Through the Bible – Day 141

_1-4King David ruled from Hebron for seven years and six months, and during that time he had six sons, who were born in the following order: Amnon, Daniel, Absalom, Adonijah, Shephatiah, and Ithream. Ahinoam from Jezreel was the mother of Amnon; Abigail from Carmel was the mother of Daniel; Maacah daughter of King Talmai of Geshur was the mother of Absalom; Haggith was the mother of Adonijah; Abital was the mother of Shephatiah; and Eglah was the mother of Ithream.

David then ruled from Jerusalem for thirty-three years, ₅and during that time, he had thirteen more sons. His wife Bathsheba daughter of Ammiel gave birth to Shimea, Shobab, Nathan, and Solomon. _6-8David's other sons included Ibhar, Elishua, Eliphelet, Nogah, Nepheg, Japhia, Elishama, Eliada, and Eliphelet. ₉David's other wives also gave birth to sons. Tamar was his daughter.

_10-15Solomon's descendants included the following kings: Rehoboam, Abijah, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Jehoram, Ahaziah, Joash, Amaziah, Azariah, Jotham, Ahaz, Hezekiah, Manasseh, Amon, and Josiah and his four sons, Johanan, Jehoiakim, Zedekiah, and Jehoahaz. ₁₆Jehoiakim was the father of Jehoiachin and Zedekiah.

₁₇Jehoiachin, who was taken to Babylon as a prisoner, had seven sons: Shealtiel, ₁₈Malchiram, Pedaiah, Shenazzar, Jekamiah, Hoshama, and Nedabiah. ₁₉Pedaiah had two sons: Zerubbabel and Shimei. Zerubbabel was the father of Meshullam, Hananiah, and Shelomith their sister. ₂₀He also had five other sons: Hashubah, Ohel, Berechiah, Hasadiah, and Jushabhesed. ₂₁Hananiah's descendants were Pelatiah, Jeshaiah, Rephaiah, Arnan, Obadiah, and Shecaniah, ₂₂the father of Shemaiah and the grandfather of Hattush, Igal, Bariah, Neariah, and Shaphat. ₂₃Neariah was the father of Elioenai, Hizkiah, and Azrikam. ₂₄Elioenai was the father of Hodaviah, Eliashib, Pelaiah, Akkub, Johanan, Delaiah, and Anani.

₁Judah was the father of five sons: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ₂Shobal was the father of Reaiah, the grandfather of Jahath, and the great-grandfather of Ahumai and Lahad. These men all belonged to the Zorathite clan.

_3-4Hur was the eldest son of Caleb and Ephrath. Some of his descendants settled the town of Bethlehem. Hur's other descendants included Etam, Penuel, and Ezer. Etam's sons were Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash, and his daughter was Hazzelelponi. Penuel settled the town of Gedor, and Ezer settled the town of Hushah.

₅Ashhur, who settled the town of Tekoa, had two wives: Helah and Naarah. ₆Ashhur and Naarah were the parents of Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. ₇Ashhur and Helah were the parents of Zereth, Izhar, and Ethnan.

₈Koz, the father of Anub and Zobebah, was also the ancestor of the clans of Aharhel, the son of Harum.

₉Jabez was a man who got his name because of the pain he caused his mother during birth. But he was still the most respected son in his family. ₁₀One day he prayed to Israel's God, “Please bless me and give me a lot of land. Be with me so I will be safe from harm.” And God did just what Jabez had asked.

₁₁Chelub was the brother of Shuhah and the father of Mehir. Later, Mehir had a son, Eshton, ₁₂whose three sons were Bethrapha, Paseah, and Tehinnah. It was Tehinnah who settled the town of Nahash. These men and their families lived in the town of Recah.

₁₃Kenaz was the father of Othniel and Seraiah. Othniel had two sons: Hathath and Meonothai, ₁₄who was the father of Ophrah. Seraiah was the father of Joab, who settled a place called “Valley of Crafts” because the people who lived there were experts in making things.

₁₅Caleb son of Jephunneh had three sons: Iru, Elah, and Naam. Elah was the father of Kenaz.

₁₆Jehallelel was the father of Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel.

_17-18Ezrah was the father of Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. Mered was married to Bithiah the daughter of the king of Egypt. They had a daughter named Miriam and two sons: Shammai and Ishbah. It was Ishbah who settled the town of Eshtemoa. Mered was also married to a woman from the tribe of Judah, and their sons were Jered, Heber, and Jekuthiel. Jered settled the town of Gedor; Heber settled the town of Soco; and Jekuthiel settled the town of Zanoah.

₁₉A man named Hodiah was married to the sister of Naham. Hodiah's descendants included Keilah of the Garmite clan and Eshtemoa of the Maacathite clan.

₂₀Shimon was the father of Amnon, Rinnah, Benhanan, and Tilon.

Ishi was the father of Zoheth and Benzoheth.

_21-22Judah also had a son named Shelah, whose descendants included Jokim and the people of the town of Cozeba, as well as Er who settled the town of Lecah and Laadah who settled the town of Mareshah. The people who lived in Beth-Ashbea were also descendants of Shelah, and they were experts in weaving cloth. Shelah was the ancestor of Joash and Saraph, two men who married Moabite women and then settled near Bethlehem—but these family records are very old. ₂₃The members of these clans were the potters who lived in the towns of Netaim and Gederah and worked for the king.

₂₄Simeon had five sons: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. ₂₅The descendants of Shaul included his son Shallum, his grandson Mibsam, and his great-grandson Mishma. ₂₆The descendants of Mishma included his son Hammuel, his grandson Zaccur, and his great-grandson Shimei. ₂₇Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters. But his brothers did not have as many children, so the Simeon tribe was smaller than the Judah tribe.

_28-31Before David became king, the people of the Simeon tribe lived in the following towns: Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-Shual, Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, Beth-Marcaboth, Hazarsusim, Bethbiri, and Shaaraim. ₃₂They also lived in the five villages of Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan, ₃₃as well as in the nearby villages as far as the town of Baal. These are the places where Simeon's descendants had settled, according to their own family records.

_34-38As their families and clans became larger, the people of Simeon had the following leaders: Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, Joel, Jehu, Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, and Ziza. ₃₉When the people needed more pasture land for their flocks and herds, they looked as far as the eastern side of the valley where the town of Gerar is, ₄₀and they found a lot of good pasture land that was quiet and undisturbed. This had once belonged to the Hamites, ₄₁but when Hezekiah was king of Judah, the descendants of Simeon attacked and forced the Hamites and Meunites off the land, then settled there.

₄₂Some time later, five hundred men from the Simeon tribe went into Edom under the command of Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel the sons of Ishi. ₄₃They killed the last of the Amalekites and lived there from then on.

₁Reuben was the eldest son of Jacob, but he lost his rights as the firstborn son because he slept with one of his father's wives. The honour of the firstborn son was then given to Joseph, ₂even though it was the Judah tribe that became the most powerful and produced a leader.

₃Reuben had four sons: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi.

_4-6The descendants of Joel included Shemaiah, Gog, Shimei, Micah, Reaiah, Baal, and Beerah, a leader of the Reuben tribe. Later, King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria took Beerah away as prisoner.

_7-8The family records also include Jeiel, who was a clan leader, Zechariah, and Bela son of Azaz and grandson of Shema of the Joel clan. They lived in the territory around the town of Aroer, as far north as Nebo and Baal-Meon, ₉and as far east as the desert just west of the River Euphrates. They needed this much land because they owned too many cattle to keep them all in Gilead.

₁₀When Saul was king, the Reuben tribe attacked and defeated the Hagrites, then took over their land east of Gilead.

₁₁The tribe of Gad lived in the region of Bashan, north of the Reuben tribe. Gad's territory extended all the way to the town of Salecah. ₁₂Some of the clan leaders were Joel, Shapham, Janai, and Shaphat. ₁₃Their relatives included Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber.

₁₄They were all descendants of Abihail, whose family line went back through Huri, Jaroah, Gilead, Michael, Jeshishai, Jahdo, and Buz. ₁₅Ahi, the son of Abdiel and the grandson of Guni, was the leader of their clan.

₁₆The people of Gad lived in the towns in the regions of Bashan and Gilead, as well as in the pasture land of Sharon. ₁₇Their family records were written when Jotham was king of Judah and Jeroboam was king of Israel.

₁₈The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh had 44,760 soldiers trained to fight in battle with shields, swords, bows, and arrows. ₁₉They fought against the Hagrites and the tribes of Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ₂₀Whenever these soldiers went to war against their enemies, they prayed to God and trusted him to help. That's why the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh defeated the Hagrites and their allies. ₂₁These Israelite tribes captured fifty thousand camels, two hundred and fifty thousand sheep, two thousand donkeys, and one hundred thousand people. ₂₂Many of the Hagrites died in battle, because God was fighting this battle against them. The tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh lived in that territory until they were taken as prisoners to Assyria.

₂₃East Manasseh was a large tribe, so its people settled in the northern region of Bashan, as far north as Baal-Hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon. ₂₄Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel were their clan leaders; they were well known leaders and brave soldiers.

₂₅The people of the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and East Manasseh were unfaithful to the God their ancestors had worshipped, and they started worshipping the gods of the nations that God had forced out of Canaan. ₂₆So God sent King Tiglath Pileser of Assyria to attack these Israelite tribes. The king led them away as prisoners to Assyria, and from then on, he forced them to live in Halah, Habor, Hara, and near the River Gozan.

₆₀Many of Jesus' disciples heard him and said, “This is too hard for anyone to understand.”

₆₁Jesus knew that his disciples were grumbling. So he asked, “Does this bother you? ₆₂What if you should see the Son of Man go up to heaven where he came from? ₆₃The Spirit is the one who gives life! Human strength can do nothing. The words that I have spoken to you are from that life-giving Spirit. ₆₄But some of you refuse to have faith in me.” Jesus said this, because from the beginning he knew who would have faith in him. He also knew which one would betray him.

₆₅Then Jesus said, “You cannot come to me, unless the Father makes you want to come. That is why I have told these things to all of you.”

₆₆Because of what Jesus said, many of his disciples turned their backs on him and stopped following him. ₆₇Jesus then asked his twelve disciples if they were going to leave him. ₆₈Simon Peter answered, “Lord, there is no one else that we can go to! Your words give eternal life. ₆₉We have faith in you, and we are sure that you are God's Holy One.”

₇₀Jesus told his disciples, “I chose all twelve of you, but one of you is a demon!” ₇₁Jesus was talking about Judas, the son of Simon Iscariot. He would later betray Jesus, even though he was one of the twelve disciples.

₁Jesus decided to leave Judea and to start going through Galilee because the Jewish leaders wanted to kill him. ₂It was almost time for the Festival of Shelters, ₃and Jesus' brothers said to him, “Why don't you go to Judea? Then your disciples can see what you are doing. ₄No one does anything in secret, if they want others to know about them. So let the world know what you are doing!” ₅Even Jesus' own brothers had not yet become his followers.

₆Jesus answered, “My time hasn't yet come, but your time is always here. ₇The people of this world cannot hate you. They hate me, because I tell them that they do evil things. ₈Go on to the festival. My time hasn't yet come, and I am not going.” ₉Jesus said this and stayed on in Galilee.

₁₀After Jesus' brothers had gone to the festival, he went secretly, without telling anyone.

₁₁During the festival the Jewish leaders looked for Jesus and asked, “Where is he?” ₁₂The crowds even got into an argument about him. Some were saying, “Jesus is a good man,” while others were saying, “He is lying to everyone.” ₁₃But the people were afraid of their leaders, and none of them talked in public about him.

₁₄When the festival was about half over, Jesus went into the temple and started teaching. ₁₅The leaders were surprised and said, “How does this man know so much? He has never been taught!”

₁₆Jesus replied:

₂₀The crowd replied, “You're mad! What makes you think someone wants to kill you?”

₂₁Jesus answered:

₂₅Some of the people from Jerusalem were saying, “Isn't this the man they want to kill? ₂₆Yet here he is, speaking for everyone to hear. And no one is arguing with him. Do you suppose the authorities know that he is the Messiah? ₂₇But how could that be? No one knows where the Messiah will come from, but we know where this man comes from.”

₂₈As Jesus was teaching in the temple, he shouted, “Do you really think you know me and where I came from? I didn't come on my own! The one who sent me is truthful, and you don't know him. ₂₉But I know the one who sent me, because I came from him.”

₃₀Some of the people wanted to arrest Jesus there and then. But no one even laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. ₃₁A lot of people in the crowd put their faith in him and said, “When the Messiah comes, he won't perform more miracles than this man has done!”