Day 193 reading

Wisdom·Psalm 107:17–25

¹⁷Fools, in their rebellious ways, and through their iniquities, suffered affliction. ¹⁸They loathed all food and drew near to the gates of death. ¹⁹Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and He saved them from their distress. ²⁰He sent forth His word and healed them; He rescued them from the Pit. ²¹Let them give thanks to the LORD for His loving devotion and His wonders to the sons of men. ²²Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving and declare His works with rejoicing. ²³Others went out to sea in ships, conducting trade on the mighty waters. ²⁴They saw the works of the LORD, and His wonders in the deep. ²⁵For He spoke and raised a tempest that lifted the waves of the sea.

New Testament·Acts 12

¹About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church. ²He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. ³And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. ⁴He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover. ⁵So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him. ⁶On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison. ⁷Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. ⁸“Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision. ¹⁰They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him. ¹¹Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.” ¹²And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. ¹³He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. ¹⁴When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!” ¹⁵“You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” ¹⁶But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astounded. ¹⁷Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place. ¹⁸At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there. ²⁰Now Herod was in a furious dispute with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they convened before him. Having secured the support of Blastus, the king’s chamberlain, they asked for peace, because their region depended on the king’s country for food. ²¹On the appointed day, Herod donned his royal robes, sat on his throne, and addressed the people. ²²And they began to shout, “This is the voice of a god, not a man!” ²³Immediately, because Herod did not give glory to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. ²⁴But the word of God continued to spread and multiply. ²⁵When Barnabas and Saul had fulfilled their mission to Jerusalem, they returned, bringing with them John, also called Mark.

Old Testament·1 Chronicles 4–5

¹The descendants of Judah: Perez, Hezron, Carmi, Hur, and Shobal. ²Reaiah son of Shobal was the father of Jahath, and Jahath was the father of Ahumai and Lahad. These were the clans of the Zorathites. ³These were the sons of Etam: Jezreel, Ishma, and Idbash. And their sister was named Hazzelelponi. ⁴Penuel was the father of Gedor, and Ezer was the father of Hushah. These were the descendants of Hur, the firstborn of Ephrathah and the father of Bethlehem. ⁵Ashhur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah. ⁶Naarah bore to him Ahuzzam, Hepher, Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the descendants of Naarah. ⁷The sons of Helah were Zereth, Zohar, Ethnan, ⁸and Koz, who was the father of Anub and Zobebah and of the clans of Aharhel son of Harum. ⁹Now Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” ¹⁰And Jabez called out to the God of Israel, “If only You would bless me and enlarge my territory! May Your hand be with me and keep me from harm, so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted the request of Jabez. ¹¹Chelub the brother of Shuhah was the father of Mehir, who was the father of Eshton. ¹²Eshton was the father of Beth-rapha, of Paseah, and of Tehinnah the father of Ir-nahash. These were the men of Recah. ¹³The sons of Kenaz: Othniel and Seraiah. The sons of Othniel: Hathath and Meonothai. ¹⁴Meonothai was the father of Ophrah, and Seraiah was the father of Joab, the father of those living in Ge-harashim, which was given this name because its people were craftsmen. ¹⁵The sons of Caleb son of Jephunneh: Iru, Elah, and Naam. The son of Elah: Kenaz. ¹⁶The sons of Jehallelel: Ziph, Ziphah, Tiria, and Asarel. ¹⁷The sons of Ezrah: Jether, Mered, Epher, and Jalon. And Mered’s wife Bithiah gave birth to Miriam, Shammai, and Ishbah the father of Eshtemoa. ¹⁸These were the children of Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah. Mered also took a Judean wife, who gave birth to Jered the father of Gedor, Heber the father of Soco, and Jekuthiel the father of Zanoah. ¹⁹The sons of Hodiah’s wife, the sister of Naham, were the fathers of Keilah the Garmite and of Eshtemoa the Maacathite. ²⁰The sons of Shimon: Amnon, Rinnah, Ben-hanan, and Tilon. The descendants of Ishi: Zoheth and Ben-zoheth. ²¹The sons of Shelah son of Judah: Er the father of Lecah, Laadah the father of Mareshah and the clans of the linen workers at Beth-ashbea, ²²Jokim, the men of Cozeba, and Joash and Saraph, who ruled in Moab and Jashubi-lehem. (These names are from ancient records.) ²³These were the potters who lived at Netaim and Gederah. They lived there in the service of the king. ²⁴The descendants of Simeon: Nemuel, Jamin, Jarib, Zerah, and Shaul. ²⁵The sons of Shaul: Shallum, Mibsam, and Mishma. ²⁶The sons of Mishma: Hammuel, Zaccur, and Shimei. ²⁷Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children, so their whole clan did not become as numerous as the sons of Judah. ²⁸They lived in Beersheba, Moladah, Hazar-shual, ²⁹Bilhah, Ezem, Tolad, ³⁰Bethuel, Hormah, Ziklag, ³¹Beth-marcaboth, Hazar-susim, Beth-biri, and Shaaraim. These were their cities until the reign of David. ³²And their villages were Etam, Ain, Rimmon, Tochen, and Ashan—five towns— ³³and all their surrounding villages as far as Baal. These were their settlements, and they kept a genealogical record: ³⁴Meshobab, Jamlech, Joshah son of Amaziah, ³⁵Joel, Jehu son of Joshibiah (son of Seraiah, son of Asiel), ³⁶Elioenai, Jaakobah, Jeshohaiah, Asaiah, Adiel, Jesimiel, Benaiah, ³⁷and Ziza son of Shiphi (son of Allon, son of Jedaiah, son of Shimri, son of Shemaiah). ³⁸These men listed by name were the leaders of their clans. Their families increased greatly, ³⁹and they journeyed to the entrance of Gedor, to the east side of the valley, in search of pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰There they found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful, and quiet; for some Hamites had lived there formerly. ⁴¹These who were noted by name came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites and Meunites there in their dwellings, devoting them to destruction even to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks. ⁴²And five hundred of these Simeonites led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah, and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, went to Mount Seir ⁴³and struck down the remnant of the Amalekites who had escaped. And they have lived there to this day.

5These were the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel. Though he was the firstborn, his birthright was given to the sons of Joseph son of Israel, because Reuben defiled his father’s bed. So he is not reckoned according to birthright. ²And though Judah prevailed over his brothers and a ruler came from him, the birthright belonged to Joseph. ³The sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel: Hanoch, Pallu, Hezron, and Carmi. ⁴The descendants of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son, ⁵Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son, ⁶and Beerah his son, whom Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria carried into exile. Beerah was a leader of the Reubenites. ⁷His relatives by their clans are recorded in their genealogy: Jeiel the chief, Zechariah, ⁸and Bela son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel. They settled in Aroer and as far as Nebo and Baal-meon. ⁹They also settled in the east as far as the edge of the desert that extends to the Euphrates River, because their livestock had increased in the land of Gilead. ¹⁰During the days of Saul they waged war against the Hagrites, who were defeated at their hands, and they occupied the homes of the Hagrites throughout the region east of Gilead. ¹¹The descendants of Gad lived next to the Reubenites in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah: ¹²Joel was the chief, Shapham the second, then Jaanai and Shaphat, who lived in Bashan. ¹³Their kinsmen by families were Michael, Meshullam, Sheba, Jorai, Jacan, Zia, and Eber—seven in all. ¹⁴These were the sons of Abihail son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz. ¹⁵Ahi son of Abdiel, the son of Guni, was head of their family. ¹⁶They lived in Gilead, in Bashan and its towns, and throughout the pasturelands of Sharon. ¹⁷All of them were reckoned in the genealogies during the reigns of Jotham king of Judah and Jeroboam king of Israel. ¹⁸The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 warriors—valiant men who carried the shield and sword, drew the bow, and were trained for battle. ¹⁹They waged war against the Hagrites, as well as Jetur, Naphish, and Nodab. ²⁰And because they cried out to God in battle, they were helped against their enemies, and the Hagrites and all their allies were delivered into their hands. Because they put their trust in God, He answered their prayers. ²¹They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—50,000 camels, 250,000 sheep, and 2,000 donkeys. They also took 100,000 captives, ²²and many others fell slain, because the battle belonged to God. And they occupied the land until the exile. ²³Now the people of the half-tribe of Manasseh were numerous. They settled in the land from Bashan to Baal-hermon (that is, Senir, also known as Mount Hermon). ²⁴These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah, and Jahdiel. They were mighty men of valor, famous men, and heads of their families. ²⁵But they were unfaithful to the God of their fathers, and they prostituted themselves with the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria) to take the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. And he brought them to Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river of Gozan, where they remain to this day.