One Year Bible.

Saul Tries to Kill David

¹Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David.

But Jonathan delighted greatly in David, ²so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there. ³I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.”

⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you. ⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”

⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul, and David was with Saul as before.

⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.

⁹But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp, ¹⁰Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But David eluded him and the spear struck the wall. And David fled and escaped that night.

¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!” ¹²So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.

¹³Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment. ¹⁴When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

¹⁵But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.” ¹⁶And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the goat hair on its head.

¹⁷And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away, and he has escaped!”

Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”

¹⁸So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

¹⁹When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah, ²⁰he sent messengers to seize him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.

²¹When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well.

So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy.

²²Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?”

“At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.

²³So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah. ²⁴Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

The Descendants of Issachar

¹The sons of Issachar:

Tola, Puah, Jashub, and Shimron— four in all.

²The sons of Tola:

Uzzi, Rephaiah, Jeriel, Jahmai, Ibsam, and Shemuel, the heads of their families. In the days of David, 22,600 descendants of Tola were numbered in their genealogies as mighty men of valor.

³The son of Uzzi:

Izrahiah.

The sons of Izrahiah:

Michael, Obadiah, Joel, and Isshiah. All five of them were chiefs. ⁴In addition to them, according to their genealogy, they had 36,000 troops for battle, for they had many wives and children.

⁵Their kinsmen belonging to all the families of Issachar who were mighty men of valor totaled 87,000, as listed in their genealogies.

The Descendants of Benjamin

⁶The three sons of Benjamin:

Bela, Becher, and Jediael.

⁷The sons of Bela:

Ezbon, Uzzi, Uzziel, Jerimoth, and Iri, heads of their families— five in all. There were 22,034 mighty men of valor listed in their genealogies.

⁸The sons of Becher:

Zemirah, Joash, Eliezer, Elioenai, Omri, Jeremoth, Abijah, Anathoth, and Alemeth; all these were Becher’s sons. ⁹Their genealogies were recorded according to the heads of their families— 20,200 mighty men of valor.

¹⁰The son of Jediael:

Bilhan.

The sons of Bilhan:

Jeush, Benjamin, Ehud, Chenaanah, Zethan, Tarshish, and Ahishahar. ¹¹All these sons of Jediael were heads of their families, mighty men of valor; there were 17,200 fit for battle. ¹²The Shuppites and Huppites were descendants of Ir, and the Hushites were descendants of Aher.

The Descendants of Naphtali

¹³The sons of Naphtali:

Jahziel, Guni, Jezer, and Shallum— the descendants of Bilhah.

The Descendants of Manasseh

¹⁴The descendants of Manasseh: Asriel

through his Aramean concubine. She also gave birth to Machir the father of Gilead.

¹⁵Machir took a wife from among the Huppites and Shuppites. The name of his sister was Maacah.

Another descendant was named Zelophehad, who had only daughters.

¹⁶Machir’s wife Maacah gave birth to a son, and she named him Peresh. His brother was named Sheresh, and his sons were Ulam and Rekem.

¹⁷The son of Ulam:

Bedan.

These were the sons of Gilead son of Machir, the son of Manasseh. ¹⁸His sister Hammolecheth gave birth to Ishhod, Abiezer, and Mahlah.

¹⁹And these were the sons of Shemida:

Ahian, Shechem, Likhi, and Aniam.

The Descendants of Ephraim

²⁰The descendants of Ephraim:

Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, ²¹Zabad his son, and Shuthelah his son.

Ezer and Elead were killed by the natives of Gath, because they went down to steal their livestock.

²²Their father Ephraim mourned for many days, and his relatives came to comfort him. ²³And again he slept with his wife, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. So he named him Beriah, because tragedy had come upon his house. ²⁴His daughter was Sheerah, who built Lower and Upper Beth-horon, as well as Uzzen-sheerah.

²⁵Additionally, Rephah was his son, Resheph his son, Telah his son, Tahan his son, ²⁶Ladan his son, Ammihud his son, Elishama his son, ²⁷Nun his son, and Joshua his son.

²⁸Their holdings and settlements included Bethel and its villages, Naaran to the east, Gezer and its villages to the west, and Shechem and its villages as far as Ayyah and its villages. ²⁹And along the borders of Manasseh were Beth-shean, Taanach, Megiddo, and Dor, together with their villages. The descendants of Joseph son of Israel lived in these towns.

The Descendants of Asher

³⁰The children of Asher:

Imnah, Ishvah, Ishvi, Beriah, and their sister Serah.

³¹The sons of Beriah:

Heber, as well as Malchiel, who was the father of Birzaith.

³²Heber was the father of Japhlet, Shomer, and Hotham, and of their sister Shua.

³³The sons of Japhlet:

Pasach, Bimhal, and Ashvath. These were Japhlet’s sons.

³⁴The sons of Shemer:

Ahi, Rohgah, Hubbah, and Aram.

³⁵The sons of his brother Helem:

Zophah, Imna, Shelesh, and Amal.

³⁶The sons of Zophah:

Suah, Harnepher, Shual, Beri, Imrah, ³⁷Bezer, Hod, Shamma, Shilshah, Ithran, and Beera.

³⁸The sons of Jether:

Jephunneh, Pispa, and Ara.

³⁹The sons of Ulla:

Arah, Hanniel, and Rizia.

⁴⁰All these were the descendants of Asher — heads of their families, choice and mighty men of valor, and chiefs among the leaders. The number of men fit for battle, recorded in their genealogies, was 26,000.

The Holy Spirit Received at Ephesus

¹While Apollos was at Corinth, Paul passed through the interior and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples ²and asked them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”

“No,” they answered, “we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”

³“Into what, then, were you baptized?” Paul asked.

“The baptism of John,” they replied.

⁴Paul explained: “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance. He told the people to believe in the One coming after him, that is, in Jesus.”

⁵On hearing this, they were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus. ⁶And when Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they spoke in tongues and prophesied. ⁷There were about twelve men in all.

Paul Ministers in Ephesus

⁸Then Paul went into the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God. ⁹But when some of them stubbornly refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way, Paul took his disciples and left the synagogue to conduct daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. ¹⁰This continued for two years, so that everyone who lived in the province of Asia, Jews and Greeks alike, heard the word of the Lord.

¹¹God did extraordinary miracles through the hands of Paul, ¹²so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and the diseases and evil spirits left them.

Seven Sons of Sceva

¹³Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I command you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.” ¹⁴Seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.

¹⁵But one day the evil spirit responded, “Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” ¹⁶Then the man with the evil spirit jumped on them and overpowered them all. The attack was so violent that they ran out of the house naked and wounded.

¹⁷This became known to all the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, and fear came over all of them. So the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. ¹⁸Many who had believed now came forward, confessing and disclosing their deeds. ¹⁹And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books and burned them in front of everyone. When the value of the books was calculated, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas. ²⁰So the word of the Lord powerfully continued to spread and prevail.

The Riot in Ephesus

²¹After these things had happened, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. “After I have been there,” he said, “I must see Rome as well.” ²²He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed for a time in the province of Asia.

²³About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. ²⁴It began with a silversmith named Demetrius who made silver shrines of Artemis, bringing much business to the craftsmen.

²⁵Demetrius assembled the craftsmen, along with the workmen in related trades. “Men,” he said, “you know that this business is our source of prosperity. ²⁶And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, this Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. ²⁷There is danger not only that our business will fall into disrepute, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited and her majesty deposed — she who is worshiped by all the province of Asia and the whole world.”

²⁸When the men heard this, they were enraged and began shouting, “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!” ²⁹Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

³⁰Paul wanted to go before the assembly, but the disciples would not allow him. ³¹Even some of Paul’s friends who were officials of the province of Asia sent word to him, begging him not to venture into the theatre.

³²Meanwhile the assembly was in turmoil. Some were shouting one thing and some another, and most of them did not even know why they were there. ³³The Jews in the crowd pushed Alexander forward to explain himself, and he motioned for silence so he could make his defense to the people. ³⁴But when they realized that he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: “Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!”

³⁵Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? ³⁶Since these things are undeniable, you ought to be calm and not do anything rash. ³⁷For you have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed our temple nor blasphemed our goddess.

³⁸So if Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open and proconsuls are available. Let them bring charges against one another there. ³⁹But if you are seeking anything beyond this, it must be settled in a legal assembly. ⁴⁰For we are in jeopardy of being charged with rioting for today’s events, and we have no justification to account for this commotion.”

⁴¹After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

Paul in Macedonia and Greece

¹When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples. And after encouraging them, he said goodbye to them and left for Macedonia. ²After traveling through that area and speaking many words of encouragement, he arrived in Greece, ³where he stayed three months. And when the Jews formed a plot against him as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia.

⁴Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. ⁵These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas. ⁶And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.

Eutychus Revived at Troas

⁷On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Since Paul was ready to leave the next day, he talked to them and kept on speaking until midnight.

⁸Now there were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered. ⁹And a certain young man named Eutychus, seated in the window, was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell from the third story and was picked up dead. ¹⁰But Paul went down, threw himself on the young man, and embraced him. “Do not be alarmed!” he said. “He is still alive!”

¹¹Then Paul went back upstairs, broke bread, and ate. And after speaking until daybreak, he departed. ¹²And the people were greatly relieved to take the boy home alive.

From Troas to Miletus

¹³We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot. ¹⁴And when he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. ¹⁵Sailing on from there, we arrived the next day opposite Chios. The day after that we arrived at Samos, and on the following day we came to Miletus.

¹⁶Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, because he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

Paul’s Farewell to the Ephesians

¹⁷From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church.

¹⁸When they came to him, he said, “You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I arrived in the province of Asia. ¹⁹I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, especially in the trials that came upon me through the plots of the Jews. ²⁰I did not shrink back from declaring anything that was helpful to you as I taught you publicly and from house to house, ²¹testifying to Jews and Greeks alike about repentance to God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

²²And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in town after town the Holy Spirit warns me that chains and afflictions await me. ²⁴But I consider my life of no value to me, if only I may finish my course and complete the ministry I have received from the Lord Jesus — the ministry of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

²⁵Now I know that none of you among whom I have preached the kingdom will see my face again. ²⁶Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷For I did not shrink back from declaring to you the whole will of God.

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. ³⁰Even from your own number, men will rise up and distort the truth to draw away disciples after them. ³¹Therefore be alert and remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

³²And now I commit you to God and to the word of His grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all who are sanctified.

³³I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. ³⁴You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions. ³⁵In everything, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words of the Lord Jesus Himself: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

³⁶When Paul had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. ³⁷They all wept openly as they embraced Paul and kissed him. ³⁸They were especially grieved by his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.