¹And it came to pass in those days, when there was no king in Israel, that there was a certain Levite staying in the remote mountains of Ephraim. He took for himself a concubine from Bethlehem in Judah. ²But his concubine played the harlot against him, and went away from him to her father’s house at Bethlehem in Judah, and was there four whole months. ³Then her husband arose and went after her, to speak kindly to her and bring her back, having his servant and a couple of donkeys with him. So she brought him into her father’s house; and when the father of the young woman saw him, he was glad to meet him. ⁴Now his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, detained him; and he stayed with him three days. So they ate and drank and lodged there. ⁵Then it came to pass on the fourth day that they arose early in the morning, and he stood to depart; but the young woman’s father said to his son-in-law, “Refresh your heart with a morsel of bread, and afterward go your way.” ⁶So they sat down, and the two of them ate and drank together. Then the young woman’s father said to the man, “Please be content to stay all night, and let your heart be merry.” ⁷And when the man stood to depart, his father-in-law urged him; so he lodged there again. ⁸Then he arose early in the morning on the fifth day to depart, but the young woman’s father said, “Please refresh your heart.” So they delayed until afternoon; and both of them ate. ⁹And when the man stood to depart—he and his concubine and his servant—his father-in-law, the young woman’s father, said to him, “Look, the day is now drawing toward evening; please spend the night. See, the day is coming to an end; lodge here, that your heart may be merry. Tomorrow go your way early, so that you may get home.” ¹⁰However, the man was not willing to spend that night; so he rose and departed, and came to opposite Jebus (that is, Jerusalem). With him were the two saddled donkeys; his concubine was also with him. ¹¹They were near Jebus, and the day was far spent; and the servant said to his master, “Come, please, and let us turn aside into this city of the Jebusites and lodge in it.” ¹²But his master said to him, “We will not turn aside here into a city of foreigners, who are not of the children of Israel; we will go on to Gibeah.” ¹³So he said to his servant, “Come, let us draw near to one of these places, and spend the night in Gibeah or in Ramah.” ¹⁴And they passed by and went their way; and the sun went down on them near Gibeah, which belongs to Benjamin. ¹⁵They turned aside there to go in to lodge in Gibeah. And when he went in, he sat down in the open square of the city, for no one would take them into his house to spend the night. ¹⁶Just then an old man came in from his work in the field at evening, who also was from the mountains of Ephraim; he was staying in Gibeah, whereas the men of the place were Benjamites. ¹⁷And when he raised his eyes, he saw the traveler in the open square of the city; and the old man said, “Where are you going, and where do you come from?” ¹⁸So he said to him, “We are passing from Bethlehem in Judah toward the remote mountains of Ephraim; I am from there. I went to Bethlehem in Judah; now I am going to the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ. But there is no one who will take me into his house, ¹⁹although we have both straw and fodder for our donkeys, and bread and wine for myself, for your female servant, and for the young man who is with your servant; there is no lack of anything.” ²⁰And the old man said, “Peace be with you! However, let all your needs be my responsibility; only do not spend the night in the open square.” ²¹So he brought him into his house, and gave fodder to the donkeys. And they washed their feet, and ate and drank. ²²As they were enjoying themselves, suddenly certain men of the city, perverted men, surrounded the house and beat on the door. They spoke to the master of the house, the old man, saying, “Bring out the man who came to your house, that we may know him carnally!” ²³But the man, the master of the house, went out to them and said to them, “No, my brethren! I beg you, do not act so wickedly! Seeing this man has come into my house, do not commit this outrage. ²⁴Look, here is my virgin daughter and the man’s concubine; let me bring them out now. Humble them, and do with them as you please; but to this man do not do such a vile thing!” ²⁵But the men would not heed him. So the man took his concubine and brought her out to them. And they knew her and abused her all night until morning; and when the day began to break, they let her go. ²⁶Then the woman came as the day was dawning, and fell down at the door of the man’s house where her master was, till it was light. ²⁷When her master arose in the morning, and opened the doors of the house and went out to go his way, there was his concubine, fallen at the door of the house with her hands on the threshold. ²⁸And he said to her, “Get up and let us be going.” But there was no answer. So the man lifted her onto the donkey; and the man got up and went to his place. ²⁹When he entered his house he took a knife, laid hold of his concubine, and divided her into twelve pieces, limb by limb, and sent her throughout all the territory of Israel. ³⁰And so it was that all who saw it said, “No such deed has been done or seen from the day that the children of Israel came up from the land of Egypt until this day. Consider it, confer, and speak up!”

¹Then Paul, looking earnestly at the council, said, “Men and brethren, I have lived in all good conscience before God until this day.” ²And the high priest Ananias commanded those who stood by him to strike him on the mouth. ³Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! For you sit to judge me according to the law, and do you command me to be struck contrary to the law?” ⁴And those who stood by said, “Do you revile God’s high priest? ⁵Then Paul said, “I did not know, brethren, that he was the high priest; for it is written, ‘You shall not speak evil of a ruler of your people.’ ” ⁶But when Paul perceived that one part were Sadducees and the other Pharisees, he cried out in the council, “Men and brethren, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee; concerning the hope and resurrection of the dead I am being judged!” ⁷And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees; and the assembly was divided. ⁸For Sadducees say that there is no resurrection—and no angel or spirit; but the Pharisees confess both. ⁹Then there arose a loud outcry. And the scribes of the Pharisees’ party arose and protested, saying, “We find no evil in this man; but if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him, let us not fight against God.” ¹⁰Now when there arose a great dissension, the commander, fearing lest Paul might be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the barracks. ¹¹But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” ¹²And when it was day, some of the Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. ¹³Now there were more than forty who had formed this conspiracy. ¹⁴They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, “We have bound ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed Paul ¹⁵Now you, therefore, together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near.” ¹⁶So when Paul’s sister’s son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul. ¹⁷Then Paul called one of the centurions to him and said, “Take this young man to the commander, for he has something to tell him.” ¹⁸So he took him and brought him to the commander and said, “Paul the prisoner called me to him and asked me to bring this young man to you. He has something to say to you.” ¹⁹Then the commander took him by the hand, went aside and asked privately, “What is it that you have to tell me? ²⁰And he said, “The Jews have agreed to ask that you bring Paul down to the council tomorrow, as though they were going to inquire more fully about him. ²¹But do not yield to them, for more than forty of them lie in wait for him, men who have bound themselves by an oath that they will neither eat nor drink till they have killed him; and now they are ready, waiting for the promise from you. ²²So the commander let the young man depart, and commanded him, “Tell no one that you have revealed these things to me.” ²³And he called for two centurions, saying, “Prepare two hundred soldiers, seventy horsemen, and two hundred spearmen to go to Caesarea at the third hour of the night; ²⁴and provide mounts to set Paul on, and bring him safely to Felix the governor.” ²⁵He wrote a letter in the following manner: ²⁶Claudius Lysias, To the most excellent governor Felix: Greetings. ²⁷This man was seized by the Jews and was about to be killed by them. Coming with the troops I rescued him, having learned that he was a Roman. ²⁸And when I wanted to know the reason they accused him, I brought him before their council. ²⁹I found out that he was accused concerning questions of their law, but had nothing charged against him deserving of death or chains. ³⁰And when it was told me that the Jews lay in wait for the man, I sent him immediately to you, and also commanded his accusers to state before you the charges against him. Farewell. ³¹Then the soldiers, as they were commanded, took Paul and brought him by night to Antipatris. ³²The next day they left the horsemen to go on with him, and returned to the barracks. ³³When they came to Caesarea and had delivered the letter to the governor, they also presented Paul to him. ³⁴And when the governor had read it, he asked what province he was from. And when he understood that he was from Cilicia, ³⁵he said, “I will hear you when your accusers also have come.” And he commanded him to be kept in Herod’s Praetorium.

¹Moreover the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Jeremiah a second time, while he was still shut up in the court of the prison, saying, ²“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ who made it, the Lᴏʀᴅ who formed it to establish it (the Lᴏʀᴅ is His name): ³‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’ ⁴“For thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this city and the houses of the kings of Judah, which have been pulled down to fortify against the siege mounds and the sword: ⁵‘They come to fight with the Chaldeans, but only to fill their places with the dead bodies of men whom I will slay in My anger and My fury, all for whose wickedness I have hidden My face from this city. ⁶Behold, I will bring it health and healing; I will heal them and reveal to them the abundance of peace and truth. ⁷And I will cause the captives of Judah and the captives of Israel to return, and will rebuild those places as at the first. ⁸I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned and by which they have transgressed against Me. ⁹Then it shall be to Me a name of joy, a praise, and an honor before all nations of the earth, who shall hear all the good that I do to them; they shall fear and tremble for all the goodness and all the prosperity that I provide for it.’ ¹⁰“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: ‘Again there shall be heard in this place—of which you say, “It is desolate, without man and without beast”—in the cities of Judah, in the streets of Jerusalem that are desolate, without man and without inhabitant and without beast, ¹¹the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who will say: “Praise the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts, For the Lᴏʀᴅ is good, For His mercy endures forever”— and of those who will bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lᴏʀᴅ. For I will cause the captives of the land to return as at the first,’ says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ¹²“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ of hosts: ‘In this place which is desolate, without man and without beast, and in all its cities, there shall again be a dwelling place of shepherds causing their flocks to lie down. ¹³In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the lowland, in the cities of the South, in the land of Benjamin, in the places around Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, the flocks shall again pass under the hands of him who counts them,’ says the Lᴏʀᴅ. ¹⁴‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says the Lᴏʀᴅ, ‘that I will perform that good thing which I have promised to the house of Israel and to the house of Judah: ¹⁵‘In those days and at that time I will cause to grow up to David A Branch of righteousness; He shall execute judgment and righteousness in the earth. ¹⁶In those days Judah will be saved, And Jerusalem will dwell safely. And this is the name by which she will be called: THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS.’ ¹⁷“For thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: ‘David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel; ¹⁸nor shall the priests, the Levites, lack a man to offer burnt offerings before Me, to kindle grain offerings, and to sacrifice continually.’ ” ¹⁹And the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁰“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: ‘If you can break My covenant with the day and My covenant with the night, so that there will not be day and night in their season, ²¹then My covenant may also be broken with David My servant, so that he shall not have a son to reign on his throne, and with the Levites, the priests, My ministers. ²²As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, nor the sand of the sea measured, so will I multiply the descendants of David My servant and the Levites who minister to Me.’ ” ²³Moreover the word of the Lᴏʀᴅ came to Jeremiah, saying, ²⁴“Have you not considered what these people have spoken, saying, ‘The two families which the Lᴏʀᴅ has chosen, He has also cast them off’? Thus they have despised My people, as if they should no more be a nation before them. ²⁵“Thus says the Lᴏʀᴅ: ‘If My covenant is not with day and night, and if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth, ²⁶then I will cast away the descendants of Jacob and David My servant, so that I will not take any of his descendants to be rulers over the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For I will cause their captives to return, and will have mercy on them.’ ”

¹A Psalm of David when he fled from Absalom his son. Lᴏʀᴅ, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. ²Many are they who say of me, “There is no help for him in God.” Selah ³But You, O Lᴏʀᴅ, are a shield for me, My glory and the One who lifts up my head. ⁴I cried to the Lᴏʀᴅ with my voice, And He heard me from His holy hill. Selah ⁵I lay down and slept; I awoke, for the Lᴏʀᴅ sustained me. ⁶I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people Who have set themselves against me all around. ⁷Arise, O Lᴏʀᴅ; Save me, O my God! For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone; You have broken the teeth of the ungodly. ⁸Salvation belongs to the Lᴏʀᴅ. Your blessing is upon Your people. Selah

¹To the Chief Musician. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David. Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness! You have relieved me in my distress; Have mercy on me, and hear my prayer. ²How long, O you sons of men, Will you turn my glory to shame? How long will you love worthlessness And seek falsehood? Selah ³But know that the Lᴏʀᴅ has set apart for Himself him who is godly; The Lᴏʀᴅ will hear when I call to Him. ⁴Be angry, and do not sin. Meditate within your heart on your bed, and be still. Selah ⁵Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, And put your trust in the Lᴏʀᴅ. ⁶There are many who say, “Who will show us any good?” Lord, lift up the light of Your countenance upon us. ⁷You have put gladness in my heart, More than in the season that their grain and wine increased. ⁸I will both lie down in peace, and sleep; For You alone, O Lᴏʀᴅ, make me dwell in safety.