1 Also, there were the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel. For indeed, he was his firstborn, but when he had violated the bed of his father, his right as firstborn was given to the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel, and he was not reputed as firstborn.
2 Moreover, Judah, who was strongest among his brothers, from his stock leaders sprung up, but the right of firstborn was reputed to Joseph.
3 So then, the sons of Reuben, the firstborn of Israel, were Hanoch and Pallu, Hezron and Carmi.
4 The sons of Joel: Shemaiah his son, Gog his son, Shimei his son,
5 Micah his son, Reaiah his son, Baal his son,
6 Beerah his son, whom Tilgath-pilneser, the king of the Assyrians, led away captive, and he was a leader in the tribe of Reuben.
7 Now his brothers and all his kindred, when they were being numbered according to their families, had as leaders Jeiel and Zechariah.
8 Now Bela, the son of Azaz, the son of Shema, the son of Joel, lived in Aroer, as far as Nebo and Baalmeon.
9 And he lived toward the eastern region, as far as the entrance to the wilderness and the river Euphrates. For indeed, they possessed a great number of cattle in the land of Gilead.
10 Then, in the days of Saul, they battled against the Hagarites and put them to death. And they lived in place of them, in their dwellings, throughout the entire region that looks to the east of Gilead.
11 Truly, the sons of Gad lived in the opposite region from them, in the land of Bashan, as far as Salecah:
12 Joel the head, and Shapham the second, then Janai and Shaphat, in Bashan.
13 Truly, their brothers, according to the houses of their kindred, were: Michael, and Meshullam, and Sheba, and Jorai, and Jacan, and Zia, and Eber, seven.
14 These were the sons of Abihail, the son of Huri, the son of Jaroah, the son of Gilead, the son of Michael, the son of Jeshishai, the son of Jahdo, the son of Buz,
15 along with their brothers, the sons of Abdiel, the son of Guni, the leader of the house, in their families,
16 And they lived in Gilead, and in Bashan and its towns, and in all the suburbs of Sharon, as far as the borders.
17 All these were numbered in the days of Jotham, the king of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam, the king of Israel:
18 the sons of Reuben, and of Gad, and the one half tribe of Manasseh, men of war, carrying shields and swords, and bending the bow, and trained for battle, forty-four thousand and seven hundred sixty, advancing to the fight.
19 They struggled against the Hagarites, yet truly the Jetureans, and Naphish, and Nodab offered assistance to them.
20 And the Hagarites were delivered into their hands, and all who were with them. For they called upon God while they did battle. And he heeded them, because they had trusted in him.
21 And they seized all that they possessed, of camels fifty thousand, and of sheep two hundred fifty thousand, and of donkeys two thousand, and of men one hundred thousand lives.
22 And many fell down wounded. For it was a war of the Lord. And they lived in place of them, until the transmigration.
23 Also, the sons of the one half tribe of Manasseh possessed the land, from the parts of Bashan as far as Baal, Hermon, and Sanir, and Mount Hermon. For certainly, their number was immense.
24 And these were leaders of the house of their kindred: Epher, and Ishi, and Eliel, and Azriel, and Jeremiah, and Hodaviah, and Jahdiel, very valiant and powerful men, and renown leaders in their families.
25 But they abandoned the God of their fathers, and they fornicated after the gods of the peoples of the land, whom God took away before them.
26 And so the God of Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul, the king of the Assyrians, and the spirit of Tilgath-pilneser, the king of Assur. And he took away Reuben, and Gad, and the one half tribe of Manasseh. And he led them to Halah, and to Habor, and to Hara, and to the river of Gozan, even to this day.
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17 And he went into his house and explained the task to Hananiah, and Mishael, and Azariah, his companions,
18 so that they would seek mercy before the face of the God of heaven, about this mystery, and so that Daniel and his companions might not perish with the other wise men of Babylon.
19 Then the secret was revealed to Daniel by a vision in the night. And Daniel blessed the God of heaven,
20 and speaking aloud, he said, “May the name of the Lord be blessed by the present generation and for ever; for wisdom and fortitude are his.
21 And he alters the times and the ages. He takes away kingdoms and he establishes them. He gives wisdom to those who are wise and teaching skills to those who understand.
22 He reveals deep and hidden things, and he knows what has been established in darkness. And the light is with him.
23 To you, God of our fathers, I confess, and you, I praise. For you have given wisdom and fortitude to me, and now you have revealed to me what we asked of you, for you have uncovered for us the king’s thoughts.”
24 After this, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon, and he spoke to him in this way, “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon. Bring me in before the king, and I will explain the solution to the king.”
25 Then Arioch quickly brought Daniel to the king, and he said to him, “I have found a man of the sons of the transmigration of Judah, who would announce the solution to the king.”
26 The king answered and said to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Do you really think that you can reveal to me the dream that I saw and its interpretation?”
27 And Daniel, facing the king, answered and said, “The secret that the king seeks, the wise men, the seers, and the soothsayers are unable to reveal to the king.
28 But there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, who has revealed to you, king Nebuchadnezzar, what will happen in the latter times. Your dream and the visions of your head upon your bed, are such as these.
29 You, O king, began to think, while in your blanket, about what will be hereafter. And he who reveals secrets showed you what will happen.
30 To me, likewise, this mystery is revealed, not according to the wisdom that is in me more than in other living things, but so that the interpretation might be made manifest to the king, and so that you may know the thoughts of your mind.
31 You, O king, saw, and behold, something like a great statue. This statue, which was great and high, stood exalted above you, and you considered how terrible it was.
32 The head of this statue was of the finest gold, but the breast and the arms were of silver, and further on, the belly and the thighs were of brass;
33 but the shins were of iron, a certain part of the feet were of iron and another part were of clay.
34 And so you looked until a stone was broken off without hands from a mountain, and it struck the statue on its feet, which were of iron and clay, and it shattered them.
35 Then the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold were crushed together and diminished like the ashes of a summer courtyard, and they were quickly taken away by the wind, and no place was found for them; but the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
36 This is the dream; we will also tell its interpretation before you, O king.
37 You are a king among kings, and the God of heaven has given to you a kingdom, and fortitude, and power, and glory,
49 Who is the man that shall live, and not see death: that shall deliver his soul from the hand of hell?
50 Lord, where are thy ancient mercies, according to what thou didst swear to David in thy truth?
51 Be mindful, O Lord, of the reproach of thy servants (which I have held in my bosom) of many nations:
52 Wherewith thy enemies have reproached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the change of thy anointed.
53 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. So be it. So be it.
1 Yet truly, Agrippa said to Paul, “It is permitted for you to speak for yourself.” Then Paul, extending his hand, began to offer his defense.
2 I consider myself blessed, O king Agrippa, that I am to give my defense today before you, about everything of which I am accused by the Jews,
3 especially since you know everything that pertains to the Jews, both customs and questions. Because of this, I beg you to listen to me patiently.
4 And certainly, all the Jews know about my life from my youth, which had its beginning among my own people in Jerusalem.
5 They knew me well from the beginning, (if they would be willing to offer testimony) for I lived according to the most determined sect of our religion: as a Pharisee.
6 And now, it is in the hope of the Promise which was made by God to our fathers that I stand subject to judgment.
7 It is the Promise that our twelve tribes, worshiping night and day, hope to see. About this hope, O king, I am accused by the Jews.
8 Why should it be judged so unbelievable with you all that God might raise the dead?
9 And certainly, I myself formerly considered that I ought to act in many ways which are contrary to the name of Jesus the Nazarene.
10 This is also how I acted at Jerusalem. And so, I enclosed many holy persons in prison, having received authority from the leaders of the priests. And when they were to be killed, I brought the sentence.
11 And in every synagogue, frequently while punishing them, I compelled them to blaspheme. And being all the more maddened against them, I persecuted them, even to foreign cities.
12 Thereafter, as I was going to Damascus, with authority and permission from the high priest,
13 at midday, O king, I and those who were also with me, saw along the way a light from heaven shining around me with a splendor greater than that of the sun.
14 And when we had all fallen down to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me in the Hebrew language: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goad.’
15 Then I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.
16 But rise up and stand on your feet. For I appeared to you for this reason: so that I may establish you as a minister and a witness concerning the things that you have seen, and concerning the things that I will show to you:
17 rescuing you from the people and the nations to which I am now sending you,
18 in order to open their eyes, so that they may be converted from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive the remission of sins and a place among the saints, through the faith that is in me.’
19 From then on, O king Agrippa, I was not unbelieving to the heavenly vision.
20 But I preached, first to those who are at Damascus and at Jerusalem, and then to the entire region of Judea, and to the Gentiles, so that they would repent and convert to God, doing the works that are worthy of repentance.
21 It was for this reason that the Jews, having apprehended me when I was in the temple, attempted to kill me.
22 But having been aided by the help of God, even to this day, I stand witnessing to the small and the great, saying nothing beyond what the Prophets and Moses have said would be in the future:
23 that the Christ would suffer, and that he would be the first from the resurrection of the dead, and that he would bring light to the people and to the nations.”
24 While he was speaking these things and presenting his defense, Festus said with a loud voice: “Paul, you are insane! Too much studying has turned you to insanity.”
25 And Paul said: “I am not insane, most excellent Festus, but rather I am speaking words of truth and sobriety.
26 For the king knows about these things. To him also, I am speaking with constancy. For I think that none of these things are unknown to him. And neither were these things done in a corner.
27 Do you believe the Prophets, O king Agrippa? I know that you believe.”
28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “To some extent, you persuade me to become a Christian.”
29 And Paul said, “I hope to God that, both to a small extent and to a great extent, not only you, but also all those who hear me this day will become just as I also am, except for these chains.”
30 And the king rose up, and the governor, and Bernice, and those who were sitting with them.
31 And when they had withdrawn, they were speaking among themselves, saying, “This man has done nothing worthy of death, nor of imprisonment.”
32 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been released, if he had not appealed to Caesar.”
