Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Praise the Lord with Music

David and Goliath

17 The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They met at Socoh in Judah. Their camp was at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelites gathered in the Valley of Elah. And they camped there. They took their positions to fight the Philistines. ³ The Philistines controlled one hill. The Israelites controlled another. The valley was between them.

⁴ The Philistines had a champion fighter named Goliath. He was from Gath. He was about nine feet four inches tall. He came out of the Philistine camp. ⁵ He had a bronze helmet on his head. And he wore a coat of scale armor. It was made of bronze and weighed about 125 pounds. ⁶ He wore bronze protectors on his legs. And he had a small spear of bronze tied on his back. ⁷ The wooden part of his larger spear was like a weaver’s rod. And its blade weighed about 15 pounds. The officer who carried his shield walked in front of him.

⁸ Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite soldiers, “Why have you taken positions for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants! Choose a man and send him to fight me. ⁹ If he can fight and kill me, we will become your servants. But if I defeat and kill him, you will become our servants.” ¹⁰ Then he said, “Today I stand and dare the army of Israel! Send one of your men to fight me!” ¹¹ When Saul and the Israelites heard the Philistine’s words, they were very afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of Jesse, an Ephrathite. Jesse was from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons. In Saul’s time Jesse was an old man. ¹³ His three oldest sons followed Saul to the war. The first son was Eliab. The second son was Abinadab. And the third son was Shammah. ¹⁴ David was the youngest son. Jesse’s three oldest sons followed Saul. ¹⁵ But David went back and forth from Saul to Bethlehem. There he took care of his father’s sheep.

¹⁶ The Philistine Goliath came out every morning and evening. He stood before the Israelite army. This continued for 40 days.

¹⁷ Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this half bushel of cooked grain. And take ten loaves of bread. Take them to your brothers in the camp. ¹⁸ Also take ten pieces of cheese. Give them to the commander of your brothers’ group of 1,000 soldiers. See how your brothers are. Bring back something to show me they are all right. ¹⁹ Your brothers are with Saul and the army in the Valley of Elah. They are fighting against the Philistines.”

²⁰ Early in the morning David left the sheep with another shepherd. He took the food and left as Jesse had told him. When David arrived at the camp, the army was leaving. They were going out to their battle positions. The soldiers were shouting their war cry. ²¹ The Israelites and Philistines were lining up their men to face each other in battle.

²² David left the food with the man who kept the supplies. Then he ran to the battle line and talked to his brothers. ²³ While he was talking with them, Goliath came out. He was the Philistine champion from Gath. He shouted things against Israel as usual, and David heard it.

Proofs from God

¹² The apostles did many signs and miracles among the people. And they would all meet together on Solomon’s Porch. ¹³ None of the others dared to stand with them. All the people were saying good things about them. ¹⁴ More and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to the group of believers. ¹⁵ As Peter was passing by, the people brought their sick into the streets. They put their sick on beds and mats so at least Peter’s shadow might fall on them. ¹⁶ Crowds came from all the towns around Jerusalem. They brought their sick and those who were bothered by evil spirits. All of them were healed.