July 11th

and Jehozadak went along when Yahweh took Judah and Jerusalem away into exile by the hand of Nebuchadnezzar.

¶The sons of Levi were Gershom, Kohath, and Merari.

These are the names of the sons of Gershom: Libni and Shimei.

The sons of Kohath were Amram, Izhar, Hebron, and Uzziel.

The sons of Merari were Mahli and Mushi.

And these are the families of the Levites according to their fathers’ households.

Of Gershom: Libni his son, Jahath his son, Zimmah his son,

Joah his son, Iddo his son, Zerah his son, Jeatherai his son.

The sons of Kohath were Amminadab his son, Korah his son, Assir his son,

Elkanah his son, Ebiasaph his son, and Assir his son,

Tahath his son, Uriel his son, Uzziah his son, and Shaul his son.

The sons of Elkanah were Amasai and Ahimoth.

As for Elkanah, the sons of Elkanah were Zophai his son and Nahath his son,

Eliab his son, Jeroham his son, Elkanah his son.

The sons of Samuel were Joel the firstborn, and Abijah the second.

The sons of Merari were Mahli, Libni his son, Shimei his son, Uzzah his son,

Shimea his son, Haggiah his son, Asaiah his son.

Now these are those whom David caused to stand over the service of song in the house of Yahweh, after the ark rested there.

And they ministered with song before the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, until Solomon had built the house of Yahweh in Jerusalem; and they stood for their service according to their custom.

These are those who stood for service with their sons:

From the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel,

the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,

the son of Zuph, the son of Elkanah, the son of Mahath, the son of Amasai,

the son of Elkanah, the son of Joel, the son of Azariah, the son of Zephaniah,

the son of Tahath, the son of Assir, the son of Ebiasaph, the son of Korah,

the son of Izhar, the son of Kohath, the son of Levi, the son of Israel.

Heman’s brother Asaph stood at his right hand, even Asaph the son of Berechiah, the son of Shimea,

the son of Michael, the son of Baaseiah, the son of Malchijah,

the son of Ethni, the son of Zerah, the son of Adaiah,

the son of Ethan, the son of Zimmah, the son of Shimei,

the son of Jahath, the son of Gershom, the son of Levi.

On the left hand were their relatives the sons of Merari:

Ethan the son of Kishi, the son of Abdi, the son of Malluch,

the son of Hashabiah, the son of Amaziah, the son of Hilkiah,

the son of Amzi, the son of Bani, the son of Shemer,

the son of Mahli, the son of Mushi, the son of Merari, the son of Levi.

Their relatives the Levites were given over unto all the service of the tabernacle of the house of God.

But Aaron and his sons offered offerings up in smoke on the altar of burnt offering and on the altar of incense, for all the work of the Holy of Holies, and to make atonement for Israel, according to all that Moses the servant of God had commanded.

These are the sons of Aaron:

Eleazar his son, Phinehas his son, Abishua his son,

Bukki his son, Uzzi his son, Zerahiah his son,

Meraioth his son, Amariah his son, Ahitub his son,

Zadok his son, Ahimaaz his son.

Now these are their settlements according to their camps within their borders. To the sons of Aaron of the families of the Kohathites (for the lot was theirs first),

to them they gave Hebron in the land of Judah, with its pasture lands all around it;

but the fields of the city and its villages, they gave to Caleb the son of Jephunneh.

To the sons of Aaron they gave the following cities of refuge:

Hebron, Libnah also with its pasture lands, Jattir, Eshtemoa with its pasture lands,

Hilen with its pasture lands, Debir with its pasture lands,

Ashan with its pasture lands, and Beth-shemesh with its pasture lands;

from the tribe of Benjamin:

Geba with its pasture lands, Allemeth with its pasture lands, and Anathoth with its pasture lands.

All their cities throughout their families were thirteen cities.

¶Now to the rest of the sons of Kohath were given by lot, from the family of the tribe, from the half-tribe, the half of Manasseh, ten cities.

And to the sons of Gershom, according to their families, were given from the tribe of Issachar and from the tribe of Asher, the tribe of Naphtali, and the tribe of Manasseh, thirteen cities in Bashan.

To the sons of Merari were given by lot, according to their families, from the tribe of Reuben, the tribe of Gad, and the tribe of Zebulun, twelve cities.

So the sons of Israel gave to the Levites the cities with their pasture lands.

They also gave by lot from the tribe of the sons of Judah, the tribe of the sons of Simeon, and the tribe of the sons of Benjamin, these cities which are mentioned here by name.

Now some of the families of the sons of Kohath had cities of their territory from the tribe of Ephraim.

And they gave to them the following cities of refuge:

Now there were at Antioch, in the church that was there, prophets and teachers: Barnabas, and Simeon who was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen who had been brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul.

And while they were ministering to the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”

Then, when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands on them, they sent them away.

So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia and from there they sailed to Cyprus.

And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews, and they also had John as their helper.

And when they had gone through the whole island as far as Paphos, they found a magician, a Jewish false prophet whose name was Bar-Jesus,

who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, a man of intelligence. This man summoned Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

But Elymas the magician (for so his name is translated) was opposing them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him,

and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease to make crooked the straight ways of the Lord?

Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand.

Then the proconsul believed when he saw what had happened, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.

Now after Paul and his companions set sail from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch. And on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down.

And after the reading of the Law and the Prophets the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, “Brothers, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it.”

So Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said,

“Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:

The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and lifted up the people during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with an uplifted arm He led them out from it.

And for a period of about forty years He put up with them in the wilderness.

And when He destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributed their land as an inheritance—all of which took about 450 years.

After these things He gave them judges until Samuel the prophet.

Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for forty years.

And after He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, about whom He also said, bearing witness, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.’

From the seed of this man, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus,

after John had preached before His coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel.

And as John was fulfilling his course, he kept saying, ‘What do you suppose that I am? I am not He. But behold, one is coming after me of whom I am not worthy to untie the sandals of His feet.’