Born Again to a Living Hope

^3 (A)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ^(B)According to his great mercy, ^(C)he has caused us to be born again to a living hope ^(D)through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to ^(E)an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and ^(F)unfading, ^(G)kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who by God's power are being guarded ^(H)through faith for a salvation ^(I)ready to be revealed in the last time.

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines ^(A)gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at ^(B)Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and ^(C)Azekah, in ^(D)Ephes-dammim.

⁴ And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named ^(A)Goliath of ^(B)Gath, whose height was six^[a] cubits^[b] and a span. ⁵ He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels^[c] of bronze. ⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a ^(C)javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. ^(D)And his shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and ^(E)are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants ^(F)and serve us.” ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, ^(G)“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰ And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to ^(A)the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. ²¹ And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. ²² And David left the ^(B)things in charge of the keeper of the ^(C)baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. ²³ As he talked with them, behold, ^(D)the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke ^(E)the same words as before. And David heard him.

³² And David said to Saul, ^(A)“Let no man's heart fail because of him. ^(B)Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³ And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. ³⁶ Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, ^(C)for he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ And David said, ^(D)“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, ^(E)and the Lord be with you!”

³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, ³⁹ and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, ^(F)with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ^(G)ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^(H)a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(I)to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with ^(J)a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^(K)whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. ^(L)And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ^(M)to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^(N)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that ^(O)the Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^(P)For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

6 ^(A)Working together with him, then, ^(B)we appeal to you ^(C)not to receive the grace of God in vain. ² For he says,

Behold, ^(E)now is the ^(F)favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation. ³ We ^(G)put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, ⁴ but ^(H)as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: ^(I)by great endurance, ^(J)in afflictions, ^(K)hardships, calamities, ^5 (L)beatings, imprisonments, ^(M)riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; ^6 (N)by purity, ^(O)knowledge, patience, kindness, ^(P)the Holy Spirit, ^(Q)genuine love; ⁷ by ^(R)truthful speech, and ^(S)the power of God; with ^(T)the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; ⁸ through honor and dishonor, ^(U)through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; ⁹ as unknown, and ^(V)yet well known; ^(W)as dying, and behold, we live; ^(X)as punished, and yet not killed; ^10 (Y)as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; ^(Z)as poor, yet making many rich; ^(AA)as having nothing, ^(AB)yet possessing everything.

¹¹ We have spoken freely to you,^[a] Corinthians; ^(AC)our heart is wide open. ¹² You are not restricted by us, but ^(AD)you are restricted in your own affections. ^13 (AE)In return (I speak ^(AF)as to children) widen your hearts also.

Create in Me a Clean Heart, O God

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David, when ^(A)Nathan the prophet went to him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba.

Blessed Are the Forgiven

A Maskil^[a] of David.