Now in those days the Philistines gathered their forces for war to fight against Israel. So Achish said to David, "Certainly you realize that you must go out with me in the army, you and your men." David said to Achish, "Very well, you will know what your servant can do." Achish said to David, "Very well, I will make you my bodyguard for life."

(Now Samuel had died, and all Israel had mourned for him, and they had buried him in Ramah, his own city. And Saul had expelled the mediums and the soothsayers from the land.) Then the Philistines assembled and came and encamped at Shunem, so Saul assembled all Israel, and they encamped at Gilboa. When Saul saw the army of the Philistines, he was afraid and his heart trembled greatly. And Saul inquired of Yahweh, but Yahweh did not answer him, not by dreams or by the Urim or by the prophets. So Saul said to his servants, "Search for me a woman who is a medium so that I may go to her and inquire of her." His servants said to him, "Look there is a woman who is a medium in Endor." So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went with two of his men. And they came to the woman by night and he said, "Please consult a spirit for me through the ritual pit, and bring up for me the one whom I tell you." But the woman said to him, "Look, you know what Saul did, how he exterminated the mediums and the soothsayers from the land! Why are you setting a trap for my life to kill me?" Then Saul swore to her by Yahweh, "As Yahweh lives, you will not be punished for this thing." So the woman asked, "Whom shall I bring up for you?" He said, "Bring up Samuel for me." When the woman saw Samuel, she cried out with a loud voice, and the woman said to Saul, "Why did you deceive me? You are Saul!" The king said to her, "Do not be afraid! What do you see?" And the woman said to Saul, "I see a god coming up from the ground!" Then he said to her, "What is his appearance?" She said, "An old man is coming up, and he is wrapped in a robe." Then Saul realized that it was Samuel, and he knelt with his face to the ground and bowed down.

Then Samuel said to Saul, "Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?" And Saul said, "I am in distress! For the Philistines are about to make war against me, but God has turned away from me, and he does not answer me any more, not by the prophets or by the dreams. So I called to you to let me know what I should do." Then Samuel said, "Why do you ask me, since Yahweh has turned away from you and has become your enemy? Yahweh has done to you just as he spoke by my hand! Yahweh has torn the kingdom from your hand and has given it to your neighbor, to David. Because you did not obey Yahweh and did not carry out the fierce anger of his wrath against Amalek, therefore Yahweh has done this thing to you today. And Yahweh will also give Israel with you into the hands of the Philistines, and tomorrow you and your sons will be with me, and Yahweh will also give the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines." Then Saul immediately fell prostrate to the ground, and he was very afraid because of the words of Samuel; there was no more strength in him, for he had not eaten food all day and all night. Then the woman came to Saul and realized that he was absolutely terrified, so she said to him, "Look, your female servant has obeyed you, and I have risked my life. I have listened to your words that you have spoken to me. So then, you also please listen to the voice of your female servant, and let me set before you a morsel of bread, and you eat so that you will have strength in you when you go on your way." But he refused and said, "I will not eat!" However, his servants urged him, and the woman also. So he listened to what they said, and he got up from the ground and sat on the bed. Now the woman had a fattened bull calf in the house, so she quickly slaughtered it and took flour, kneaded dough, and baked him some unleavened bread. She brought it before Saul and his servants, and they ate. Then they got up and went away that very night.

Now the Philistines assembled all their forces at Aphek, and Israel was encamped at the spring that is in Jezreel. The rulers of the Philistines were passing on according to hundreds and thousands, David and his men passing on at the rear with Achish. Then the commanders of the Philistines said, "What are these Hebrews doing here?" And Achish said to the commanders of the Philistines, "Is this not David, the servant of Saul, the king of Israel, who has been with me for days and years? I have not found anything threatening in him from the day of his desertion until this day!" But the commanders of the Philistines were angry with him and they said to him, "Send the man back so that he might return to his place where you have assigned him! But he will not go down with us into the battle, so that he does not become an adversary to us in the battle. By what could this fellow make himself favorable to his lord? Is it not with the heads of these men? Is this not David about whom they sing in the dances, saying,

So Achish called David and said to him, "As Yahweh lives, certainly you were honest, and I am pleased to have you marching with me in the campaign. For I have not found any wrong in you from the day you came to me until this day, but in the eyes of the rulers, you are not good. So then, return and go in peace, so that you do not do something that displeases the rulers of the Philistines." Then David said to Achish, "But what have I done? And what have you found in your servant from the day that I entered your service until this day, that I should not go and fight against the enemies of my lord the king?" And Achish answered and said to David, "I know that you are good in my eyes, like an angel of God! However, the commanders of the Philistines have said, ‘He must not go up with us into the battle.’ So then, rise early in the morning, you and the servants of your lord who came with you. When you rise early in the morning and it is light enough for you, leave. So David set out early, he and his men, to leave in the morning to return to the land of the Philistines, but the Philistines went up to Jezreel.

So all Israel was enrolled in genealogy. And behold, they were written in the book of the kings of Israel. And Judah was taken away to Babylon on account of their sin. Now the first inhabitants who were settled on their property in their cities in Israel were the priests, the Levites, and the temple servants. And some of the people of Judah, Benjamin, Ephraim, and Manasseh lived in Jerusalem: Uthai the son of Ammihud, son of Omri, son of Imri, son of Bani, from the sons of Perez, the son of Judah. And from the Shilonites: Asaiah the firstborn and his sons. And from the sons of Zerah: Jeuel and their brethren, six hundred and ninety. And from the sons of Benjamin: Sallu the son of Meshullam, son of Hodaviah, the son of Hassenuah; Ibneah the son of Jeroham; Elah the son of Uzzi, son of Michri; Meshullam the son of Shephatiah, son of Reuel, son of Ibnijah; and their brethren according to their generations, nine hundred and fifty-six. All these men were the heads of the families in the house of their fathers.

And from the priests: Jedaiah; Jehoiarib; Jakin; Azariah son of Hilkiah, son of Meshullam, son of Zadok, son of Meraioth, son of Ahitub, the commander of the house of God; Adaiah son of Jeroham, son of Pashhur, son of Malkijah; Maasai the son of Adiel, son of Jahzerah, son of Meshullam, son of Meshillemith, son of Immer; and their kinsmen, heads of the house of their fathers, one thousand seven hundred and sixty mighty men for the work of the service of the house of God.

And from the Levites: Shemaiah son of Hasshub, son of Azrikam, son of Hashabiah, from the sons of Merari; Bakbakkar; Heresh; Galal; Mattaniah the son of Mica, son of Zicri, son of Asaph; Obadiah the son of Shemaiah, son of Galal, son of Jeduthun; and Berechiah the son of Asa, son of Elkanah, who lived in the villages of Netophathite.

And the gatekeepers were Shallum, Akkub, Talmon, Ahiman, and their brethren (Shallum was the chief); until then they were gatekeepers at the gate of the king on the east side toward the camps of the Levites. And Shallum the son of Kore, son of Ebiasaph, son of Korah, and his kinsmen of the house of his fathers, the Korahites, were over the work of the service, the guardians of the entrances to the tent, and their fathers were over the camp of Yahweh, guardians of the entrance. And Phinehas the son of Eleazar was the leader over them in time past; Yahweh was with him. Zechariah the son of Meshelemiah was gatekeeper at the doorway to the tent of assembly. All of them were chosen as gatekeepers at the entrances, two hundred and twelve. They were enrolled by genealogies in their villages. They were established by David and Samuel the seer on account of their faithfulness. So they and their sons were over the gates of the house of Yahweh at the house of the tent as guards. The gatekeepers were on four sides: east, west, north, and south. And their brethren in their villages were to come every seven days by turn to be with these. For the four mighty gatekeepers, they who were Levites, were entrusted and were over the chambers and over the storerooms of the house of God. And they lodged all around the house of God, for upon them was a responsibility. And they had charge of opening the house of God every morning.

And some of them were over the utensils of the service, for they count them when they are brought in and they count them when they are brought out. And some of them were appointed over the objects, over the objects of the sanctuary, and over the wheat flour and the wine, the olive oil, the frankincense, and the spices. And some of the sons of the priests mixed the fragrant ointment for the spices. And Mattithiah, one of the Levites, was the firstborn of Shallum the Korahite and was entrusted with the work of the pan breads. And from the sons of the Kohathites, some of their kinsmen were over the showbread to prepare it every Sabbath.

Now these were the singers; the heads of the families of the Levites were in the chambers free from other service, for day and night they were over them on the service. These were the heads of the families of the Levites according to their genealogies, leaders. These lived in Jerusalem.

And these lived in Gibeon: Jeiel the father of Gibeon. And the name of his wife was Maacah. And his firstborn son Abdon, and Zur, Kish, Baal, Ner, Nadab, Gedor, Ahio, Zechariah, and Mikloth. And Mikloth fathered Shimeam. And they also lived nearby their brothers in Jerusalem with their brothers. And Ner fathered Kish, and Kish fathered Saul, and Saul fathered Jonathan, Malchi-Shua, Abinadab, and Eshbaal. And the son of Jonathan was Meribaal. And Meribaal fathered Micah. And the sons of Micah were Pithon, Melech, Tahrea, and Ahaz. And Ahaz fathered Jarah, and Jarah fathered Alemeth, Azmaveth, and Zimri. And Zimri fathered Moza, and Moza fathered Binea; and Rephaiah was his son, Eleasah his son, Azel his son. And Azel had six sons, and these are their names: Azrikam, Bokeru, Ishmael, Sheariah, Obadiah, and Hanan. These were the sons of Azel.

And it happened that while Apollos was in Corinth, Paul traveled through the inland regions and came to Ephesus and found some disciples. And he said to them, "Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" And they said to him, "But we have not even heard that there is a Holy Spirit!" And he said, "Into what then were you baptized?" And they said, "Into the baptism of John." And Paul said, "John baptized with a baptism of repentance, telling the people that they should believe in the one who was to come after him—that is, in Jesus." And when they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul laid hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them and they began to speak in tongues and to prophesy. (Now the total number of men was about twelve.)

So he entered into the synagogue and was speaking boldly for three months, discussing and attempting to convince them concerning the kingdom of God. But when some became hardened and were disobedient, reviling the Way before the congregation, he departed from them and took away the disciples, leading discussions every day in the lecture hall of Tyrannus. And this took place for two years, so that all who lived in Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

And God was performing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, so that even handkerchiefs or work aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to those who were sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them. But some itinerant Jewish exorcists also attempted to pronounce the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches!" (Now seven sons of a certain Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, were doing this.) But the evil spirit answered and said to them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am acquainted with, but who are you?" And the man who had the evil spirit leaped on them, subdued all of them, and prevailed against them, so that they ran away from that house naked and wounded. And this became known to all who lived in Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks, and fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was exalted. And many of those who had believed came, confessing and disclosing their practices, and many of those who practiced magic brought together their books and burned them up in the sight of everyone. And they counted up their value and found it was fifty thousand silver coins. In this way the word of the Lord was growing in power and was prevailing.

Now when these things were completed, Paul resolved in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia, saying, "After I have been there, it is necessary for me to see Rome also." So after sending two of those who were assisting him, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, he himself stayed some time in Asia.

Now there happened at that time no little disturbance concerning the Way. For someone named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver replicas of the temple of Artemis, was bringing no little business to the craftsmen. These he gathered together, and the workers occupied with such things, and said, "Men, you know that from this business we get our prosperity, and you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this man Paul has persuaded and turned away a large crowd by saying that the gods made by hands are not gods. So not only is there a danger this line of business of ours will come into disrepute, but also the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be regarded as nothing—and she is about to be brought down even from her grandeur, she whom the whole of Asia and the entire world worship!"

And when they heard this and became full of rage, they began to shout, saying, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" And the city was filled with the tumult, and with one purpose they rushed into the theater, seizing Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were traveling companions of Paul. But when Paul wanted to enter into the popular assembly, the disciples would not let him. And even some of the Asiarchs who were his friends sent word to him and were urging him not to risk himself by going into the theater. So some were shouting one thing and some another, for the assembly was in confusion, and the majority did not know why they had assembled. And some of the crowd advised Alexander, when the Jews put him forward. But Alexander, motioning with his hand, was wanting to defend himself to the popular assembly. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, they were shouting with one voice from all of them for about two hours, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" And when the city secretary had quieted the crowd, he said, "Ephesian men, for who is there among men who does not know the Ephesian city is honorary temple keeper of the great Artemis and of her image fallen from heaven? Therefore because these things are undeniable, it is necessary that you be quiet and do nothing rash! For you have brought these men here who are neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. If then Demetrius and the craftsmen who are with him have a complaint against anyone, the court days are observed and there are proconsuls—let them bring charges against one another! But if you desire anything further, it will be settled in the lawful assembly. For indeed we are in danger of being accused of rioting concerning today, since there is no cause in relation to which we will be able to give an account concerning this disorderly gathering!" And when he had said these things, he dismissed the assembly.