1 So all Israel was recorded in the genealogies written in the Book of the Kings of Israel. But Judah was exiled to Babylon because of their unfaithfulness.

2 Now the first to resettle their own property in their cities were Israelites, priests, Levites, and temple servants.

3 Some of the descendants of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem:

23 So they and their descendants were assigned to guard the gates of the house of the Lord — the house called the Tent. 24The gatekeepers were stationed on the four sides: east, west, north, and south. 25Their relatives came from their villages at fixed times to serve with them for seven-day periods. 26But the four chief gatekeepers, who were Levites, were entrusted with the rooms and the treasuries of the house of God. 27They would spend the night stationed around the house of God, because they were responsible for guarding it and opening it every morning.

28Some of them were in charge of the articles used in worship, to count them whenever they were brought in or taken out. 29Others were put in charge of the furnishings and other articles of the sanctuary, as well as the fine flour, wine, oil, frankincense, and spices. 30And some of the sons of the priests mixed the spices.

31 A Levite named Mattithiah, the firstborn son of Shallum the Korahite, was entrusted with baking the bread. 32Some of their Kohathite relatives were responsible for preparing the rows of the showbread every Sabbath.

33 Those who were musicians, the heads of Levite families, stayed in the temple chambers and were exempt from other duties because they were on duty day and night. 34All these were heads of Levite families, chiefs according to their genealogies, and they lived in Jerusalem.

1 Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before them, and many fell slain on Mount Gilboa.

2 The Philistines followed hard after Saul and his sons, and they killed Saul’s sons Jonathan, Abinadab, and Malchishua. 3When the battle intensified against Saul, the archers overtook him and wounded him.

4 Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword and run me through with it, or these uncircumcised men will come and torture me!”

But his armor-bearer was terrified and refused to do it. So Saul took his own sword and fell on it.

5 When his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he too fell on his own sword and died. 6So Saul died together with his three sons and all his house.

7 When all the Israelites in the valley saw that the army had fled and that Saul and his sons had died, they abandoned their cities and ran away. So the Philistines came and occupied their cities.

8 The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the dead, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. 9They stripped Saul, cut off his head, took his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to proclaim the news in the temple of their idols and among their people. 10They put his armor in the temple of their gods and hung his head in the temple of Dagon.

11 When all the people of Jabesh-gilead heard about everything the Philistines had done to Saul, 12all their men of valor set out and retrieved the bodies of Saul and his sons and brought them to Jabesh. And they buried their bones under the oak in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

13 So Saul died for his unfaithfulness to the Lord, because he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance, 14and he failed to inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death and turned the kingdom over to David son of Jesse.

21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up among them and said, “Men, you should have followed my advice not to sail from Crete. Then you would have averted this disaster and loss. 22But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because you will not experience any loss of life, but only of the ship. 23For just last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me 24and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’

25 So take courage, men, for I believe God that it will happen just as He told me. 26However, we must run aground on some island.”

27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea. About midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28They took soundings and found that the water was twenty fathoms deep. Going a little farther, they took another set of soundings that read fifteen fathoms. 29Fearing that we would run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daybreak.

30 Meanwhile, the sailors attempted to escape from the ship. Pretending to lower anchors from the bow, they let the lifeboat down into the sea. 31But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.” 32So the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat and set it adrift.

33 Right up to daybreak, Paul kept urging them all to eat: “Today is your fourteenth day in constant suspense, without taking any food. 34So for your own preservation, I urge you to eat something, because not a single hair of your head will be lost.”

35 After he had said this, Paul took bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36They were all encouraged and took some food themselves. 37In all, there were 276 of us on board. 38After the men had eaten their fill, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they sighted a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40Cutting away the anchors, they left them in the sea as they loosened the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was being broken up by the pounding of the waves.

42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners so none of them could swim to freedom. 43But the centurion, wanting to spare Paul’s life , thwarted their plan. He commanded those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44The rest were to follow on planks and various parts of the ship. In this way everyone was brought safely to land.