Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

17 Soothly the Philistines gathered together their companies into battle, and came together in Shochoh of Judah, and they setted tents betwixt Shochoh and Azekah, in the coasts of Dammim (in Ephesdammim).

⁴ And a man in the midst, that is, a strong man, and hardy, that goeth before the host, and is ready to fight against one of the enemies in singular battle, (that is, man-to-man,) went out of the Philistines’ tents, Goliath by name, of Gath, of six cubits high and a span; (And a champion went out from the Philistines’ camp, whose name was Goliath, and was from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span in height;)

⁵ and a brazen basinet on his head; and he was clothed with a mailed habergeon; and the weight of his habergeon was five thousand shekels of brass; (and he had a bronze helmet on his head; and was clothed with a breastplate of mail; and the weight of his breastplate was equal to five thousand brass shekels;)

⁶ and he had on his thighs brazen boots, and a brazen shield covered his shoulders. (and he wore bronze boots up to his thighs, and a bronze shield covered his shoulders.)

⁷ Forsooth the shaft of his spear was as the beam of webs (And his spear shaft was like a weaver’s beam); and the iron of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his squire went before him.

⁸ And he stood, and cried (out) against the companies of (the) armed men of Israel, and said to them, Why came ye ready to (do) battle? Whether I am not a Philistine, and ye be the servants of Saul? Choose ye a man of you, and come he down to a singular battle, (that is, man-to-man);

⁹ if he may fight with me, and slay me, we shall be your servants; forsooth if I have the mastery, and slay him, ye shall be bond (ye shall be our bondsmen, or our slaves), and serve us.

¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I have said shame today to the companies of Israel; give ye [to me] a man, and begin he singular battle with me. (And the Philistine said, I have shamed Israel’s companies this day; now give ye to me a man, and let him fight with me man-to-man.)

¹¹ Soothly Saul and all men of Israel heard such words of the Philistine, and they were astonished, and dreaded greatly (and were greatly afraid).

¹⁹ Forsooth Saul, and they, and all the sons of Israel in the valley of Terebinth fought against the Philistines. (Now Saul, and David’s brothers, and all the Israelites were in the Elah Valley fighting against the Philistines.)

²⁰ And so David rose (up) early, and he betook the flock to a keeper, and he went charged, as Jesse commanded to him; and he came to the place of Magal, and to the host, the which host went out to the fight, and it cried [out] in the fighting (and he came to the place of the circle of the camp, and to the army, who were going out to the battle, and were shouting out the war-cry).

²¹ For Israel had ordained (the) battle array; and even against them, the Philistines were ready also (and opposite them, the Philistines were also ready).

²² Then David left the vessels, that he had brought, under the hand of a keeper at the fardels, and he ran to the place of [the] battle, and he asked, if all things were done rightly with his brethren (and he asked his brothers if all was well).

²³ And when he spake yet to them, that bastard appeared, Goliath by name, the Philistine of Gath, and he went up from the tents of the Philistines; and while he spake these same words, David heard. (And while he spoke to them, that champion appeared, Goliath by name, the Philistine of Gath, and he went up from the Philistines’ camp; and when he spoke the same words as before, then David heard them.)

³² David spake to him thus, The heart of any man fall not down in him, for I thy servant shall go, and fight against the Philistine. (David spoke thus to him, Let not any man’s heart fall down because of that man, for I, thy servant, shall go, and fight against the Philistine.)

³³ And Saul said to David, Thou mayest not against-stand this Philistine, neither fight against him, for thou art a child (for thou art but a boy, that is, a young man); forsooth this man is a warrior from his young waxing age.

³⁴ And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s flock, and (when) a lion came, also a bear/either a bear, and took away a ram from the midst of the flock;

³⁵ I pursued, and killed them, and I ravished it from their mouth; and they rose against me, and I took their nether jowl, and I strangled, and killed them. (I pursued him, and killed him, and I delivered the ram out of his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I took his lower jaw, and I strangled him, and killed him dead.)

³⁶ For I thy servant killed both the lion and the bear; therefore and this Philistine uncircumcised shall be as one of them. Now I shall go, and I shall do away the shame/the reproof of the people; for who is this Philistine uncircumcised, that was hardy to curse the host of God living? (For I thy servant, killed both the lion and the bear; and so this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them. And now I shall go, and I shall do away the people’s shame, or their reproof; for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who was fool-hardy enough to curse the army of the living God?)

³⁷ And again David said, The Lord that delivered me from the mouth of the lion, and from the hand, that is, (the) power, of the bear, he shall deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go thou, and the Lord be with thee.

³⁸ And Saul clothed David with his clothes, and he set a brazen basinet on his head, and clothed him with an habergeon.

³⁹ Therefore David was girded with his sword on his cloak, and began to assay if he might go armed; for he had not [the] custom. And David said to Saul, I may not go thus, for I have not the uses of it. And David put away (all) those [things],

⁴⁰ and he took his staff, that he had ever[more] in his hands. And he chose to him five full clear round stones, that is, hard, plain, and round, of the strand (And he chose out of the stream for himself five hard, round, plain stones); and he put those into his shepherd’s script, that he had with him; and he took a sling in his hand, and he went forth against the Philistine.

⁴¹ Soothly the Philistine went, going and nighing against David; and his squire went before him. (And the Philistine came forth toward David; and his squire went before him.)

⁴² And when the Philistine had beheld David, and saw him, he despised David; forsooth David was a young waxing man, ruddy, and fair in sight.

⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, Whether I am a dog, for thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David in his gods; (And the Philistine said to David, Am I but a dog, that thou comest to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods;)

⁴⁴ and he said to David, Come thou to me, and I shall give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to [the] beasts of the earth.

⁴⁵ And David said to Goliath, Thou comest to me with a sword and (a) spear, and (a) shield; but I come to thee in (the) name of the Lord of hosts, (the) God of the companies of Israel, to whom thou hast said reproof today.

⁴⁶ And the Lord shall give thee in(to) mine hand, and I shall slay thee, and I shall take thine head from thee; and today I shall give the dead bodies of the tents of Philistines to the fowls of (the) heaven(s), and to the beasts of the earth (and today I shall give the dead bodies of the Philistine’s host, or army, to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth); (so) that all the earth (shall) know, that the Lord God is in Israel,

⁴⁷ and that all this church know, that the Lord saveth not in sword neither in spear; for the battle is his, and he shall betake you into our hands. (and so that all this congregation shall know, that the Lord saveth not by sword or by spear; for the battle is his, and he shall deliver you into our hands.)

⁴⁸ Therefore when the Philistine had risen (up), and came, and nighed against David (and came toward David), David hasted, and ran to (the) battle against the Philistine.

⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his scrip, and he took out a stone, and he casted it with his sling, and led [it] about, and smote the Philistine in the forehead; and the stone was fastened in his forehead, and he felled down into his face on the earth. (And David put his hand into his bag, and he took out a stone, and he led it about, and threw it with his sling, and hit the Philistine in the forehead; and the stone stuck in his forehead, and he fell down on his face on the ground.)

⁵⁷ And when David had come again, when the Philistine was slain, Abner took David, and brought him in, having in the hand the head of the Philistine, before Saul. (And when David had come back, after the Philistine was killed, Abner took David, and brought him in before Saul, with the head of the Philistine still in his hand.)

⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Of what generation art thou, young man? And David said, I am the son of thy servant, Jesse of Bethlehem.

18 And it was done, when David had ended to speak to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was glued together to the soul of David, that is, (they were) joined together by the glue of charity, (or of love,) that may not be broken, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul (and Jonathan loved him as much as he loved his own life).

² And Saul took David in that day, and granted not to him, that he should turn again into the house of his father. (And from that day on, Saul kept David with him, and would not allow him to return to his father’s house.)

³ And Jonathan and David made a bond of peace; for Jonathan loved David as his own soul; (And Jonathan and David made a covenant; for Jonathan loved David as much as he loved his own life;)

⁴ for why Jonathan unclothed himself from the coat that he was clothed in, and he gave it to David, and his other clothes, unto his sword and his bow, and unto his girdle.

⁵ And David went forth to all things, to whatever things Saul sent him, and he governed himself prudently; and Saul setted him over the men of battle, and he was accepted in the eyes of all the people, and mostly in the sight of the servants of Saul (and even before Saul’s officers).

¹⁰ Soothly after the tother day, a wicked spirit of God assailed Saul (And the next day, a wicked spirit from God tormented Saul), and he prophesied in the midst of his house. And David harped with his hand, as by all days before; and Saul held a spear,

¹¹ and (then he) cast it, and guessed that he might preen David with the wall, that is, pierce (right through him) with the spear, so that it should pass into the wall; and David bowed [aside] from his face the second time (and twice David veered away from the spear that Saul threw at him).

¹² And Saul dreaded David, (or feared him,) for the Lord was with David, and had gone away from him.

¹³ Then Saul removed David from himself (Then Saul removed David from his household), and made him (a) chieftain upon a thousand men; and David went out and he came in before the people.

¹⁴ And David did wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him;

¹⁵ and so Saul saw that David was full prudent/was full wise, and he began to beware of David.

¹⁶ And all Israel and Judah loved David; for he went in and out before them.

⁹ And the Lord is made refuge, either help, to a poor man; an helper in covenable times in tribulation. (And the Lord is made a refuge, or a helper, to the poor; yea, a helper in their time of trouble.)

¹⁰ And they, that know thy name, have hope in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not forsaken them that seek thee. (And they, who know thy name, shall put their trust in thee; for thou, Lord, hast not deserted those who seek thee.)

¹¹ Sing ye [psalms] to the Lord, that dwelleth in Zion; tell ye his studies among heathen men. (Sing ye songs to the Lord, who liveth in Zion; tell ye of his deeds to the heathen.)

¹² God forgetteth not the cry of poor men; for he hath mind of them, and he seeketh the blood of them. (For God forgetteth not the cry of the poor; yea, he hath remembered them, and he seeketh to avenge them.)

¹³ Lord, have thou mercy on me; see thou my meekness of mine enemies. Which enhancest me from the gates of death; (Lord, have thou mercy on me; see thou all the trouble that my enemies have caused me. But thou hast lifted me up from the gates of death;)

¹⁴ that I tell all thy praisings in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I shall be fully joyful in thine health/I shall joy fully in thine health; (so that I can tell out all thy praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion. I shall make full out joy in thy salvation of me/I shall rejoice in thy deliverance of me;)

¹⁵ heathen men be fast-set in the perishing, which they made. In this snare, which they hid, the foot of them is caught. (but let the heathen be set fast in the perishing, which they themselves have made. Yea, let their feet be caught in the snare, which they themselves have hid.)

¹⁶ The Lord making dooms shall be known; the sinner is taken in the works of his hands. (The Lord is known by the judgements which he maketh; the sinner is caught in the works of his own hands.)

¹⁷ Sinners be turned (al)together into hell; all folks, that forget God. (Let all the sinners be sent down into Sheol, or the land of the dead; yea, all the nations who forget about God.)

¹⁸ For the forgetting of a poor man shall not be into the end; the patience of poor men shall not perish into the end. (But the poor shall not always be forgotten; the hope of the poor shall not always be unfulfilled.)

¹⁹ Lord, rise thou up, a man be not comforted; [the] folks be deemed in thy sight. (Lord, rise thou up, and do not let anyone boast of his own strength; let the nations be judged before thee.)

²⁰ Lord, ordain thou a law maker upon them; know folks, that they be men. (Lord, make them afraid; let all the nations know, that they only be people.)

133 The song of degrees. Lo! how good and how merry it is; that brethren dwell together. (Lo! how good and how pleasant it is; for brothers, or God’s people, to live together in unity, or in harmony.)

² As ointment in the head; that goeth down into the beard, into the beard of Aaron. That goeth down into the collar of his cloth; (Like ointment on the head, that goeth down onto the beard, onto Aaron’s beard; yea, that goeth down onto the collar of his cloak.)

³ as the dew of Hermon, that goeth down into the hill of Zion. For there the Lord sent blessing; and life till into the world, that is, without end. (Like the dew of Mount Hermon, that goeth down onto the hills of Zion. For there the Lord sent blessing; and life forevermore.)

6 But we helping [you in work and word] admonish [you], that ye receive not the grace of God in vain.

² For he saith, In time well pleasing I have heard thee [In time accepted, or well pleasing, I have heard thee], and in the day of health I have helped thee. Lo! now a time acceptable, lo! now a day of health.

³ Give we to no man any offence, that our service be not reproved; [To no man giving any offence, or hurting, that our ministry, or service, be not reproved;]

⁴ but in all things give we us selves [but in all things give we ourselves] as the ministers of God, in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in anguishes,

⁵ in beatings [in scourgings], in prisons, in dissensions within, in travails, in wakings, in fastings,

⁶ in chastity, in knowing [in science, or knowing], in long abiding, in sweetness, in the Holy Ghost, in charity not feigned,

⁷ in the word of truth, in the virtue of God; by armours of rightwiseness on the right half and on the left half;

⁸ by glory and unnobleness [by glory and unnobility]; by evil fame and good fame; as deceivers, and true men;

⁹ as they that be unknown and known; as men dying, and lo! we live; as chastised, and not made dead;

¹⁰ as sorrowful, and evermore joying; as having need, but making many men rich [as sorrowful, but evermore joying; as needy men, soothly making many rich]; as nothing having, and wielding all things.

¹¹ A! ye Corinthians [O! ye Corinthians], our mouth is open to you, our heart is alarged;

¹² ye be not anguished in us, but ye be anguished in your inwardnesses.^[a]

¹³ And I say as to sons, ye that have the same reward, be ye alarged. [Forsooth, we having the same reward, I say as to sons, and be ye alarged.]

³⁵ And he said to them in that day, when evening was come, Pass we over to the other side. [And he saith to them in that day, when evening was made, Pass we again-ward.]

³⁶ And they let go the people, and took him, so that he was in a boat [And they leaving the company of people, took him, so that he was in the boat]; and other boats were with him.

³⁷ And a great storm of wind was made, and cast waves into the boat, so that the boat was full. [And there was made a great tempest of wind, and sent floods into the ship, so that the ship was full-filled.]

³⁸ And he was in the hinder part of the boat, and slept on a pillow^[a]. And they raise him, and say to him, Master, pertaineth it not to thee, that we perish?

³⁹ And he rose up, and menaced the wind, and said to the sea, Be still, wax dumb. And the wind ceased, and great peaceableness was made.

⁴⁰ And he said to them, What dread ye? Yet ye have no faith? [And he said to them, What be ye dread-full? Not yet have ye faith?]

⁴¹ And they dreaded with great dread, and said to each other [and said each to other], Who, guessest thou, is this? for the wind and the sea obey to him.