a nation,

O house of Israel,” declares the Lord, the God of hosts;

“and they shall oppress you from yLebo-hamath

to the Brook of zthe Arabah.”

Mary Visits Elizabeth

³⁹In those days Mary arose and went with haste into rthe hill country, to a town in Judah, ⁴⁰and she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. ⁴¹And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the baby leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth swas filled with the Holy Spirit, ⁴²and she exclaimed with a loud cry, t“Blessed are you among women, and ublessed is vthe fruit of your womb! ⁴³And why is this granted to me that the mother of wmy Lord should come to me? ⁴⁴For behold, when the sound of your greeting came to my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. ⁴⁵And xblessed is she who believed that there would be7 a fulfillment of what was spoken to her from the Lord.”

Mary's Song of Praise: The Magnificat

⁴⁶And Mary said,

y“My zsoul amagnifies the Lord,

⁴⁷band my zspirit rejoices in cGod my Savior,

⁴⁸for dhe has looked on the humble estate of his servant.

For behold, from now on all generations ewill call me blessed;

⁴⁹for fhe who is mighty ghas done great things for me,

and hholy is his name.

⁵⁰And ihis mercy is for those who fear him

from generation to generation.

⁵¹jHe has shown strength with his arm;

khe has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts;

⁵²jhe has brought down the mighty from their thrones

land exalted those of humble estate;

⁵³he has filled mthe hungry with good things,

and the rich nhe has sent away empty.

⁵⁴He has ohelped phis servant Israel,

qin remembrance of his mercy,

⁵⁵ras he spoke to our fathers,

qto Abraham and to his offspring forever.”

⁵⁶And Mary remained with her about three months and returned to her home.

The Birth of John the Baptist

⁵⁷Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. ⁵⁸And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord shad shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. ⁵⁹And ton the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his father, ⁶⁰but his mother answered, “No; uhe shall be called John.” ⁶¹And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” ⁶²And vthey made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. ⁶³And he asked for wa writing tablet and wrote, u“His name is John.” And they all wondered. ⁶⁴xAnd immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue yloosed, and he spoke, zblessing God. ⁶⁵And afear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all bthe hill country of Judea, ⁶⁶and all who heard them claid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For dthe hand of the Lord was with him.

Zechariah's Prophecy

⁶⁷And his father Zechariah ewas filled with the Holy Spirit and fprophesied, saying,

⁶⁸g“Blessed be the Lord hGod of Israel,

for he has ivisited and jredeemed his people

⁶⁹and khas raised up la horn of salvation for us

min the house of his servant David,

⁷⁰nas ohe spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old,

⁷¹pthat we should be saved from our enemies

and from the hand of all who hate us;

⁷²qto show the mercy promised to our fathers

and rto remember his holy scovenant,

⁷³tthe oath that he swore to our father Abraham, to grant us

⁷⁴that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies,

might serve him uwithout fear,

⁷⁵vin holiness and righteousness before him wall our days.

⁷⁶And you, child, will be called xthe prophet of ythe Most High;

for zyou will go before the Lord to prepare his ways,

⁷⁷to give knowledge of salvation to his people

ain the forgiveness of their sins,

⁷⁸because of the btender mercy of our God,

whereby cthe sunrise shall dvisit us8 efrom on high

⁷⁹to fgive light to gthose who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death,

to guide our feet into hthe way of ipeace.”

⁸⁰jAnd the child grew and became strong in spirit, and he was kin the wilderness until the day of his public appearance to Israel.