One Year Bible.

The Descendants of Judah

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.

The Prayer of Jabez

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.

More Descendants of Judah

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.

The Descendants of Simeon

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 in their dwellings as well as the Meunites who were there, 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.

Examine Yourselves

¹This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”

²I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone, ³since you are demanding proof that Christ is speaking through me. He is not weak in dealing with you but is powerful among you. ⁴For He was indeed crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. For we are also weak in Him, yet by God’s power we will live with Him concerning you.

⁵Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you — unless you fail the test? ⁶And I hope you will realize that we have not failed the test.

⁷Now we pray to God that you will not do anything wrong — not that we will appear to have stood the test, but that you will do what is right, even if we appear to have failed. ⁸For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. ⁹In fact, we rejoice when we are weak but you are strong, and our prayer is for your perfection.

¹⁰This is why I write these things while absent, so that when I am present I will not need to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord gave me for building you up, not for tearing you down.

Benediction and Farewell

¹¹Finally, brothers, rejoice! Aim for perfect harmony, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

¹²Greet one another with a holy kiss.

¹³All the saints send you greetings.

¹⁴The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with all of you.

Job: How Can I Contend with God?

¹Then Job answered:

²“Yes, I know that it is so,

but how can a mortal be righteous before God?

³If one wished to contend with God,

he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.

⁴God is wise in heart and mighty in strength.

Who has resisted Him and prospered?

⁵He moves mountains without their knowledge

and overturns them in His anger.

⁶He shakes the earth from its place,

so that its foundations tremble.

⁷He commands the sun not to shine;

He seals off the stars.

⁸He alone stretches out the heavens

and treads on the waves of the sea.

⁹He is the Maker of the Bear and Orion,

of the Pleiades and the constellations of the south.

¹⁰He does great things beyond searching out,

and wonders without number.

¹¹Were He to pass by me, I would not see Him;

were He to move, I would not recognize Him.

¹²If He takes away, who can stop Him?

Who dares to ask Him, ‘What are You doing?’

¹³God does not restrain His anger;

the helpers of Rahab cower beneath Him.

¹⁴How then can I answer Him

or choose my arguments against Him?

¹⁵For even if I were right, I could not answer.

I could only beg my Judge for mercy.

¹⁶If I summoned Him and He answered me,

I do not believe He would listen to my voice.

¹⁷For He would crush me with a tempest

and multiply my wounds without cause.

¹⁸He does not let me catch my breath,

but overwhelms me with bitterness.

¹⁹If it is a matter of strength,

He is indeed mighty!

If it is a matter of justice,

who can summon Him?

²⁰Even if I were righteous, my mouth would condemn me;

if I were blameless, it would declare me guilty.

²¹Though I am blameless, I have no concern for myself;

I despise my own life.

²²It is all the same, and so I say,

‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’

²³When the scourge brings sudden death,

He mocks the despair of the innocent.

²⁴The earth is given into the hand of the wicked;

He blindfolds its judges.

If it is not He, then who is it?

²⁵My days are swifter than a runner;

they flee without seeing good.

²⁶They sweep by like boats of papyrus,

like an eagle swooping down on its prey.

²⁷If I were to say, ‘I will forget my complaint

and change my expression and smile,’

²⁸I would still dread all my sufferings;

I know that You will not acquit me.

²⁹Since I am already found guilty,

why should I labor in vain?

³⁰If I should wash myself with snow

and cleanse my hands with lye,

³¹then You would plunge me into the pit,

and even my own clothes would despise me.

³²For He is not a man like me, that I can answer Him,

that we can take each other to court.

³³Nor is there a mediator between us,

to lay his hand upon us both.

³⁴Let Him remove His rod from me,

so that His terror will no longer frighten me.

³⁵Then I would speak without fear of Him.

But as it is, I am on my own.[’’]

Job’s Plea to God

¹“I loathe my own life;

I will express my complaint

and speak in the bitterness of my soul.

²I will say to God:

Do not condemn me!

Let me know why You prosecute me.

³Does it please You to oppress me,

to reject the work of Your hands

and favor the schemes of the wicked?

⁴Do You have eyes of flesh?

Do You see as man sees?

⁵Are Your days like those of a mortal,

or Your years like those of a man,

⁶that You should seek my iniquity

and search out my sin —

⁷though You know that I am not guilty,

and there is no deliverance from Your hand?

⁸Your hands shaped me and altogether formed me.

Would You now turn and destroy me?

⁹Please remember that You molded me like clay.

Would You now return me to dust?

¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk,

and curdle me like cheese?

¹¹You clothed me with skin and flesh,

and knit me together with bones and sinews.

¹²You have granted me life and loving devotion,

and Your care has preserved my spirit.

¹³Yet You concealed these things in Your heart,

and I know that this was in Your mind:

¹⁴If I sinned, You would take note,

and would not acquit me of my iniquity.

¹⁵If I am guilty, woe to me!

And even if I am righteous, I cannot lift my head.

I am full of shame

and aware of my affliction.

¹⁶Should I hold my head high,

You would hunt me like a lion,

and again display Your power against me.

¹⁷You produce new witnesses against me

and multiply Your anger toward me.

Hardships assault me

in wave after wave.

¹⁸Why then did You bring me from the womb?

Oh, that I had died, and no eye had seen me!

¹⁹If only I had never come to be,

but had been carried from the womb to the grave.

²⁰Are my days not few?

Withdraw from me, that I may have a little comfort,

²¹before I go — never to return —

to a land of darkness and gloom,

²²to a land of utter darkness,

of deep shadow and disorder,

where even the light is like darkness.”