David versus Goliath

17 The Philistines^(A) gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh^(B) and Azekah^(C) in Ephes-dammim.^{(D) 2} Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah;^(E) then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.

³ The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. ⁴ Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath,^(F) came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches^[a][b] tall ⁵ and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds.^{[c] 6} There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin^(G) was slung between his shoulders. ⁷ His spear shaft^(H) was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds.^[d] In addition, a shield-bearer^(I) was walking in front of him.

⁸ He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul?^(J) Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. ⁹ If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”^{(K) 10} Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today.^(L) Send me a man so we can fight each other!” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.

¹² Now David was the son of the Ephrathite^(M) from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons^(N) and during Saul’s reign was already an old man. ¹³ Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names^(O) were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third, ¹⁴ and David was the youngest.^(P) The three oldest had followed Saul, ¹⁵ but David kept going back and forth from Saul^(Q) to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

¹⁶ Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand. ¹⁷ One day Jesse had told his son David, “Take this half-bushel^[e] of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread^(R) for your brothers and hurry to their camp. ¹⁸ Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander.^[f] Check on the well-being of your brothers^(S) and bring a confirmation from them. ¹⁹ They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”

²⁰ So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him.

He arrived at the perimeter of the camp^(T) as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. ²¹ Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. ²² David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster^(U) and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. ²³ While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words,^(V) which David heard. ²⁴ When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.

²⁵ Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter.^(W) The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”^(X)

²⁶ David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?^(Y) Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine^(Z) that he should defy the armies^(AA) of the living God?” ^(AB)

²⁷ The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”^(AC)

²⁸ David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him.^(AD) “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart—you came down to see the battle!”

²⁹ “What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.” ³⁰ Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.^(AE)

³¹ What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him. ³² David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him;^(AF) your servant will go^(AG) and fight this Philistine!”

³³ But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”

³⁴ David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth.^(AH) If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur,^[g] strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”^(AI)

Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”^(AJ)

³⁸ Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor. ³⁹ David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰ Instead, he took his staff in his hand^(AK) and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him^(AL) because he was just a youth, healthy^[h](AM) and handsome. ⁴³ He said to David, “Am I a dog^(AN) that you come against me with sticks?” ^[i] Then he cursed David by his gods.^{(AO) 44} “Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!” ^(AP)

⁴⁵ David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel—you have defied him.^{(AQ) 46} Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses^[j] of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,^{(AR) 47} and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves,^(AS) for the battle is the Lord’s.^(AT) He will hand you over to us.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.^{(AU) 49} David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. ⁵⁰ David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. ⁵¹ David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword,^(AV) pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.^{(AW) 52} The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron.^[k](AX) Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road^(AY) to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³ When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. ⁵⁴ David took Goliath’s^[l] head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

^55 [m] When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” ^(AZ)

“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.

⁵⁶ The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”

⁵⁷ When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.^{(BA) 58} Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,”^(BB) David answered.

Israel’s Sons

Judah’s Descendants

³ Judah’s^(B) sons: Er, Onan, and Shelah.^(C) These three were born to him by Bath-shua the Canaanite woman. Er, Judah’s firstborn, was evil in the Lord’s sight, so he put him to death. ⁴ Judah’s daughter-in-law Tamar bore Perez and Zerah to him. Judah had five sons in all.

¹⁸ Caleb son of Hezron had children by his wife Azubah and by Jerioth. These were Azubah’s sons: Jesher, Shobab, and Ardon. ¹⁹ When Azubah died, Caleb married Ephrath, and she bore Hur to him. ²⁰ Hur fathered Uri, and Uri fathered Bezalel. ²¹ After this, Hezron slept with the daughter of Machir the father of Gilead.^(F) Hezron had married her when he was sixty years old, and she bore Segub to him. ²² Segub fathered Jair, who possessed twenty-three towns in the land of Gilead. ²³ But Geshur and Aram captured^[d] Jair’s Villages^[e] along with Kenath and its surrounding villages—sixty towns. All these were the descendants of Machir father of Gilead. ²⁴ After Hezron’s death in Caleb-ephrathah, his wife Abijah bore^[f] Ashhur to him. He was the father of Tekoa.

⁵² These were the descendants of Shobal the father of Kiriath-jearim: Haroeh, half of the Manahathites,^{[h] 53} and the families of Kiriath-jearim—the Ithrites, Puthites, Shumathites, and Mishraites. The Zorathites and Eshtaolites descended from these.

⁵⁴ Salma’s descendants: Bethlehem, the Netophathites, Atroth-beth-joab, and half of the Manahathites, the Zorites, ⁵⁵ and the families of scribes who lived in Jabez—the Tirathites, Shimeathites, and Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of Rechab’s family.

James Martyred and Peter Jailed

12 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, ² and he executed James,^(A) John’s brother, with the sword. ³ When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.^{(B) 4} After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.

Peter Rescued

⁶ When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. ⁷ Suddenly an angel of the Lord^(C) appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.^{(D) 8} “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” ⁹ So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision.^{(E) 10} After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.^(F)

¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.”^{(G) 12} As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark,^(H) where many had assembled and were praying. ¹³ He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate.

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”^{(I) 16} Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed.

¹⁷ Motioning to them with his hand^(J) to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James^(K) and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place.

¹⁸ At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ After Herod had searched and did not find him, he interrogated the guards and ordered their execution. Then Herod went down from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there.^(L)

Herod’s Death

²⁰ Herod had been very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. Together they presented themselves before him. After winning over Blastus, who was in charge of the king’s bedroom, they asked for peace, because their country was supplied with food from the king’s country.^{(M) 21} On an appointed day, dressed in royal robes and seated on the throne, Herod delivered a speech to them. ²² The assembled people began to shout, “It’s the voice of a god and not of a man!” ²³ At once an angel of the Lord^(N) struck him because he did not give the glory to God, and he was eaten by worms and died.^(O)

²⁴ But the word of God spread and multiplied.^{(P) 25} After they had completed their relief mission, Barnabas and Saul returned to^[a] Jerusalem, taking along John who was called Mark.^(Q)