1 Chronicles 4:!

1 Chronicles 4:1 says, The sons of Judah; Pharez, Hezron, and Carmi, and Hur, and Shobal.  Matthew Henry gives Ezra credit for listing the descendants of Judah, since they lasted longer than the rest of Israel in the Promised Land and were the ones to return out of captivity while the others were lost in the kingdom of Babylon.  We should hope that as followers of Christ, we would never lose our obedience to Him, but if we do that we would be the first to return to Him and not be lost to the world of sin.  Of course, if we are truly saved by faith in Jesus Christ, we will never be spiritually lost forever.  Verse two adds, And Reaiah the son of Shobal begat Jahath; and Jahath begat Ahumai, and Lahad. These are the families of the Zorathites. Verse three continues, And these were of the father of Etam; Jezreel, and Ishma, and Idbash: and the name of their sister was Hazelelponi:  Verse four concludes, And Penuel the father of Gedor, and Ezer the father of Hushah. These are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, the father of Bethlehem.  We are told that these are the sons of Hur, the firstborn of Ephratah, and his descendants, and that he was the father, or establisher, of Bethlehem.  Verse five states, And Ashur the father of Tekoa had two wives, Helah and Naarah.  Once more, we have one of the men of Israel having more than one wife.  This seemed quite common in the Old Testament, though it was never God's plan, and was even in opposition to His plan.  We cannot justify going against God's commandments just because everyone else may be doing it.  Verse six adds, And Naarah bare him Ahuzam, and Hepher, and Temeni, and Haahashtari. These were the sons of Naarah.  First, we are told the sons of Ashur with Naarah.  Verse seven continues, And the sons of Helah were, Zereth, and Jezoar, and Ethnan.  Then, we have the sons of Ashur and Helah listed.  We really aren't told which one he married first.  Verse eight concludes, And Coz begat Anub, and Zobebah, and the families of Aharhel the son of Harum.  Verse nine says, And Jabez was more honourable than his brethren: and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, Because I bare him with sorrow.  Matthew Henry points out that we are not told the name of the father of Jabez, but are told that he was more honorable than his brethren.  Again, I will say that who our parents are is unimportant in our relationship to Jesus Christ, but once we accept Him as our Savior and Lord, we need to be known as honorable men and women.  Verse ten adds, And Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, Oh that thou wouldest bless me indeed, and enlarge my coast, and that thine hand might be with me, and that thou wouldest keep me from evil, that it may not grieve me! And God granted him that which he requested.  We hear a lot about the prayer of Jabez, usually to promote asking God for more in life, but I believe the key to his prayer is asking that God be with him and keep him committed to God to keep him from doing evil things.  Material things would just pass away, but his relationship with God will last forever, as will ours.