³¹ When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. ³² David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”^{(A) 33} Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴ But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father, and whenever a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it and struck it down, rescuing the lamb from its mouth, and if it turned against me, I would catch it by the jaw, strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ David said, “The Lord, who saved me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you!”^(B)

³⁸ Saul clothed David with his armor; he put a bronze helmet on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ David strapped Saul’s sword over the armor, and he tried in vain to walk, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I am not used to them.” So David removed them. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹ The Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was only a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.^{(C) 43} The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.^{(D) 44} The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the field.”^{(E) 45} But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.^{(F) 46} This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head, and I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army this very day to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel^{(G) 47} and that all this assembly may know that the Lord does not save by sword and spear, for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”^(H)

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

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, striking down the Philistine and killing him; there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine; he grasped his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and killed him; then he cut off his head with it.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.^{(I) 52} The troops of Israel and Judah rose up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath^[a] and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.^{(J) 53} The Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴ David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

Being Subject to Authorities

13 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except from God, and those authorities that exist have been instituted by God.^{(A) 2} Therefore whoever resists authority resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment. ³ For rulers are not a terror to good conduct but to bad. Do you wish to have no fear of the authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive its approval,^{(B) 4} for it is God’s agent for your good. But if you do what is wrong, you should be afraid, for the authority^[a] does not bear the sword in vain! It is the agent of God to execute wrath on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore one must be subject, not only because of wrath but also because of conscience.^{(C) 6} For the same reason you also pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s agents, busy with this very thing. ⁷ Pay to all what is due them: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

Love for One Another

⁸ Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.^{(D) 9} The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery; you shall not murder; you shall not steal; you shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”^{(E) 10} Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.^(F)

An Urgent Appeal

¹¹ Besides this, you know what time it is, how it is already the moment for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we became believers;^{(G) 12} the night is far gone; the day is near. Let us then throw off^[b] the works of darkness and put on the armor of light;^{(H) 13} let us walk decently as in the day, not in reveling and drunkenness, not in illicit sex and licentiousness, not in quarreling and jealousy.^{(I) 14} Instead, put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.^(J)

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”^{(A) 56} The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is.” ⁵⁷ On David’s return from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.^{(B) 58} Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”^(C)

Jonathan’s Covenant with David

18 When David^[a] had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.^{(D) 2} Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.^{(E) 3} Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David and his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ David went out and was successful wherever Saul sent him; as a result, Saul set him over the army. And all the people, even the servants of Saul, approved.

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from killing the Philistine, the women came out of all the towns of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.^{[b](F) 7} And the women sang to one another as they made merry,

⁸ Saul was very angry, for this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands; what more can he have but the kingdom?”^{(H) 9} So Saul eyed David from that day on.

Saul Tries to Kill David

¹⁰ The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he raved within his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand,^{(I) 11} and Saul threw the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.^(J)

¹² Saul was afraid of David because the Lord was with him but had departed from Saul.^{(K) 13} So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand, and David marched out and came in, leading the army.^{(L) 14} David had success in all his undertakings, for the Lord was with him.^{(M) 15} When Saul saw that he had great success, he stood in awe of him. ¹⁶ But all Israel and Judah loved David, for it was he who marched out and came in leading them.^(N)

³⁹ He also told them a parable: “Can a blind person guide a blind person? Will not both fall into a pit?^{(A) 40} A disciple is not above the teacher, but every disciple who is fully qualified will be like the teacher.^{(B) 41} Why do you see the speck in your neighbor’s eye but do not notice the log in your own eye? ⁴² Or how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.

A Tree and Its Fruit

⁴³ “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit;^{(C) 44} for each tree is known by its own fruit. For people do not gather figs from thorns, nor do they pick grapes from a bramble bush.^{(D) 45} The good person out of the good treasure of the heart produces good, and the evil person out of evil treasure produces evil, for it is out of the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks.^(E)

The Two Foundations

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I tell you?^{(F) 47} I will show you what someone is like who comes to me, hears my words, and acts on them.^{(G) 48} That one is like a man building a house who dug deeply and laid the foundation on rock; when a flood arose, the river burst against that house but could not shake it because it had been well built.^{[a] 49} But the one who hears and does not act is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the river burst against it, it quickly collapsed, and great was the ruin of that house.”

Jesus Heals a Centurion’s Slave

7 After Jesus^[b] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum.^{(H) 2} A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly and who was ill and close to death. ³ When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. ⁴ When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, “He is worthy to have you do this for him, ⁵ for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us.” ⁶ And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; ⁷ therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me, and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes, and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes, and to my slave, ‘Do this,’ and the slave does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and, turning to the crowd following him, he said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.”^{(I) 10} When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.