Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

A Psalm of Praise

³² David told Saul, “Let no one’s courage^[a] fail because of him; your servant will go fight this Philistine.”

³³ Saul told David, “You can’t go against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, but he has been a warrior since his youth.”

³⁴ David told Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father. When a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the lamb^[b] from its mouth. Then when it rose up against me, I would grab it by its fur,^[c] strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he defied^[d] the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ David continued, “The Lord who delivered me from the power of^[e] the lion and the power of^[f] the bear will also deliver me from the power of^[g] this Philistine.”

Saul told David, “Go! And may the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ Saul put his garments on David, set a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him. ³⁹ David strapped Saul’s^[h] sword over his garments and tried to walk, but^[i] he was not used to the armor.^[j] David told Saul, “I can’t walk in these because I’m not used to them,”^[k] and then took them off. ⁴⁰ He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the pouch in his shepherd’s bag. He approached the Philistine with his sling in his hand.

David Defeats Goliath

⁴¹ With a man carrying his shield in front of him, the Philistine kept coming closer to David. ⁴² When the Philistine looked and saw David, he had contempt for him, because he was only a young man. David had a dark, healthy complexion and was handsome. ⁴³ The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his own gods and ⁴⁴ told David, “Come to me! I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field.”

⁴⁵ Then David told the Philistine, “You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.^{[l] 46} This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I’ll strike you down and remove your head from you. And this very day I’ll give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and this whole congregation will know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or spear. Indeed, the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine got up and came closer to meet David, David quickly ran to the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ David reached his hand into the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. ⁵⁰ David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he struck down the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹ David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the Philistine’s^[m] sword, pulled it from its sheath, killed him, and then he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

Jesus Appears to the Disciples^(A)

³⁶ While they were all talking about this, Jesus^[a] himself stood among them and told them, “Peace be with you.”^[b]

³⁷ They were startled and terrified, thinking they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But Jesus^[c] told them, “What’s frightening you? And why are you doubting? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet, because it’s really me. Touch me and look at me, because a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones as you see that I have.” ⁴⁰ After he had said this, he showed them his hands and his feet.^[d]