The Cupbearer and the Baker

¹Some time later, the king’s cupbearer and baker offended their master, the king of Egypt.

²Pharaoh was angry with his two officers, the chief cupbearer and the chief baker,

³and imprisoned them in the house of the captain of the guard, the same prison where Joseph was confined.

⁴The captain of the guard assigned them to Joseph, and he became their personal attendant.After they had been in custody for some time,

⁵both of these men—the Egyptian king’s cupbearer and baker, who were being held in the prison—had a dream on the same night, and each dream had its own meaning.

⁶When Joseph came to them in the morning, he saw that they were distraught.

⁷So he asked the officials of Pharaoh who were in custody with him in his master’s house, “Why are your faces so downcast today?”

⁸“We both had dreams,” they replied, “but there is no one to interpret them.”Then Joseph said to them, “Don’t interpretations belong to God? Tell me your dreams.”

⁹So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream: “In my dream there was a vine before me,

¹⁰and on the vine were three branches. As it budded, its blossoms opened and its clusters ripened into grapes.

¹¹Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into his cup, and placed the cup in his hand.”

¹²Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three branches are three days.

¹³Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore your position. You will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you did when you were his cupbearer.

¹⁴But when it goes well for you, please remember me and show me kindness by mentioning me to Pharaoh, that he might bring me out of this prison.

¹⁵For I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing for which they should have put me in this dungeon.”

¹⁶When the chief baker saw that the interpretation was favorable, he said to Joseph, “I too had a dream: There were three baskets of white bread on my head.

¹⁷In the top basket were all sorts of baked goods for Pharaoh, but the birds were eating them out of the basket on my head.”

¹⁸Joseph replied, “This is the interpretation: The three baskets are three days.

¹⁹Within three days Pharaoh will lift off your head and hang you on a tree.Then the birds will eat the flesh of your body.”

²⁰On the third day, which was Pharaoh’s birthday, he held a feast for all his officials, and in their presence he lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker.

²¹Pharaoh restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again placed the cup in Pharaoh’s hand.

²²But Pharaoh hanged the chief baker, just as Joseph had described to them in his interpretation.

²³The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot all about him.

David and the Philistines

¹David, however, said to himself, “One of these days now I will be swept away by the hand of Saul. There is nothing better for me than to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will stop searching for me all over Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”

²So David set out with his six hundred men and went to Achish son of Maoch,the king of Gath.

³David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal.

⁴And when Saul learned that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.

⁵Then David said to Achish, “If I have found favor in your eyes, let me be assigned a place in one of the outlying towns, so I can live there. For why should your servant live in the royal city with you?”

⁶That day Achish gave him Ziklag, and to this day it still belongs to the kings of Judah.

⁷And the time that David lived in Philistine territory amounted to a year and four months.

⁸Now David and his men went up and raided the Geshurites, the Girzites, and the Amalekites. (From ancient times these people had inhabited the land extending to Shur and Egypt.)

⁹Whenever David attacked a territory, he did not leave a man or woman alive, but he took the flocks and herds, the donkeys, camels, and clothing.Then he would return to Achish,

¹⁰who would ask him, “What have you raided today?”And David would reply, “The Negev of Judah,” or “The Negev of Jerahmeel,” or “The Negev of the Kenites.”

¹¹David did not leave a man or woman alive to be brought to Gath, for he said, “Otherwise they will report us, saying, ‘This is what David did.’” And this was David’s custom the whole time he lived in Philistine territory.

¹²So Achish trusted David, thinking, “Since he has made himself an utter stench to his people Israel, he will be my servant forever.”

The Priests and Levites Who Returned

¹Now these are the priests and Levites who went up with Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel and with Jeshua:Seraiah, Jeremiah, Ezra,

²Amariah, Malluch,Hattush,

³Shecaniah, Rehum,Meremoth,

⁴Iddo, Ginnethon,Abijah,

⁵Mijamin,Maadiah,Bilgah,

⁶Shemaiah, Joiarib, Jedaiah,

⁷Sallu, Amok, Hilkiah, and Jedaiah.These were the leaders of the priests and their associates in the days of Jeshua.

⁸The Levites were Jeshua, Binnui, Kadmiel, Sherebiah, Judah, and Mattaniah, who, with his associates, led the songs of thanksgiving.

⁹Bakbukiah and Unni, their associates, stood across from them in the services.

¹⁰Jeshua was the father of Joiakim,Joiakim was the father of Eliashib,Eliashib was the father of Joiada,

¹¹Joiada was the father of Jonathan,and Jonathan was the father of Jaddua.

¹²In the days of Joiakim, these were the heads of the priestly families:of the family of Seraiah, Meraiah;of Jeremiah, Hananiah;

¹³of Ezra, Meshullam;of Amariah, Jehohanan;

¹⁴of Malluchi,Jonathan;of Shebaniah,Joseph;

¹⁵of Harim, Adna;of Meraioth,Helkai;

¹⁶of Iddo, Zechariah;of Ginnethon, Meshullam;

¹⁷of Abijah, Zichri;of Miniamin and of Moadiah,Piltai;

¹⁸of Bilgah, Shammua;of Shemaiah, Jonathan;

¹⁹of Joiarib, Mattenai;of Jedaiah, Uzzi;

²⁰of Sallai,Kallai;of Amok, Eber;

²¹of Hilkiah, Hashabiah;and of Jedaiah, Nethanel.

²²In the days of Eliashib, Joiada, Johanan,and Jaddua, during the reign of Darius the Persian, the heads of the families of the Levites and priests were recorded.

²³As for the descendants of Levi, the family heads up to the days of Johanan son of Eliashib were recorded in the Book of the Chronicles.

²⁴The leaders of the Levites were Hashabiah, Sherebiah, and Jeshua son of Kadmiel,along with their associates, who stood across from them to give praise and thanksgiving as one section alternated with the other, as prescribed by David the man of God.

²⁵Mattaniah, Bakbukiah, Obadiah, Meshullam, Talmon, and Akkub were gatekeepers who guarded the storerooms at the gates.

²⁶They served in the days of Joiakim son of Jeshua, the son of Jozadak,and in the days of Nehemiah the governor and Ezra the priest and scribe.

The Dedication of the Wall

²⁷At the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem, the Levites were sought out from all their homes and brought to Jerusalem to celebrate the joyous dedication with thanksgiving and singing, accompanied by cymbals, harps, and lyres.

²⁸The singers were also assembled from the region around Jerusalem, from the villages of the Netophathites,

²⁹from Beth-gilgal, and from the fields of Geba and Azmaveth, for they had built villages for themselves around Jerusalem.

³⁰After the priests and Levites had purified themselves, they purified the people, the gates, and the wall.

³¹Then I brought the leaders of Judah up on the wall, and I appointed two great thanksgiving choirs. One was to proceed along the top of the wallto the right, toward the Dung Gate.

³²Hoshaiah and half the leaders of Judah followed,

³³along with Azariah, Ezra, Meshullam,

³⁴Judah, Benjamin, Shemaiah, Jeremiah,

³⁵and some of the priests with trumpets, and also Zechariah son of Jonathan, the son of Shemaiah, the son of Mattaniah, the son of Micaiah,the son of Zaccur, the son of Asaph,

³⁶and his associates—Shemaiah, Azarel, Milalai, Gilalai, Maai, Nethanel, Judah, and Hanani—with the musical instruments prescribed by David the man of God. Ezra the scribe led the procession.

³⁷At the Fountain Gate they went directly up the steps of the City of David on the ascent to the wall and passed above the house of David to the Water Gate on the east.

³⁸The second thanksgiving choir proceeded to the left, and I followed it with half the people along the top of the wall, past the Tower of the Ovens to the Broad Wall,

³⁹over the Gate of Ephraim, the Jeshanah Gate,the Fish Gate, the Tower of Hananel, and the Tower of the Hundred, as far as the Sheep Gate. And they stopped at the Gate of the Guard.

⁴⁰The two thanksgiving choirs then stood in the house of God, as did I, along with the half of the officials accompanying me,

⁴¹as well as the priests with their trumpets—Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah, and Hananiah—

⁴²and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malchijah, Elam, and Ezer. Then the choirs sang out under the direction of Jezrahiah.

⁴³On that day they offered great sacrifices, rejoicing because God had given them great joy. The women and children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard from afar.

Provisions for Temple Worship

⁴⁴And on that same day men were appointed over the rooms that housed the supplies, contributions, firstfruits, and tithes. The portions specified by the Law for the priests and Levites were gathered into these storerooms from the fields of the villages, because Judah rejoiced over the priests and Levites who were serving.

⁴⁵They performed the service of their God and the service of purification, along with the singers and gatekeepers, as David and his son Solomon had prescribed.

⁴⁶For long ago, in the days of David and Asaph, there were directors for the singers and for the songs of praise and thanksgiving to God.

⁴⁷So in the days of Zerubbabel and Nehemiah, all Israel contributed the daily portions for the singers and gatekeepers. They also set aside daily portions for the Levites, and the Levites set aside daily portions for the descendants of Aaron.

Hear Us, O Shepherd of Israel

¹Hear us, O Shepherd of Israel,who leads Joseph like a flock;You who sit enthroned between the cherubim,shine forth

²before Ephraim, Benjamin, and Manasseh.Rally Your mighty powerand come to save us.

³Restore us, O God,and cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.

⁴O LORD God of Hosts,how long will Your anger smolderagainst the prayers of Your people?

⁵You fed them with the bread of tearsand made them drink the full measure of their tears.

⁶You make us contend with our neighbors;our enemies mock us.

⁷Restore us, O God of Hosts,and cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.

⁸You uprooted a vine from Egypt;You drove out the nations and transplanted it.

⁹You cleared the ground for it,and it took root and filled the land.

¹⁰The mountains were covered by its shade,and the mighty cedars with its branches.

¹¹It sent out its branches to the Sea,and its shoots toward the River.

¹²Why have You broken down its walls,so that all who pass by pick its fruit?

¹³The boar from the forest ravages it,and the creatures of the field feed upon it.

¹⁴Return, O God of Hosts, we pray!Look down from heaven and see!Attend to this vine—

¹⁵the root Your right hand has planted,the son You have raised up for Yourself.

¹⁶Your vine has been cut down and burned;they perish at the rebuke of Your countenance.

¹⁷Let Your hand be upon the man at Your right hand,on the son of man You have raised up for Yourself.

¹⁸Then we will not turn away from You;revive us, and we will call on Your name.

¹⁹Restore us, O LORD God of Hosts;cause Your face to shine upon us,that we may be saved.