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.

David Kills Goliath

³¹ When the words that David spoke were heard, they informed ^[u]Saul, and he ^[v]sent for him. ³² And David said to Saul, “^(AI)May no one’s heart fail on account of him; ^(AJ)your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” ³³ But Saul said to David, “^(AK)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 ^[w]attacked it, and ^(AL)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 ^[x]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, “^(AM)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, “^(AN)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 ^[y]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 ^(AO)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, ^(AP)he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and ^[z](AQ)reddish, with a handsome appearance. ⁴³ So the Philistine said to David, “^(AR)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^(AS)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(AT)to the birds of the sky and the ^[aa]wild animals.” ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a ^[ab]saber, ^(AU)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 ^(AV)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, ^(AW)so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that this entire assembly may know that ^(AX)the Lord does not save by sword or by spear; ^(AY)for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will hand you over to us!”

⁴⁸ Then it happened, when the Philistine ^[ac]came closer to meet David, that ^(AZ)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 ^(BA)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. ^(BB)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 ^[ad]as far as the valley, and to the gates of ^(BC)Ekron. And the Philistine dead ^[ae]lay along the way to ^(BD)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.

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 ^(BE)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 ^(BF)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, “^(BG)I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Moses’ Last Counsel

31 So Moses went and spoke these words to all Israel. ² And he said to them, “I am ^(A)120 years old today; ^(B)I am no longer able to ^[a]go out and come in, and the Lord has told me, ‘^(C)You shall not cross this Jordan.’ ^3 (D)It is the Lord your God who is going to cross ahead of you; He Himself will destroy these nations before you, and you shall dispossess them. ^(E)Joshua is the one who is going to cross ahead of you, just as the Lord has spoken. ⁴ And the Lord will do to them just as He did to Sihon and Og, the kings of the Amorites, and to their land, when He destroyed them. ^5 (F)The Lord will turn them over to you, and you will do to them in accordance with all the commandments which I have commanded you. ^6 (G)Be strong and courageous, ^(H)do not be afraid or in dread of them, for ^(I)the Lord your God is the One who is going with you. ^(J)He will not desert you or abandon you.”

⁷ Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “^(K)Be strong and courageous, for you will go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you will give it to them as an inheritance. ⁸ And ^(L)the Lord is the one who is going ahead of you; He will be with you. ^(M)He will not desert you or abandon you. Do not fear and do not be dismayed.”

⁹ So Moses wrote this Law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi ^(N)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. ¹⁰ Then Moses commanded them, saying, “At the end of every seven years, at the time of ^(O)the year of the release of debts, at the ^(P)Feast of Booths, ¹¹ when all Israel comes ^(Q)to appear before the Lord your God at ^(R)the place which He will choose, ^(S)you shall read this Law before all Israel ^[b]so that they hear it. ¹² Assemble the people, the men, the women, the children, and the stranger who is in your ^[c]town, so that they may hear and ^(T)learn and fear the Lord your God, and be careful to ^[d]follow all the words of this Law. ¹³ And their children, who have not known, will hear and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as you live on the land ^[e]which you are about to cross the Jordan to ^[f]possess.”

Israel Will Fall Away

¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^[g](U)the time for you to die is near; call Joshua and present yourselves at the tent of meeting, and I will commission him.” ^(V)So Moses and Joshua went and presented themselves at the tent of meeting. ^15 (W)And the Lord appeared in the tent in a pillar of cloud, and the pillar of cloud stood at the entrance of the tent. ¹⁶ The Lord said to Moses, “Behold, ^(X)you are about to ^[h]lie down with your fathers; and ^(Y)this people will arise and play the prostitute with the foreign gods of the land into the midst of which they are going, and ^(Z)they will abandon Me and break My covenant which I have made with them. ^17 (AA)Then My anger will be kindled against them on that day, and ^(AB)I will abandon them and ^(AC)hide My face from them, and they will be consumed, and many evils and troubles will find them; so they will say on that day, ‘^(AD)Is it not because our God is not among us that these evils have found us?’ ¹⁸ But I will assuredly hide My face on that day because of all the evil that they will have done, for they will have turned away to other gods.

¹⁹ “Now then, ^(AE)write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the sons of Israel; put it ^[i]on their lips, so that this song may be a witness for Me against the sons of Israel. ^20 (AF)For when I bring them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to their fathers, and they eat and are satisfied and ^(AG)become ^[j]prosperous, then they will turn to other gods and serve them, and spurn Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it will come about, ^(AH)when many evils and troubles find them, that this song will testify before them as a witness (for it shall not be forgotten from the mouth of their ^[k]descendants); for ^(AI)I know their inclination which they are ^[l]developing today, before I bring them into the land which I swore.” ^22 (AJ)So Moses wrote down this song on the same day, and taught it to the sons of Israel.

Joshua Is Commissioned

^23 (AK)Then He commissioned Joshua the son of Nun, and said, “^(AL)Be strong and courageous, for you will bring the sons of Israel into the land which I swore to them, and ^(AM)I will be with you.”

²⁴ It came about, when Moses finished writing the words of this Law in a book until they were complete, ²⁵ that Moses commanded the Levites ^(AN)who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, ²⁶ “Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may ^[m]remain there as a witness against you. ²⁷ For I know ^(AO)your rebellion and ^(AP)your ^[n]stubbornness; behold, as long as I have been alive with you until today, you have been rebellious against the Lord; how much more, then, after my death? ²⁸ Assemble to me all the elders of your tribes and your officers, that I may speak these words in their hearing and ^(AQ)call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against them. ²⁹ For I know that after my death you will ^(AR)behave very corruptly and turn from the way which I have commanded you; and evil will confront you in the latter days, because you will do that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking Him to anger with the work of your hands.”

³⁰ Then Moses spoke in the hearing of all the assembly of Israel the words of this song, until they were complete:

¹⁶ Moreover, the one who ^(A)blasphemes the name of the Lord must be put to death; all the congregation shall certainly stone him. The stranger as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.

Jesus Is the Vine—Followers Are Branches

15 “^(A)I am the true vine, and My Father is the ^(B)vinedresser. ² Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He ^[a]prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. ^3 (C)You are already ^[b]clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. ^4 (D)Remain in Me, ^[c]and I in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit ^[d]of itself ^[e]but must remain in the vine, so neither can you unless you remain in Me. ⁵ I am the vine, you are the branches; the one who remains in Me, and I in him ^[f](E)bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. ⁶ If anyone does not remain in Me, he is ^(F)thrown away like a branch and dries up; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If you remain in Me, and My words remain in you, ^(G)ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. ⁸ My ^(H)Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so ^[g](I)prove to be My disciples. ⁹ Just as ^(J)the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you; remain in My love. ^10 (K)If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love; just as ^(L)I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love. ^11 (M)These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your ^(N)joy may be made full.

Disciples’ Relation to Each Other

¹² “This is ^(O)My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you. ^13 (P)Greater love has no one than this, that a person will ^(Q)lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are My ^(R)friends if ^(S)you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, because ^(T)all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you. ^16 (U)You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and ^(V)bear fruit, and that your fruit would remain, so that ^(W)whatever you ask of the Father in My name He may give to you. ¹⁷ This ^(X)I command you, that you love one another.

Disciples’ Relation to the World

¹⁸ “^(Y)If the world hates you, ^[h]you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. ¹⁹ If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but ^(Z)I chose you out of the world, ^(AA)because of this the world hates you. ²⁰ Remember the word that I said to you, ‘^(AB)A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, ^(AC)they will persecute you as well; if they ^(AD)followed My word, they will follow yours also. ²¹ But all these things they will do to you ^(AE)on account of My name, ^(AF)because they do not know the One who sent Me. ^22 (AG)If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have ^[i]sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. ²³ The one who hates Me hates My Father also. ^24 (AH)If I had not done among them ^(AI)the works which no one else did, they would not have ^[j]sin; but now they have both seen and hated Me and My Father as well. ²⁵ But this has happened so that the word that is written in their ^(AJ)Law will be fulfilled: ‘^(AK)They hated Me for no reason.’

²⁶ “When the ^[k](AL)Helper comes, ^(AM)whom I will send to you from the Father, namely, ^(AN)the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, ^(AO)He will testify about Me, ²⁷ and ^[l](AP)you are testifying as well, because you have been with Me ^(AQ)from the beginning.