1 Now the sons of Issachar were Tola and Puah, Jashub and Shimron, four.
2 The sons of Tola: Uzzi, and Rephaiah, and Jeriel, and Jahmai, and Ibsam, and Shemuel, leaders according to the houses of their kindred. From the stock of Tola, there were numbered, in the days of David, twenty-two thousand six hundred very strong men.
3 The sons of Uzzi: Izrahiah, from whom were born: Michael, and Obadiah, and Joel, and Isshiah; all five were leaders.
4 And with them, by their families and peoples, there were thirty-six thousand very strong men, girded for battle. And they had many wives and children.
5 Also, their brothers, throughout all the kindred of Issachar, were numbered as eighty-seven thousand, very fit for battle.
6 The sons of Benjamin: Bela, and Becher, and Jediael, three.
7 The sons of Bela: Ezbon, and Uzzi, and Uzziel, and Jerimoth and Iri, five leaders of families, also very fit for battle; and their number was twenty-two thousand thirty-four.
8 Now the sons of Becher: Zemirah, and Joash, and Eliezer, and Elioenai, and Omri, and Jeremoth, and Abijah, and Anathoth, and Alemeth: all these were sons of Becher.
9 And they were numbered according to their families, by the leaders of their kindred, very strong in warfare, twenty thousand and two hundred.
10 And the sons of Jediael: Bilhan, and the sons of Bilhan: Jeush, and Benjamin, and Ehud, and Chenaanah, and Zethan, and Tarshish, and Ahishahar.
11 All these were sons of Jediael, the leaders of their kindred, very strong men, seventeen thousand and two hundred, going forth to battle.
12 Also, Shuppim and Huppim, the sons of Ir; and Hushim, sons of Aher.
13 Then the sons of Naphtali: Jahziel, and Guni, and Jezer, and Shallum, sons of Bilhah.
14 Also, the son of Manasseh: Asriel. And his concubine, a Syrian, bore Machir, the father of Gilead.
15 Now Machir took wives for his sons, Huppim and Shuppim. And he had a sister named Maacah; but the name of the second was Zelophehad, and daughters were born to Zelophehad.
16 And Maacah, the wife of Machir, bore a son, and she called his name Peresh. And the name of his brother was Sheresh. And his sons were Ulam and Rakem.
17 Then the son of Ulam: Bedan. These are the sons of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh.
18 And his sister, Regina, bore Ishhod, and Abiezer, and Mahlah.
19 Now the sons of Shemida were Ahian, and Shechem, and Likhi and Aniam.
20 And the sons of Ephraim: Shuthelah, Bered his son, Tahath his son, Eleadah his son, Tahath his son, whose son was Zabad,
21 and his son was Shuthelah, and his son was Ezer, and also Elead. But the men indigenous to Gath killed them, because they had descended to invade their possessions.
22 And so their father, Ephraim, mourned for many days; and his brothers arrived, so that they might console him.
23 And he entered to his wife; she conceived and bore a son. And he called his name Beriah, because he rose up during a time of evil for his house.
24 Now his daughter was Sheerah, who built lower and upper Beth-horon, and also Uzzen-sheerah.
25 And Rephah was his son, and Resheph, and Telah, from whom was born Tahan,
26 who conceived Ladan. And his son was Ammihud, who conceived Elishama,
27 from whom was born Nun, who had Joshua as a son.
28 Now their possessions and habitations were: Bethel with her daughters, and toward the east, Naaran, and toward the western region, Gezer and her daughters, as well as Shechem with her daughters, as far as Ayyah with her daughters;
29 also, beside the sons of Manasseh, Bethshean and her daughters, Taanach and her daughters, Megiddo and her daughters, Dor and her daughters. In these places, there lived the sons of Joseph, the son of Israel.
30 The sons of Asher: Imnah, and Ishvah, and Ishvi, and Beriah, and Serah their sister.
31 And the sons of Beriah: Heber, and Malchiel, the same is the father of Birzaith.
32 Now Heber conceived Japhlet, and Shomer, and Hotham, and their sister Shua.
33 The sons of Japhlet: Pasach, and Bimhal, and Ashvath; these are the sons of Japhlet.
34 Then the sons of Shomer: Ahi, and Rohgah, and Jehubbah, and Aram.
35 And the sons of Helem, his brother: Zophah, and Imna, and Shelesh, and Amal.
36 The sons of Zophah: Suah, Harnepher, and Shual, and Beri, and Imrah,
37 Bezer, and Hod, and Shamma, and Shilshah, and Ithran, and Beera.
38 The sons of Jether: Jephunneh, and Pispa, and Ara.
39 Then the sons of Ulla: Arah, and Hanniel, and Rizia.
40 All these were sons of Asher, the leaders of families, elect and very strong rulers among rulers. And the number of those who were of an age that was fit for warfare was twenty-six thousand.
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1 King Nebuchadnezzar made a statue of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and he set it up in the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.
2 Then king Nebuchadnezzar sent to gather together the governors, magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and commanders, and all the leaders of the regions, to come together for the dedication of the statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had raised.
3 Then the governors, magistrates and judges, generals and sovereigns and nobles, who were appointed to power, and all the leaders of the regions were brought together so as to convene for the dedication of the statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had raised. And so they stood before the statue that king Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
4 And a herald proclaimed loudly, “To you it is said, to you peoples, tribes, and languages,
5 that in the hour when you will hear the sound of the trumpet and the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, you must fall down and adore the gold statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar has set up.
6 But if anyone will not bow down and adore, in the same hour he will be cast into a furnace of burning fire.”
7 After this, therefore, as soon as all the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, all the peoples, tribes, and languages fell down and adored the gold statue, which king Nebuchadnezzar had set up.
8 And soon, about the same time, some influential Chaldeans came and accused the Jews,
9 and they said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “O king, live forever.
10 You, O king, have established a decree, so that every man who might hear the sound of the trumpet, the pipe and the lute, the harp and the psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, will prostrate himself and adore the gold statue.
11 But if any man will not fall down and adore, he would be cast into a furnace of burning fire.
12 Yet there are influential Jews, whom you have appointed over the works of the region of Babylon, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. These men, O king, have scorned your decree. They do not worship your gods, and they do not adore the gold statue which you have raised up.”
13 Then Nebuchadnezzar, in fury and in wrath, commanded that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego should be brought, and so, without delay, they were brought before the king.
14 And king Nebuchadnezzar addressed them and said, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, that you do not worship my gods, nor adore the gold statue, which I have set up?
15 Therefore, if you are prepared now, whenever you hear the sound of the trumpet, pipe, lute, harp and psaltery, and of the symphony and every kind of music, prostrate yourselves and adore the statue which I have made. But if you will not adore, in the same hour you will be cast into the furnace of burning fire. And who is the God that will rescue you from my hand?”
16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to king Nebuchadnezzar, “It is not right for us to obey you in this matter.
17 For behold our God, whom we worship, is able to rescue us from the oven of burning fire and to free us from your hands, O king.
18 But even if he will not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not worship your gods, nor adore the gold statue, which you have raised up.”
19 Then Nebuchadnezzar was filled with fury and the appearance of his face was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and he commanded that the furnace should be heated to seven times its usual fire.
20 And he ordered the strongest men of his army to bind the feet of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and to cast them into the furnace of burning fire.
21 And immediately these men were bound, and along with their coats, and their hats, and their shoes, and their garments, were cast into the middle of the furnace of burning fire.
22 But the king’s order was so urgent that the furnace was heated excessively. As a result, those men who had cast in Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, were killed by the flame of the fire.
23 But these three men, that is, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, having been bound, fell down in the middle of the oven of burning fire.
10 The days of our years in them are threescore and ten years. But if in the strong they be fourscore years: and what is more of them is labour and sorrow. For mildness is come upon us: and we shall be corrected.
11 Who knoweth the power of thy anger, and for thy fear
12 Can number thy wrath? So make thy right hand known: and men learned in heart, in wisdom.
13 Return, O Lord, how long? and be entreated in favour of thy servants.
14 We are filled in the morning with thy mercy: and we have rejoiced, and are delighted all our days.
15 We have rejoiced for the days in which thou hast humbled us: for the years in which we have seen evils.
16 Look upon thy servants and upon their works: and direct their children.
17 And let the brightness of the Lord our God be upon us: and direct thou the works of our hands over us; yea, the work of our hands do thou direct.
21 And after they had fasted for a long time, Paul, standing in their midst, said: “Certainly, men, you should have listened to me and not set out from Crete, so as to cause this injury and loss.
22 And now, let me persuade you to be courageous in soul. For there shall be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
23 For an Angel of God, who is assigned to me and whom I serve, stood beside me this night,
24 saying: ‘Do not be afraid, Paul! It is necessary for you to stand before Caesar. And behold, God has given to you all those who are sailing with you.’
25 Because of this, men, be courageous in soul. For I trust God that this will happen in the same way that it has been told to me.
26 But it is necessary for us to arrive at a certain island.”
27 Then, after the fourteenth night arrived, as we were navigating in the sea of Adria, about the middle of the night, the sailors believed that they saw some portion of the land.
28 And upon dropping a weight, they found a depth of twenty paces. And some distance from there, they found a depth of fifteen paces.
29 Then, fearing that we might happen upon rough places, they cast four anchors out of the stern, and they were hoping for daylight to arrive soon.
30 Yet truly, the sailors were seeking a way to flee from the ship, for they had lowered a lifeboat into the sea, on the pretext that they were attempting to cast anchors from the bow of the ship.
31 So Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, “Unless these men remain in the ship, you will not be able to be saved.”
32 Then the soldiers cut the ropes to the lifeboat, and they allowed it to fall.
33 And when it began to be light, Paul requested that they all take food, saying: “This is the fourteenth day that you have been waiting and continuing to fast, taking nothing.
34 For this reason, I beg you to accept food for the sake of your health. For not a hair from the head of any of you shall perish.”
35 And when he had said these things, taking bread, he gave thanks to God in the sight of them all. And when he had broken it, he began to eat.
36 Then they all became more peaceful in soul. And they also took food.
37 Truly, we were two hundred and seventy-six souls on the ship.
38 And having been nourished with food, they lightened the ship, casting the wheat into the sea.
39 And when day had arrived, they did not recognize the landscape. Yet truly, they caught sight of a certain narrow inlet having a shore, into which they thought it might be possible to force the ship.
40 And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves to the sea, at the same time loosing the restraints of the rudders. And so, raising the mainsail to the gusting wind, they pressed on toward the shore.
41 And when we happened upon a place open to two seas, they ran the ship aground. And indeed, the bow, being immobilized, remained fixed, but truly the stern was broken by the violence of the sea.
42 Then the soldiers were in agreement that they should kill the prisoners, lest anyone, after escaping by swimming, might flee.
43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, prohibited it from being done. And he ordered those who were able to swim to jump in first, and to escape, and to get to the land.
44 And as for the others, some they carried on boards, and others on those things that belonged to the ship. And so it happened that every soul escaped to the land.
