⁴³ So the Philistine said to David, “^(A)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^(B)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(C)to the birds of the sky and the ^[a]wild animals.” ⁴⁵ But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a ^[b]saber, ^(D)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 ^(E)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, ^(F)so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that this entire assembly may know that ^(G)the Lord does not save by sword or by spear; ^(H)for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will hand you over to us!”

⁴⁸ Then it happened, when the Philistine ^[c]came closer to meet David, that ^(I)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 ^(J)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. ^(K)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 ^[d]as far as the valley, and to the gates of ^(L)Ekron. And the Philistine dead ^[e]lay along the way to ^(M)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.

³ And they said to me, “The remnant there in the ^(A)province who survived the captivity are in great distress and ^(B)disgrace, and ^(C)the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and ^(D)its gates have been burned with fire.”

⁴ Now when I heard these words, ^(E)I sat down and wept and mourned for days; and I was fasting and praying before ^(F)the God of heaven. ⁵ I said, “Please, Lord God of heaven, ^(G)the great and awesome God, ^(H)who keeps the covenant and faithfulness for those who love Him and keep His commandments: ^6 (I)let Your ear now be attentive and Your eyes open, to hear the prayer of Your servant which I am praying before You now, day and night, on behalf of the sons of Israel Your servants, ^(J)confessing the sins of the sons of Israel which we have committed against You; ^(K)I and my father’s house have sinned. ^7 (L)We have acted very corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, nor the statutes, nor the ordinances ^(M)which You commanded Your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember, please, the word which You commanded Your servant Moses, saying, ‘^(N)If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples; ^9 (O)but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though those of you who have been scattered were in the most remote part of the heavens, I ^(P)will gather them from there and bring them ^(Q)to the place where I have chosen to have My name dwell.’ ^10 (R)They are Your servants and Your people whom You redeemed by Your great power and by Your strong hand. ¹¹ Please, Lord, ^(S)may Your ear be attentive to the prayer of Your servant and the prayer of Your servants who delight to ^[a]revere Your name, and please make Your servant successful today and grant him mercy before this man.”

Now I was the ^(T)cupbearer to the king.