27 (A)“Benjamin is a ravenous wolf,
    in the morning devouring the prey
    and at evening (B)dividing the spoil.”

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27 (A)Her princes in her midst are like wolves (B)tearing the prey, (C)shedding blood, destroying lives to get dishonest gain.

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25 And Benjamin (A)went against them out of Gibeah the second day, and destroyed 18,000 men of the people of Israel. All these were men who (B)drew the sword.

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21 (A)The people of Benjamin came out of Gibeah and destroyed on that day 22,000 men of the Israelites.

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21 And (A)the sons of Benjamin: Bela, Becher, Ashbel, Gera, Naaman, Ehi, Rosh, Muppim, Huppim, and Ard.

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18 And as her soul was departing (for she was dying), she called his name Ben-oni;[a] (A)but his father called him Benjamin.[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Genesis 35:18 Ben-oni could mean son of my sorrow, or son of my strength
  2. Genesis 35:18 Benjamin means son of the right hand

(A)circumcised on the eighth day, (B)of the people of Israel, (C)of the tribe of Benjamin, (D)a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, (E)a Pharisee;

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29 I (A)know that after my departure (B)fierce wolves will come in among you, (C)not sparing the flock;

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The Conversion of Saul

But Saul, (A)still (B)breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to (C)the high priest

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But (A)Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he (B)dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.

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Persecution Will Come

16 (A)“Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be (B)wise as serpents and (C)innocent as doves.

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(A)Her officials within her
    are roaring lions;
her judges are (B)evening wolves
    that leave nothing till the morning.

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So (A)I am to them like a lion;
    (B)like a leopard I will lurk beside the way.
I will fall upon them (C)like a bear robbed of her cubs;
    I will tear open their breast,
and there I will devour them like a lion,
    (D)as a wild beast would rip them open.

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25 (A)The conspiracy of her prophets in her midst is (B)like a roaring lion (C)tearing the prey; they have devoured human lives; they have taken treasure and precious things; they have made many widows in her midst.

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Therefore (A)a lion from the forest shall strike them down;
    a (B)wolf from the desert shall devastate them.
(C)A leopard is watching their cities;
    everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces,
because their transgressions are many,
    their (D)apostasies are great.

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David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines (A)gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at (B)Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and (C)Azekah, in (D)Ephes-dammim. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in (E)the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named (F)Goliath of (G)Gath, whose height was six[a] cubits[b] and a span. He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels[c] of bronze. And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a (H)javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. (I)And his shield-bearer went before him. He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and (J)are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants (K)and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, (L)“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was (M)the son of an (N)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, (O)named Jesse, (P)who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[d] 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And (Q)the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 (R)David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul (S)to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah[e] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 (T)Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. (U)See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”

19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to (V)the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the (W)things in charge of the keeper of the (X)baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, (Y)the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke (Z)the same words as before. And David heard him.

24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to (AA)defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches (AB)and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away (AC)the reproach from Israel? For who is this (AD)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should (AE)defy the armies of (AF)the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, (AG)“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke (AH)in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, (AI)“Let no man's heart fail because of him. (AJ)Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, (AK)for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, (AL)“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, (AM)and the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, (AN)with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, (AO)ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I (AP)a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh (AQ)to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with (AR)a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, (AS)whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. (AT)And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day (AU)to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, (AV)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that (AW)the Lord saves not with sword and spear. (AX)For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

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

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine (AY)and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, (AZ)they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath[f] and the gates of (BA)Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from (BB)Shaaraim as far as (BC)Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took (BD)the head of the Philistine (BE)and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, (BF)the commander of the army, “Abner, (BG)whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, (BH)“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul (BI)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, (BJ)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four
  2. 1 Samuel 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  3. 1 Samuel 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  4. 1 Samuel 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men
  5. 1 Samuel 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  6. 1 Samuel 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai

Jonathan Defeats the Philistines

14 One day Jonathan the son of Saul said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the Philistine garrison on the other side.” But he did not tell his father. Saul was staying in the outskirts of Gibeah in the pomegranate cave[a] at (A)Migron. The people who were with him were about (B)six hundred men, including (C)Ahijah the son of Ahitub, (D)Ichabod's brother, son of Phinehas, son of Eli, the priest of the Lord (E)in Shiloh, (F)wearing an ephod. And the people did not know that Jonathan had gone. Within (G)the passes, by which Jonathan sought to go over to the Philistine garrison, there was a rocky crag on the one side and a rocky crag on the other side. The name of the one was Bozez, and the name of the other Seneh. The one crag rose on the north in front of Michmash, and the other on the south in front of (H)Geba.

Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these (I)uncircumcised. It may be that the Lord will work for us, (J)for nothing can hinder the Lord from saving by many or by few.” And his armor-bearer said to him, “Do all that is in your heart. Do as you wish.[b] Behold, I am with you heart and soul.” Then Jonathan said, “Behold, we will cross over to the men, and we will show ourselves to them. If they say to us, ‘Wait until we come to you,’ then we will stand still in our place, and we will not go up to them. 10 But if they say, ‘Come up to us,’ then we will go up, for the Lord has given them into our hand. And this shall be the sign to us.” 11 So both of them showed themselves to the garrison of the Philistines. And the Philistines said, “Look, Hebrews are coming (K)out of the holes where they have hidden themselves.” 12 And the men of the garrison hailed Jonathan and his armor-bearer and said, “Come up to us, and we will show you a thing.” And Jonathan said to his armor-bearer, “Come up after me, for the Lord has given them into the hand of Israel.” 13 Then Jonathan climbed up on his hands and feet, and his armor-bearer after him. And they fell before Jonathan, and his armor-bearer killed them after him. 14 And that first strike, which Jonathan and his armor-bearer made, killed about twenty men within as it were half a furrow's length in an acre[c] of land. 15 And there was a panic in the camp, in the field, and among all the people. The garrison and even (L)the raiders trembled, the earth quaked, and it became a very great panic.[d]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 14:2 Or under the pomegranate [tree]
  2. 1 Samuel 14:7 Septuagint Do all that your mind inclines to
  3. 1 Samuel 14:14 Hebrew a yoke
  4. 1 Samuel 14:15 Or became a panic from God

When the messengers came to (A)Gibeah of Saul, they reported the matter in the ears of the people, (B)and all the people wept aloud.

Now, behold, Saul was coming from the field behind the oxen. And Saul said, “What is wrong with the people, that they are weeping?” So they told him the news of the men of Jabesh. (C)And the Spirit of God rushed upon Saul when he heard these words, and his anger was greatly kindled. He took a yoke of oxen (D)and cut them in pieces and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hand of the messengers, saying, (E)“Whoever does not come out after Saul and Samuel, so shall it be done to his oxen!” Then the dread of the Lord fell upon the people, and they came out (F)as one man. When he mustered them at (G)Bezek, (H)the people of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. And they said to the messengers who had come, “Thus shall you say to the men of Jabesh-gilead: ‘Tomorrow, by the time the sun is hot, you shall have (I)salvation.’” When the messengers came and told the men of Jabesh, they were glad. 10 Therefore the men of Jabesh said, (J)“Tomorrow we will give ourselves up to you, and you may do to us whatever seems good to you.” 11 (K)And the next day Saul put the people (L)in three companies. And they came into the midst of the camp in the morning watch and struck down the Ammonites until the heat of the day. And those who survived were scattered, so that no two of them were left together.

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15 Then the people of Israel (A)cried out to the Lord, and the Lord raised up for them (B)a deliverer, Ehud, the son of Gera, the Benjaminite, (C)a left-handed man. The people of Israel sent tribute by him to Eglon the king of Moab. 16 And Ehud made for himself a sword with two edges, a cubit[a] in length, and he bound it on his right thigh under his clothes. 17 And he presented the tribute to Eglon king of Moab. Now Eglon was a very fat man. 18 And when Ehud had finished presenting the tribute, he sent away the people who carried the tribute. 19 But he himself turned back (D)at the idols near Gilgal and said, “I have a secret message for you, O king.” And he commanded, “Silence.” And all his attendants went out from his presence. 20 And Ehud came to him as he was sitting alone in his (E)cool roof chamber. (F)And Ehud said, “I have a message from God for you.” And he arose from his seat. 21 And Ehud reached with his left hand, took the sword from his right thigh, and thrust it into his belly. 22 And the hilt also went in after the blade, and the fat closed over the blade, for he did not pull the sword out of his belly; and the dung came out. 23 Then Ehud went out into the porch[b] and closed the doors of the roof chamber behind him (G)and locked them.

24 When he had gone, the servants came, and when they saw that the doors of the roof chamber were locked, they thought, (H)“Surely he is relieving himself in the closet of the cool chamber.” 25 And they waited till they were embarrassed. But when he still did not open the doors of the roof chamber, they took the key and opened them, and there lay their lord dead on the floor.

26 Ehud escaped while they delayed, and he passed beyond (I)the idols and escaped to Seirah. 27 When he arrived, (J)he sounded the trumpet in (K)the hill country of Ephraim. Then the people of Israel went down with him from the hill country, and he was their leader. 28 And he said to them, “Follow after me, (L)for the Lord has given your enemies the Moabites into your hand.” So they went down after him and seized (M)the fords of the Jordan against the Moabites and did not allow anyone to pass over. 29 And they killed at that time about 10,000 of the Moabites, all strong, able-bodied men; not a man escaped.

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Footnotes

  1. Judges 3:16 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  2. Judges 3:23 The meaning of the Hebrew word is uncertain

12 (A)Of Benjamin he said,

“The beloved of the Lord dwells in safety.
The High God[a] surrounds him all day long,
    and dwells between his shoulders.”

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Footnotes

  1. Deuteronomy 33:12 Septuagint; Hebrew dwells in safety by him. He

24 Behold, a people! (A)As a lioness it rises up
    and as a lion it lifts itself;
(B)it does not lie down until it has devoured the prey
    and drunk the blood of the slain.”

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