David Kills Goliath

³¹ When the words that David spoke were heard, they informed ^[a]Saul, and he ^[b]sent for him. ³² And David said to Saul, “^(A)May no one’s heart fail on account of him; ^(B)your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” ³³ But Saul said to David, “^(C)You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him; for you are only a youth, while he has been a warrior since his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, ³⁵ I went out after it and ^[c]attacked it, and ^(D)rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has ^[d]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ And David said, “^(E)The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “^(F)Go, and may the Lord be with you.” ³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with armor. ³⁹ And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.” And David took them ^[e]off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch, and ^(G)his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Then the Philistine came and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, ^(H)he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and ^[f](I)reddish, with a handsome appearance. ⁴³ So the Philistine said to David, “^(J)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^(K)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(L)to the birds of the sky and the ^[g]wild animals.” ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a ^[h]saber, ^(M)but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. Then I will give the ^(N)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, ^(O)so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that this entire assembly may know that ^(P)the Lord does not save by sword or by spear; ^(Q)for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will hand you over to us!”

⁴⁸ Then it happened, when the Philistine ^[i]came closer to meet David, that ^(R)David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone: he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and ^(S)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. ^(T)When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and they pursued the Philistines ^[j]as far as the valley, and to the gates of ^(U)Ekron. And the Philistine dead ^[k]lay along the way to ^(V)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ Then the sons of Israel returned from their close pursuit of the Philistines, and plundered their camps. ⁵⁴ And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

Be Subject to Government

13 Every ^[a](A)person is to be ^(B)subject to the governing authorities. For ^(C)there is no authority except ^[b]from God, and those which exist are established by God. ² Therefore ^[c]whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. ³ For ^(D)rulers are not a cause of fear for ^[d]good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; ⁴ for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an ^(E)avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. ⁵ Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also ^(F)for the sake of conscience. ⁶ For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. ^7 (G)Pay to all what is due them: ^(H)tax to whom tax is due; ^(I)custom to whom custom; ^[e]respect to whom ^[f]respect; honor to whom honor.

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for ^(J)the one who loves ^[g]his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. ⁹ For this, “^(K)You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “^(L)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love ^[h]does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^(M)love is the fulfillment of the Law.

¹¹ Do this, knowing the time, that it is ^(N)already the hour for you to ^(O)awaken from sleep; for now ^[i]salvation is nearer to us than when we first believed. ^12 (P)The night is almost gone, and ^(Q)the day is near. Therefore let’s rid ourselves of ^(R)the deeds of darkness and put on ^(S)the armor of light. ¹³ Let’s ^[j](T)behave properly as in the day, ^(U)not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual promiscuity and debauchery, not in strife and jealousy. ¹⁴ But ^(V)put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh ^(W)in regard to its lusts.

⁵⁵ Now when Saul had seen David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is ^(A)this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶ And the king said, “You then, ask whose son the youth is.” ⁵⁷ So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and ^(B)brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. ⁵⁸ Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “^(C)I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Jonathan and David

18 Now it came about, when he had finished speaking to Saul, that ^[a](D)Jonathan committed himself to David, and ^(E)Jonathan loved him as himself. ² And Saul took him that day and ^(F)did not let him return to his father’s house. ³ Then ^(G)Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself. ^4 (H)Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his military gear, including his sword, his bow, and his belt. ⁵ And David went into battle wherever Saul sent him, and always ^[b]achieved success; so Saul put him in charge of the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶ Now it happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^(I)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with other ^[c]musical instruments. ⁷ The women ^(J)sang as they ^[d]played, and said,

⁸ Then Saul became very angry, for this lyric ^[e]displeased him; and he said, “They have given David credit for ten thousands, but to me they have given credit for only thousands! Now what more can he have but the ^(M)kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul eyed David with suspicion from that day on.

Saul Turns against David

¹⁰ Now it came about on the next day that ^(N)an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(O)he raved in the midst of the house while David was playing the harp with his hand, ^[f](P)as usual; and ^[g](Q)a spear was in Saul’s hand. ¹¹ Then ^(R)Saul hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will ^[h]pin David to the wall.” But David ^[i]escaped from his presence, twice.

¹² Now ^(S)Saul was afraid of David, ^(T)because the Lord was with him but ^(U)had left Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from ^[j]his presence and appointed him as his commander of a thousand; and ^(V)he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ David was ^[k]successful in all his ways, for ^(W)the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ When Saul saw that he was ^[l]very successful, he was afraid of him. ¹⁶ But ^(X)all Israel and Judah loved David, for he would go out to battle and ^[m]return ^[n]before them.

³⁹ Now He also spoke a parable to them: “^(A)A person who is blind cannot guide another who is blind, can he? Will they not both fall into a pit? ^40 (B)A ^[a]student is not above the teacher; but everyone, when he has been fully trained, will be like his teacher. ⁴¹ Why do you look at the ^[b]speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? ⁴² How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the ^[c]speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the ^[d]speck that is in your brother’s eye. ^43 (C)For there is no good tree that bears bad fruit, nor, ^[e]on the other hand, a bad tree that bears good fruit. ^44 (D)For each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a briar bush. ^45 (E)The good person out of the good ^[f]treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil person out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; ^(F)for his mouth speaks from ^[g]that which fills his heart.

The Parable of the Builders

⁴⁶ “Now ^(G)why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ^47 (H)Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and ^[h]acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: ⁴⁸ he is like a man building a house, who ^[i]dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when there was a flood, the river burst against that house and yet it could not shake it, because it had been well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation; and the river burst against it and it immediately collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 ^(I)When He had completed all His ^[j]teaching in the hearing of the people, ^(J)He went to Capernaum.

² Now a centurion’s slave, who was highly regarded by him, was sick and about to die. ³ When he heard about Jesus, ^(K)he sent some ^[k]Jewish elders to Him, asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they strongly urged Him, saying, “He is worthy for You to grant this to him; ⁵ for he loves our nation, and it was he who built us our synagogue.” ⁶ Now Jesus started on His way with them; but already, when He was not yet far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to Him, “^[l]Lord, do not trouble Yourself further, for I am not worthy for You to enter under my roof; ⁷ for that reason I did not even consider myself worthy to come to You; but just ^[m]say the word, and my servant ^[n]shall be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man placed under authority, with soldiers under myself; and I say to this one, ‘Go!’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come!’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this!’ and he does it.” ⁹ Now when Jesus heard this, He was amazed at him, and turned and said to the crowd that was following Him, “I say to you, ^(L)not even in Israel have I found such great faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.