Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 150

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and were gathered at Sokoh, which belongs to Judah. And they camped between Sokoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. ² Saul and Israel’s fighting men were gathered, and they camped in the Valley of Elah. And they drew up in battle order to meet the Philistines. ³ Now the Philistines were standing at the base of the mountain on the one side, and Israel was standing at the base of the mountain on the other side, and the valley was between them.

⁴ There went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, Goliath was his name, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.^{[a] 5} He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. Now the weight of the bronze coat was five thousand shekels.^{[b] 6} He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷ The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam. His iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels.^[c] And a shield-bearer was walking before him.

⁸ He stood and called out to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am not I the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he is able to fight with me and to strike me down, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will be our servants and will serve us.” ¹⁰ The Philistine said, “I defy the battle lines of Israel this day. Give me a man, and let us fight together.” ¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were filled with terror and were greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah whose name was Jesse, who had eight sons. And the man was old in the days of Saul and advanced in years. ¹³ The three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. ¹⁴ As for David, he was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, ¹⁵ but David would go back and forth from Saul to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

¹⁶ The Philistine stepped forward morning and evening and took his stand daily for forty days.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to David his son, “Take now for your brothers an ephah^[d] of this parched grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers. ¹⁸ Carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and look into your brothers’ health, and bring back news of them.” ¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all Israel’s fighting men were in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰ So David rose up early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper. And he carried away the food and went as Jesse had commanded him. And when he came to the encampment, the army was going out to the battle line, and they shouted a war cry. ²¹ And Israel and the Philistines ordered themselves in battle lines, army against army. ²² David left his things with the keeper of the equipment, and he ran to the battle line. And he went and greeted his brothers. ²³ As he was speaking with them, the champion, Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was going up from the battle line of the Philistines. And he spoke these same words and David heard them.

Signs and Wonders

¹² Many signs and wonders were performed among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Porch. ¹³ No one else dared join them, but the people respected them. ¹⁴ Believers were increasingly added to the Lord, crowds of both men and women, ¹⁵ so that they even brought the sick out into the streets and placed them on beds and mats, that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might touch some of them. ¹⁶ Crowds also came out of the cities surrounding Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those who were afflicted by evil spirits, and they were all healed.