Old/New Testament
David and Goliath
17 Now the Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They gathered at Sokoh,[a] which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Sokoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. 2 Saul and the men of Israel also gathered together and camped in the Valley of Elah. They lined up in battle formation opposite the Philistines. 3 The Philistines took up a position in front of the mountain on one side of the valley, and the Israelites stationed themselves in front of the mountain on the other side of the valley.
4 A challenger who represented the Philistines came out from the camp of the Philistines. He was named Goliath of Gath. He was nine feet, six inches tall.[b] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore scaled body armor, which was made of more than one hundred pounds[c] of bronze. 6 He had bronze greaves on his shins and a bronze spear slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft[d] of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spearhead was made of fifteen pounds[e] of iron. His shield bearer went out ahead of him.
8 He would stand up and shout to the armies of Israel, “Why have you come out to line up in battle formation? I am a Philistine, and you are servants of Saul, aren’t you? Choose a man to represent you, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our servants, and you will serve us.” 10 The Philistine would say, “I defy the ranks of Israel today! Give me a man, and we will fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
[f] 12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse. Jesse had eight sons. In the days of Saul, Jesse was a very old man. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had accompanied Saul to the battleground. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were his firstborn Eliab, next Abinadab, and third Shammah. 14 David was the youngest son. The three oldest accompanied Saul. 15 During this time David went back and forth from Saul to take care of his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16 The Philistine came out each morning and evening for forty days and presented his challenge.
17 Jesse said to his son David, “Take twenty-five pounds[g] of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers. Deliver them quickly to the camp for your brothers. 18 Also take these ten blocks of cheese to the commander of their unit.[h] See how your brothers are doing and bring back some assurance they are okay.”
19 Now Saul, David’s brothers, and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah to fight with the Philistines.
20 David got up early in the morning and left the sheep with someone who would watch them. He took the supplies and set out as Jesse had commanded him. He arrived at the outer defense line of the camp just as the army was marching out to line up in battle formation, shouting war cries as they went. 21 Israel and the Philistines were lining up for battle, one formation against the other. 22 After David had handed over his provisions to the supply officer, he ran to the battlefront, where he met and greeted his brothers.
23 As he was talking with them there, he saw the Philistine challenger named Goliath of Gath coming up out of the ranks of the Philistines. He repeated his usual words, and David heard them. 24 (Whenever they saw the man, all the men of Israel fled from him and were terrified.) 25 An Israelite had said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He keeps coming up to taunt Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him. He will give his daughter to him in marriage and make his father’s house exempt from taxes in Israel.”
26 David spoke to the men who stood near him. He asked, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine who dares to defy the troops of the living God?”
27 The people again told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.
28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David speaking to the men, he burned with anger against David. He said, “Why have you come down? Who is taking care of those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the mischief in your heart. You have come down just to see the battle.”
29 David said, “What have I done now? Can’t I say anything?”[i] 30 So David turned away from him toward another person, and he asked the same thing again, and the soldiers again answered him the same way. 31 When they heard what David said, they reported it to Saul, and he sent for David. 32 David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone lose heart because of this Philistine! Your servant will go and fight him.”
33 But Saul said to David, “You cannot go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are just a boy, and he has been a warrior since he was a youth.”
34 David said to Saul, “Your servant has been taking care of his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after it and struck it and rescued the lamb out of its mouth. When the lion reared up against me, I grabbed it by its mane, struck it, and killed it. 36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the ranks of the living God.” 37 David added, “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.”
Saul said to David, “Go then! May the Lord be with you.” 38 So Saul dressed David in his own gear.[j] He placed a bronze helmet on his head and dressed him in scaled body armor. 39 David strapped his sword over his gear. David tried to walk around in them, since he had never trained with this kind of equipment before.
David said to Saul, “I cannot go in these, because I have never trained with them.” So David took them off.
40 Then David took his staff in his hand and picked five smooth stones out of the stream bed and put them into the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. He took his sling in his hand and approached the Philistine.
41 The Philistine kept walking and got closer and closer to David. The man who was carrying his shield was walking ahead of him. 42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him, because David was just a boy, nothing but a good-looking, red-headed boy.[k]
43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come against me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will feed your flesh to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the countryside.”
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines to the birds of the air and to the wild animals of the earth. Then all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and all those gathered here will know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear, for the battle belongs to the Lord, and he will deliver you into our hand.”
48 Then, when the Philistine started advancing to attack David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David put his hand into his bag, took a stone from it, shot it from his sling, and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground.
50 So David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He struck the Philistine and killed him, even though David did not have a sword in his hand. 51 So David ran, stood over the Philistine, took hold of his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Israel and Judah got up, cheering loudly, and pursued the Philistines toward the entrance of the valley, all the way to the gates of Ekron. Fatally-wounded Philistines lined the road from Sha’araim all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from pursuing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s armor and weapons into his tent.
David and Saul’s Family
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, my King, I do not know.”
56 The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”
57 As David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
18 When David had finished speaking to Saul, the soul[l] of Jonathan became bound to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved David as he loved his own soul.[m] 2 Saul took David into his service that day and would not let him go back to his father’s house anymore. 3 Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because Jonathan loved David as his own soul. 4 Jonathan took off the robe that he was wearing and gave it to David, as well as his other gear, including his sword, his bow, and his belt.
5 David went out wherever Saul sent him, and he was successful. So Saul put him in charge of a group of soldiers. All the people approved, as did Saul’s officials.
6 As the army was coming back from battle, when David was returning from striking down the Philistine, women came out from all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful music, with hand drums, and with noisemakers.[n] 7 The women sang to each other as they played:
Saul has slain his thousands,
and David his ten thousands.
8 Saul became furious, because he resented this statement. He said, “They have credited David with tens of thousands, but to me they have credited only thousands. What more can be given to him but the kingship?” 9 So Saul eyed David suspiciously from that day on.
10 On the next day, an evil spirit from God overcame Saul, and in a frenzy he prophesied inside the house. David had a lyre in his hand. He was playing as he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand. 11 He hurled the spear, because he thought, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped from his presence twice.
12 Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with David but had departed from Saul. 13 So Saul sent David away from his court and made him a commander over a unit of a thousand. So David led the army out to battle and back again. 14 David was successful in everything he did, and the Lord was with him. 15 When Saul saw that David was so successful, he was even more afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them out to battle and back again.
17 Saul said to David, “Look, here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife. Just be a strong warrior for me, and fight the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought, “It won’t be my hand against him, but it will be the hand of the Philistines against him.”
18 David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is the status of my father’s clan in Israel, that I would be able to become the son-in-law of the king?”
19 When the time came that Saul’s daughter Merab was supposed to have been given to David, she was given to Adriel of Meholah as his wife.
20 Michal, Saul’s other daughter, loved David. When they told Saul about it, this situation pleased him. 21 Saul said, “I will give her to him, so that she will be a snare for him, and the hand of the Philistines will be against him.”
So Saul said to David, “Today you have another opportunity to become my son-in-law.”
22 Saul commanded his officials to speak with David privately and to say, “Look, the king is delighted with you, and all his officials love you, so you should become the king’s son-in-law.” 23 Saul’s officials spoke those words to David’s ears.
But David said, “Does it seem to you to be a trivial thing for me to be the king’s son-in-law, since I am a poor man and not highly regarded?”
24 Then Saul’s officials told him what David had said.
25 So Saul said, “Tell David that the king desires no price for the bride except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, for revenge against the king’s enemies.” Saul intended to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines.
26 When Saul’s officials told David these words, David was very pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the deadline, 27 David got up and went out with his men and killed two hundred men of the Philistines. Then David brought their foreskins and counted them out for the king, so that he could become the king’s son-in-law.
Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David as his wife. 28 Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that Michal, his daughter, loved David. 29 So Saul was even more afraid of David, and he was hostile to David all the time.
30 The commanders of the Philistines were regularly going out for battle, and as often as they went out, David was more successful than all the other officers of Saul. So his name was highly regarded.
The Lord’s Prayer
11 On another occasion, Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John also taught his disciples.”
2 He said to them, “When you pray, say, ‘Our Father in heaven,[a] hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.[b] 3 Give us each day our daily bread. 4 Forgive us our sins, as we also forgive everyone who sins against us.[c] And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.’”[d]
Keep Praying
5 He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and you go to him at midnight and tell him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves of bread, 6 because a friend of mine who is on a journey has come to me, and I do not have anything to set before him.’ 7 And the one inside replies, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I can’t get up and give it to you.’ 8 I tell you, even if he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his bold persistence, he will get up and give him as much as he needs.
9 “I tell you, keep asking, and it will be given to you. Keep seeking, and you will find. Keep knocking, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives. The one who seeks finds. And to the one who knocks, it will be opened.
11 “What father among you, if your son asks for bread, would give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, would give him a snake instead of a fish? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, would give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?”
Jesus Drives Out Demons
14 Jesus drove out a demon, which was mute. After the demon had gone out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were amazed. 15 But some of them said, “He drives out demons by Beelzebul, the ruler of the demons.” 16 Others were testing him by demanding of him a sign from heaven. 17 But he knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is destroyed. And a house divided against itself falls. 18 If Satan is divided against himself, how will his kingdom stand? You say that I drive out demons by Beelzebul. 19 But if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons drive them out? So they will be your judges. 20 Yet if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.
21 “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. 22 But when someone stronger attacks him and defeats him, he takes away that man’s full armor, in which he had trusted, and divides up his plunder.
23 “The one who is not with me is against me. The one who does not gather with me scatters. 24 When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, it passes through waterless places, seeking rest, but does not find any. Then it says, ‘I will return to my house, the one I left.’ 25 When it returns, it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and dwell there. The last condition of that man becomes worse than the first.”
The Sign of Jonah
27 While he was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to him, “Blessed is the womb that carried you, and the breasts at which you nursed!”
28 But he said, “Even more blessed are those who hear the word of God and keep it.”
The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.