Samuel Goes to Bethlehem

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “^(A)How long are you going to mourn for ^[a]Saul, since ^(B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(C)Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to ^(D)Jesse the Bethlehemite, because I have ^(E)chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “^(F)Take a heifer ^[b]with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^(G)I will let you know what you shall do; and ^(H)you shall anoint for Me the one whom I ^[c]designate to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord told him, and he came to ^(I)Bethlehem. Then the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^(J)Do you come in peace?” ⁵ And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(K)Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they entered, he looked at ^(L)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is standing before Him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[d]God does not see as man sees, since man looks at ^[e]the outward appearance, ^(M)but the Lord looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(N)Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel. But he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ⁹ Next Jesse had ^[f](O)Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” ¹⁰ So Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the boys?” And he said, “^(P)The youngest is still left, but behold, he is tending the sheep.” So Samuel said to Jesse, “Send word and bring him; for we will not take our places at the table until he comes here.”

David Anointed

¹² So he sent word and brought him in. Now he was ^[g]reddish, with ^(Q)beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “^(R)Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” ¹³ So Samuel took the horn of oil and ^(S)anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(T)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel set out and went to Ramah.

^14 (U)Now the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, and ^(V)an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrifying you. ¹⁶ May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that ^(W)he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.” ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Now select for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of the young men responded and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^(X)a valiant mighty man, a warrior, skillful in speech, and a handsome man; and ^(Y)the Lord is with him.” ¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse ^[h]to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the flock.” ²⁰ And Jesse ^(Z)took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine, and he took a young goat, and sent them to Saul by his son David. ²¹ Then David came to Saul and ^[i](AA)attended him; and Saul greatly loved him, and he became his armor bearer. ²² So Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David now ^[j]be my attendant for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ So it came about whenever ^(AB)the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would feel relieved and become well, and the evil spirit would leave him.

Dedicated Service

12 Therefore ^(A)I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to ^(B)present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, ^[a]acceptable to God, which is your ^[b]spiritual service of worship. ² And do not ^(C)be conformed to ^(D)this ^[c]world, but be transformed by the ^(E)renewing of your mind, so that you may ^[d](F)prove what the will of God is, that which is good and ^[e]acceptable and perfect.

³ For through ^(G)the grace given to me I say to everyone among you ^(H)not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to ^(I)each a measure of faith. ⁴ For ^(J)just as we have many parts in one body and all ^[f]the body’s parts do not have the same function, ⁵ so we, ^(K)who are many, are ^(L)one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another. ⁶ However, since we have gifts that ^(M)differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if ^(N)prophecy, ^[g]in proportion to one’s faith; ⁷ if ^[h](O)service, in the act of serving; or the one who ^(P)teaches, in the act of teaching; ⁸ or the one who ^[i](Q)exhorts, in the work of ^[j]exhortation; the one who gives, with ^[k](R)generosity; ^(S)the one who ^[l]is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with ^(T)cheerfulness.

^9 [m](U)Love must be free of hypocrisy. ^(V)Detest what is evil; cling to what is good. ¹⁰ Be ^(W)devoted to one another in brotherly love; ^[n]give preference to one another ^(X)in honor, ¹¹ not lagging behind in diligence, ^(Y)fervent in spirit, ^(Z)serving the Lord; ^12 (AA)rejoicing in hope, ^(AB)persevering in tribulation, ^(AC)devoted to prayer, ^13 (AD)contributing to the needs of the ^[o]saints, ^[p](AE)practicing hospitality.

^14 (AF)Bless those who persecute ^[q]you; bless and do not curse. ^15 (AG)Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. ^16 (AH)Be of the same mind toward one another; ^(AI)do not be ^[r]haughty in mind, but ^[s]associate with the lowly. ^(AJ)Do not be wise in your own estimation. ^17 (AK)Never repay evil for evil to anyone. ^[t](AL)Respect what is right in the sight of all people. ¹⁸ If possible, ^(AM)so far as it depends on you, ^(AN)be at peace with all people. ^19 (AO)Never take your own revenge, beloved, but ^[u]leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written: “^(AP)Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. ²⁰ “^(AQ)But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” ²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Goliath’s Challenge

17 Now ^(A)the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between ^(B)Socoh and ^(C)Azekah, in ^(D)Ephes-dammim. ² Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and camped in ^(E)the Valley of Elah, and they drew up in battle formation to confront the Philistines. ³ The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side, while Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. ⁴ Then a champion came forward from the army encampment of the Philistines, named ^(F)Goliath, from ^(G)Gath. His height was ^[a]six cubits and a ^[b]span. ⁵ And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scale-armor ^[c]which weighed ^[d]five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶ He also had bronze ^[e]greaves on his legs and a ^(H)bronze ^[f]saber slung between his shoulders. ^7 (I)The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed ^[g]six hundred shekels of iron; and ^(J)his shield-carrier walked in front of him. ⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle formation? Am I not the Philistine, and you the ^(K)servants of Saul? Choose a man as your representative and have him come down to me. ^9 (L)If he is able to fight me and ^[h]kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and ^[i]kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰ Then the Philistine said, “^(M)I have defied the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man, so that we may fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very fearful.

¹² Now David was ^(N)the son of ^[j]the ^(O)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, the man whose name was Jesse, and ^(P)he had eight sons. And ^[k]Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. ¹³ The three older sons of Jesse had ^[l]followed Saul to the battle. And ^(Q)the names of his three sons who had gone into the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and second to him, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah. ¹⁴ So ^(R)David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul, ^15 (S)but David went back and forth from Saul ^(T)to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem. ¹⁶ And the Philistine came forward morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to his son David, “^(U)Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers. ^18 (V)Bring also these ten slices of cheese to the commander of their thousand, ^(W)and look into the well-being of your brothers and bring back ^[m]confirmation from them. ¹⁹ For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.”

David Accepts the Challenge

²⁰ So David got up early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper, and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the ^(X)entrenchment encircling the camp while the army was going out in battle formation, shouting the war cry. ²¹ Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle formation, army against army. ²² Then David left the ^(Y)baggage in the ^[n]care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line. And he entered and ^[o]greeted his brothers. ²³ As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke ^(Z)these same words; and David heard him.

²⁴ When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were very fearful. ²⁵ And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will make the man who kills him wealthy with great riches, and ^(AA)will give him his daughter and make his father’s house ^[p]free in Israel.”

²⁶ Then David said to the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and rids Israel of ^(AB)the disgrace? For who is this ^(AC)uncircumcised Philistine, that he has dared to ^(AD)defy the armies of ^(AE)the living God?” ²⁷ The people ^[q]answered him in agreement with this statement, saying, “^(AF)This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸ Now Eliab his oldest brother heard him when he spoke to the men; and ^(AG)Eliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why is it that you have come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” ²⁹ But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a ^[r]question?” ³⁰ Then he turned ^[s]away from him to another and ^(AH)said the same thing; and the people replied with the same words as ^[t]before.

The Beatitudes

²⁰ And He raised His eyes toward His disciples and began saying, “^(A)Blessed are ^[a]you who are poor, for ^(B)yours is the kingdom of God. ²¹ Blessed are ^[b]you who are hungry now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are ^[c]you who weep now, for you will laugh. ^22 (C)Blessed are you when the people hate you, and when they ^[d](D)exclude you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man. ²³ Rejoice on that day and ^(E)jump for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For their fathers used to ^[e]treat the prophets ^(F)the same way. ²⁴ But woe to ^(G)you who are rich, for ^(H)you are receiving your comfort in full. ²⁵ Woe to you who ^[f]are well-fed now, for you will be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. ²⁶ Woe to you when all the people speak well of you; for their fathers used to ^[g]treat the ^(I)false prophets the same way.

²⁷ “But I say to you who hear, ^(J)love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, ²⁸ bless those who curse you, ^(K)pray for those who are abusive to you. ^29 (L)Whoever hits you on the cheek, offer him the other also; and whoever takes away your ^[h]cloak, do not withhold your ^[i]tunic from him either. ³⁰ Give to everyone who asks of you, and whoever takes away what is yours, do not demand it back. ^31 [j](M)Treat people the same way you want them to ^[k]treat you. ^32 (N)If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. ³³ And if you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners do the same. ^34 (O)And if you lend to those from whom you expect to receive, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners in order to receive back the same amount. ³⁵ But ^(P)love your enemies and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be ^(Q)sons of ^(R)the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil people. ^36 [l]Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

³⁷ “^(S)Do not ^[m]judge, and you will not be judged; and do not ^[n]condemn, and you will not be condemned; ^[o](T)pardon, and you will be pardoned. ³⁸ Give, and it will be given to you. They will ^[p]pour ^(U)into your lap a ^(V)good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return.”