Joshua 21-22
Joshua 21
1 Then the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Levites came to Eleazar the priest and Joshua son of Nun and the heads of the fathers’ houses of the Israelite tribes.
2 They said to them at Shiloh in Canaan, The Lord commanded through Moses that we should be given cities to dwell in, with their pasturelands (suburbs) for our cattle.
3 So the Israelites gave to the Levites out of their own inheritance, at the command of the Lord, these cities and their suburbs.
4 The [first] lot came out for the families of the Kohathites. So those Levites who were descendants of Aaron the priest received by lot from the tribes of Judah, Simeon, and Benjamin thirteen cities.
5 And the rest of the Kohathites received by lot from the families of the tribes of Ephraim, Dan, and the half-tribe of Manasseh ten cities.
6 The Gershonites received by lot from the families of the tribes of Issachar, Asher, Naphtali, and the half-tribe of Manasseh in Bashan thirteen cities.
7 The Merarites received according to their families from the tribes of Reuben, Gad, and Zebulun twelve cities.
8 The Israelites gave by lot to the Levites these cities with their pasturelands (suburbs), as the Lord commanded through Moses.
9 They gave from the tribes of Judah and Simeon the cities here mentioned by name,
10 Which went to the families of the descendants of Aaron, of the Kohathite branch of the Levites, for the lot fell to them first.
11 They gave them [the city of] Kiriath-arba, Arba being the father of Anak, which city is Hebron, in the hill country of Judah, with its pasturelands round about it.
12 But the city’s fields and villages they gave to Caleb son of Jephunneh as his own.
13 Thus to the descendants of Aaron the priest they gave Hebron, the city of refuge for the slayer, with its pasturelands (suburbs), and together with their suburbs, Libnah,
14 Jattir, Eshtemoa,
15 Holon, Debir,
16 Ain, Juttah, and Beth-shemesh; nine cities, each with its suburbs, out of those two tribes.
17 Out of the tribe of Benjamin, Gibeon, Geba,
18 Anathoth, and Almon; four cities, each with its suburbs.
19 The cities of the sons of Aaron, the priests, were thirteen, with their suburbs.
20 The rest of the Kohathites belonging to the Levitical families were allotted cities out of the tribe of Ephraim.
21 To them were given, each with its pasturelands (suburbs), Shechem in the hill country of Ephraim, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Gezer,
22 And Kibzaim, and Beth-horon; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
23 And out of the tribe of Dan, each with its pasturelands (suburbs), Eltekeh, Gibbethon,
24 Aijalon, and Gath-rimmon; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
25 And out of the half-tribe of Manasseh, Taanach, and [another] Gath-rimmon; two cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
26 All the cities for the families of the remaining Kohathites were ten, with their pasturelands (suburbs).
27 And to the Gershonites of the families of the Levites they gave out of the other half-tribe of Manasseh the city of Golan in Bashan, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Be-eshterah; two cities, each with its pasturelands.
28 Out of the tribe of Issachar, Kishion, Daberath,
29 Jarmuth, and En-gannim; four cities, each with its suburbs.
30 Out of the tribe of Asher, Mishal, Abdon,
31 Helkath, and Rehob; four cities, each with its pasturelands.
32 And out of the tribe of Naphtali, Kedesh in Galilee, city of refuge for the slayer, and Hammoth-dor, and Kartan; three cities, each with its suburbs.
33 All the cities of the Gershonite families were thirteen, with their pasturelands (suburbs).
34 And to the families of the Merarites, the rest of the Levites, out of the tribe of Zebulun were given Jokneam, Kartah,
35 Dimnah, and Nahalal; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
36 And out of the tribe of Reuben, Bezer, Jahaz,
37 Kedemoth, and Mephaath; four cities, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
38 And out of the tribe of Gad, Ramoth in Gilead, as the city of refuge for the slayer, and Mahanaim,
39 Heshbon, and Jazer; four cities in all, each with its pasturelands (suburbs).
40 So all the cities allotted to the Merarite families, that is, the remainder of the Levite families, were twelve cities.
41 The cities of the Levites in the midst of the possession of the Israelites were forty-eight cities in all, with their pasturelands (suburbs).
42 These cities all had their pasturelands (suburbs) around them.
43 And the Lord gave to Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed it and dwelt in it.
44 The Lord gave them rest round about, just as He had sworn to their fathers. Not one of all their enemies withstood them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hands.
45 There failed no part of any good thing which the Lord had promised to the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Joshua 22
1 Then Joshua called the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh,
2 And said to them, You have kept all that Moses the servant of the Lord commanded you, and have obeyed my voice in all that I commanded you.
3 You have not deserted your brethren [the other tribes] these many days to this day but have carefully kept the charge of the Lord your God.
4 But now the Lord your God has given rest to your brethren, as He promised them; so now go, return to your homes in the land of your possession, which Moses the servant of the Lord gave you on the [east] side of the Jordan.
5 But take diligent heed to do the commandment and the law which Moses the servant of the Lord charged you: to love the Lord your God and to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and to cling to and unite with Him and to serve Him with all your heart and soul [your very life].
6 So Joshua blessed them and sent them away, and they went to their homes.
7 Now to one-half of the tribe of Manasseh Moses had given a possession in Bashan, but to the other half Joshua gave a possession on the west side of the Jordan among their brethren. So when Joshua sent them away to their homes, he blessed them,
8 And he said to them, Return with much riches to your tents and with very much livestock, with silver, gold, bronze, iron, and very much clothing. Divide the spoil of your enemies with your brethren.
9 So the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh returned home, parting from the [other] Israelites at Shiloh in the land of Canaan to go to the land of Gilead, their own land of which they had been given possession by the command of the Lord through Moses.
10 And when they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar great to behold.
11 And the [other] Israelites heard it said, Behold, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh have built an altar at the edge of the land of Canaan in the region [west] of the Jordan in the passage [belonging to us], the Israelites.
12 When the Israelites heard of it, the whole congregation of the sons of Israel gathered at Shiloh to make war on them.
13 And the [other] Israelites sent to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest,
14 And with him ten chiefs, one from each of the tribal families of Israel; and each one was a head of a father’s house among the clans of Israel.
15 And they came to the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, in the land of Gilead, and they said to them,
16 The whole congregation of the Lord says, What trespass is this that you have committed against the God of Israel, to turn away this day from following the Lord, in that you have built yourselves an altar to rebel this day against the Lord?
17 Is the iniquity of Peor too little for us, from which we are not cleansed even now, although there came a plague [in which 24,000 died] in the congregation of the Lord,
18 That you must turn away this day from following the Lord? The result will be, since you rebel today against the Lord, that tomorrow He will be angry with the whole congregation of Israel.
19 But now, if your land is unclean, pass over into the Lord’s land, where the Lord’s tabernacle resides, and take for yourselves a possession among us. But do not rebel against the Lord or rebel against us by building for yourselves an altar other than the altar of the Lord our God.
20 Did not Achan son of Zerah commit a trespass in the matter of taking accursed things [devoted to destruction] and wrath fall on all the congregation of Israel? And he did not perish alone in his perversity and iniquity.
21 Then the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh said to the heads of the clans of Israel,
22 The Mighty One, God, the Lord! The Mighty One, God, the Lord! He knows, and let Israel itself know! If it was in rebellion or in transgression against the Lord, spare us not today.
23 If we have built us an altar to turn away from following the Lord, or if we did so to offer on it burnt offerings or cereal offerings or peace offerings, may the Lord Himself take vengeance.
24 No! But we did it for fear that in time to come your children might say to our children, What have you to do with the Lord, the God of Israel?
25 For the Lord has made the Jordan a boundary between us and you, you Reubenites and Gadites; you have no part in the Lord. So your children might make our children cease from fearing the Lord.
26 So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,
27 But to be a witness between us and you and between the generations after us, that we will perform the service of the Lord before Him with our burnt offerings and sacrifices and peace offerings; lest your children say to our children in time to come, You have no portion in the Lord.
28 So we thought, if that should be said to us or to our descendants in time to come, we can reply, Behold the copy of the altar of the Lord, which our fathers made, not for burnt offerings nor for sacrifices, but to be a witness between us and you.
29 Far be it from us that we should rebel against the Lord and turn away this day from following the Lord to build an altar for burnt offerings, for cereal offerings, or for sacrifices, besides the altar of the Lord our God that is before His tabernacle.
30 And when Phinehas the priest and the chiefs of the congregation and heads of the clans of Israel who were with him heard the words that the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites spoke, it pleased them.
31 Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, said to the Reubenites, Gadites, and Manassites, Today we know the Lord is among us, because you have not committed this trespass and treachery against the Lord; now you have saved the Israelites from the Lord’s hand.
32 Then Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, and the chiefs returned from the Reubenites and Gadites in the land of Gilead to the land of Canaan, to the [other] Israelites, and brought back word to them.
33 The report pleased the Israelites and they blessed God; and they spoke no more of going to war against them to destroy the land in which the Reubenites and Gadites dwelt.
34 The Reubenites and Gadites called the altar Ed [witness], saying, It shall be: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.
Acts 27
Acts 27
1 Now when it was determined that we [including Luke] should sail for Italy, they turned Paul and some other prisoners over to a centurion of the imperial regiment named Julius.
2 And going aboard a ship from Adramyttium which was about to sail for the ports along the coast of [the province of] Asia, we put out to sea; and Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, accompanied us.
3 The following day we landed at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul in a loving way, with much consideration (kindness and care), permitting him to go to his friends [there] and be refreshed and be cared for.
4 After putting to sea from there we passed to the leeward (south side) of Cyprus [for protection], for the winds were contrary to us.
5 And when we had sailed over [the whole length] of sea which lies off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we reached Myra in Lycia.
6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship bound for Italy, and he transferred us to it.
7 For a number of days we made slow progress and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus; then, as the wind did not permit us to proceed, we went under the lee (shelter) of Crete off Salmone,
8 And coasting along it with difficulty, we arrived at a place called Fair Havens, near which is located the town of Lasea.
9 But as [the season was well advanced, for] much time had been lost and navigation was already dangerous, for the time for the Fast [the Day of Atonement, about the beginning of October] had already gone by, Paul warned and advised them,
10 Saying, Sirs, I perceive [after careful observation] that this voyage will be attended with disaster and much heavy loss, not only of the cargo and the ship but of our lives also.
11 However, the centurion paid greater attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said.
12 And as the harbor was not well situated and so unsuitable to winter in, the majority favored the plan of putting to sea again from there, hoping somehow to reach Phoenice, a harbor of Crete facing southwest and northwest, and winter there.
13 So when the south wind blew softly, supposing they were gaining their object, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, hugging the coast.
14 But soon afterward a violent wind [of the character of a typhoon], called a northeaster, came bursting down from the island.
15 And when the ship was caught and was unable to head against the wind, we gave up and, letting her drift, were borne along.
16 We ran under the shelter of a small island called Cauda, where we managed with [much] difficulty to draw the [ship’s small] boat on deck and secure it.
17 After hoisting it on board, they used supports with ropes to undergird and brace the ship; then afraid that they would be driven into the Syrtis [quicksands off the north coast of Africa], they lowered the gear (sails and ropes) and so were driven along.
18 As we were being dangerously tossed about by the violence of the storm, the next day they began to throw the freight overboard;
19 And the third day they threw out with their own hands the ship’s equipment (the tackle and the furniture).
20 And when neither sun nor stars were visible for many days and no small tempest kept raging about us, all hope of our being saved was finally abandoned.
21 Then as they had eaten nothing for a long time, Paul came forward into their midst and said, Men, you should have listened to me, and should not have put to sea from Crete and brought on this disaster and harm and misery and loss.
22 But [even] now I beg you to be in good spirits and take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you but only of the ship.
23 For this [very] night there stood by my side an angel of the God to Whom I belong and Whom I serve and worship,
24 And he said, Do not be frightened, Paul! It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar; and behold, God has given you all those who are sailing with you.
25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith (complete confidence) in God that it will be exactly as it was told me;
26 But we shall have to be stranded on some island.
27 The fourteenth night had come and we were drifting and being driven about in the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors began to suspect that they were drawing near to some land.
28 So they took soundings and found twenty fathoms, and a little farther on they sounded again and found fifteen fathoms.
29 Then fearing that we might fall off [our course] onto rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and kept wishing for daybreak to come.
30 And as the sailors were trying to escape [secretly] from the ship and were lowering the small boat into the sea, pretending that they were going to lay out anchors from the bow,
31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, Unless these men remain in the ship, you cannot be saved.
32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes that held the small boat, and let it fall and drift away.
33 While they waited until it should become day, Paul entreated them all to take some food, saying, This is the fourteenth day that you have been continually in suspense and on the alert without food, having eaten nothing.
34 So I urge (warn, exhort, encourage, advise) you to take some food [for your safety]—it will give you strength; for not a hair is to perish from the head of any one of you.
35 Having said these words, he took bread and, giving thanks to God before them all, he broke it and began to eat.
36 Then they all became more cheerful and were encouraged and took food themselves.
37 All told there were 276 souls of us in the ship.
38 And after they had eaten sufficiently, [they proceeded] to lighten the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
39 Now when it was day [and they saw the land], they did not recognize it, but they noticed a bay with a beach on which they [taking counsel] purposed to run the ship ashore if they possibly could.
40 So they cut the cables and severed the anchors and left them in the sea; at the same time unlashing the ropes that held the rudders and hoisting the foresail to the wind, they headed for the beach.
41 But striking a crosscurrent (a place open to two seas) they ran the ship aground. The prow stuck fast and remained immovable, and the stern began to break up under the violent force of the waves.
42 It was the counsel of the soldiers to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim to land and escape;
43 But the centurion, wishing to save Paul, prevented their carrying out their purpose. He commanded those who could swim to throw themselves overboard first and make for the shore,
44 And the rest on heavy boards or pieces of the vessel. And so it was that all escaped safely to land.
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