Other Clans of Judah

4 The descendants of Judah:^(A)

⁹ Jabez was more honorable than his brothers. His mother had named him Jabez,^[c] saying, “I gave birth to him in pain.” ¹⁰ Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” And God granted his request.

Simeon^(L)

²⁷ Shimei had sixteen sons and six daughters, but his brothers did not have many children; so their entire clan did not become as numerous as the people of Judah. ²⁸ They lived in Beersheba,^(O) Moladah,^(P) Hazar Shual, ²⁹ Bilhah, Ezem,^(Q) Tolad, ³⁰ Bethuel, Hormah,^(R) Ziklag,^{(S) 31} Beth Markaboth, Hazar Susim, Beth Biri and Shaaraim.^(T) These were their towns until the reign of David. ³² Their surrounding villages were Etam, Ain,^(U) Rimmon, Token and Ashan^(V)—five towns— ³³ and all the villages around these towns as far as Baalath.^[g] These were their settlements. And they kept a genealogical record.

³⁸ The men listed above by name were leaders of their clans. Their families increased greatly, ³⁹ and they went to the outskirts of Gedor^(W) to the east of the valley in search of pasture for their flocks. ⁴⁰ They found rich, good pasture, and the land was spacious, peaceful and quiet.^(X) Some Hamites had lived there formerly.

⁴¹ The men whose names were listed came in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah. They attacked the Hamites in their dwellings and also the Meunites^(Y) who were there and completely destroyed^[h] them, as is evident to this day. Then they settled in their place, because there was pasture for their flocks. ⁴² And five hundred of these Simeonites, led by Pelatiah, Neariah, Rephaiah and Uzziel, the sons of Ishi, invaded the hill country of Seir.^{(Z) 43} They killed the remaining Amalekites^(AA) who had escaped, and they have lived there to this day.

Reuben

5 The sons of Reuben^(AB) the firstborn of Israel (he was the firstborn, but when he defiled his father’s marriage bed,^(AC) his rights as firstborn were given to the sons of Joseph^(AD) son of Israel;^(AE) so he could not be listed in the genealogical record in accordance with his birthright,^{(AF) 2} and though Judah^(AG) was the strongest of his brothers and a ruler^(AH) came from him, the rights of the firstborn^(AI) belonged to Joseph)— ³ the sons of Reuben^(AJ) the firstborn of Israel:

Gad

¹⁷ All these were entered in the genealogical records during the reigns of Jotham^(AW) king of Judah and Jeroboam^(AX) king of Israel.

¹⁸ The Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh had 44,760 men ready for military service^(AY)—able-bodied men who could handle shield and sword, who could use a bow, and who were trained for battle. ¹⁹ They waged war against the Hagrites, Jetur,^(AZ) Naphish and Nodab. ²⁰ They were helped^(BA) in fighting them, and God delivered the Hagrites and all their allies into their hands, because they cried^(BB) out to him during the battle. He answered their prayers, because they trusted^(BC) in him. ²¹ They seized the livestock of the Hagrites—fifty thousand camels, two hundred fifty thousand sheep and two thousand donkeys. They also took one hundred thousand people captive, ²² and many others fell slain, because the battle^(BD) was God’s. And they occupied the land until the exile.^(BE)

The Half-Tribe of Manasseh

²³ The people of the half-tribe of Manasseh^(BF) were numerous; they settled in the land from Bashan to Baal Hermon, that is, to Senir (Mount Hermon).^(BG)

²⁴ These were the heads of their families: Epher, Ishi, Eliel, Azriel, Jeremiah, Hodaviah and Jahdiel. They were brave warriors, famous men, and heads of their families. ²⁵ But they were unfaithful^(BH) to the God of their ancestors and prostituted^(BI) themselves to the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God had destroyed before them. ²⁶ So the God of Israel stirred up the spirit^(BJ) of Pul^(BK) king of Assyria (that is, Tiglath-Pileser^(BL) king of Assyria), who took the Reubenites, the Gadites and the half-tribe of Manasseh into exile. He took them to Halah,^(BM) Habor, Hara and the river of Gozan, where they are to this day.

Paul Sails for Rome

27 When it was decided that we^(A) would sail for Italy,^(B) Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment.^{(C) 2} We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia,^(D) and we put out to sea. Aristarchus,^(E) a Macedonian^(F) from Thessalonica,^(G) was with us.

³ The next day we landed at Sidon;^(H) and Julius, in kindness to Paul,^(I) allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.^{(J) 4} From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us.^{(K) 5} When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia^(L) and Pamphylia,^(M) we landed at Myra in Lycia. ⁶ There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship^(N) sailing for Italy^(O) and put us on board. ⁷ We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course,^(P) we sailed to the lee of Crete,^(Q) opposite Salmone. ⁸ We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.

⁹ Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Day of Atonement.^[a](R) So Paul warned them, ¹⁰ “Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also.”^{(S) 11} But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. ¹² Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete,^(T) facing both southwest and northwest.

The Storm

¹³ When a gentle south wind began to blow, they saw their opportunity; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. ¹⁴ Before very long, a wind of hurricane force,^(U) called the Northeaster, swept down from the island. ¹⁵ The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. ¹⁶ As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat^(V) secure, ¹⁷ so the men hoisted it aboard. Then they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Because they were afraid they would run aground^(W) on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor^[b] and let the ship be driven along. ¹⁸ We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard.^{(X) 19} On the third day, they threw the ship’s tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰ When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

²¹ After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice^(Y) not to sail from Crete;^(Z) then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²² But now I urge you to keep up your courage,^(AA) because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³ Last night an angel^(AB) of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve^(AC) stood beside me^{(AD) 24} and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar;^(AE) and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.’^{(AF) 25} So keep up your courage,^(AG) men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me.^{(AH) 26} Nevertheless, we must run aground^(AI) on some island.”^(AJ)

The Shipwreck

²⁷ On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic^[c] Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. ²⁸ They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet^[d] deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet^[e] deep. ²⁹ Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. ³⁰ In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat^(AK) down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹ Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.”^{(AL) 32} So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.

³³ Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. “For the last fourteen days,” he said, “you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven’t eaten anything. ³⁴ Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.”^{(AM) 35} After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it^(AN) and began to eat. ³⁶ They were all encouraged^(AO) and ate some food themselves. ³⁷ Altogether there were 276 of us on board. ³⁸ When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.^(AP)

³⁹ When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach,^(AQ) where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. ⁴⁰ Cutting loose the anchors,^(AR) they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. ⁴¹ But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf.^(AS)

⁴² The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³ But the centurion wanted to spare Paul’s life^(AT) and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴ The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land safely.^(AU)