Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

The 5th Hallelujah Psalm^[a]

David kills Goliath

17 The Philistine army came together. They were ready to fight the Israelites. They met together near Socoh, a town in Judah.^[a] They put up their tents at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. ² Saul and the Israelite army put up their tents in the valley of Elah. The soldiers prepared to fight against the Philistines. ³ The Philistines were standing on one hill. The Israelites were on another hill. The valley was between the two armies.

⁴ The Philistines had a strong, brave soldier. His name was Goliath and he came from a town called Gath. He was nearly three metres tall! ⁵ He wore a helmet and armour that were made of bronze. The armour for his body weighed about 57 kilograms. ⁶ He had pieces of bronze to protect his legs. He had a bronze sword that he tied on his back. ⁷ He also carried a heavy spear. It was as thick as a tree. The iron point on the spear weighed about seven kilograms. A man who carried Goliath's shield walked in front of him.

⁸ Goliath stood up and he shouted to the Israelite soldiers, ‘Why have you all got ready to fight against us? I am the great soldier of the Philistine army. You serve Saul as his soldiers. Is that not true? So you must choose one of your men to come and fight against me. ⁹ If he can kill me in a fight, we Philistines will become your slaves. But if I knock him down and I kill him, then you Israelites will become our slaves.’

¹⁰ Then Goliath said, ‘I am not afraid of any of your soldiers! Choose one of your men and we will fight against each other.’

¹¹ King Saul and all the Israelite soldiers heard what Goliath said. It made them very upset and afraid.

¹² At this time, David's father Jesse was a very old man. Jesse belonged to the clan of Ephrathah. He came from Bethlehem town in Judah. He had e ight sons. ¹³ Jesse's three oldest sons had joined Saul's army to fight the war. They were Eliab, Jesse's oldest son, his second son, Abinadab, and his third son, Shammah. ¹⁴ David was Jesse's youngest son. While Jesse's three oldest sons were in Saul's army, ¹⁵ David would sometimes leave Saul and go back home to Bethlehem. He did that to take care of his father's sheep.

¹⁶ For 40 days, Goliath would stand up and insult the Israelite army every morning and every evening.

¹⁷ One day, Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take some food to your brothers in the army. Here is a large bag of grain that we have cooked, and ten loaves of bread. Take them quickly to the army camp. ¹⁸ Also take these ten pieces of cheese to the officer who leads their group of soldiers. Find out whether your brothers are well. Bring something back to me to show how they are. ¹⁹ They are in Elah Valley with Saul and the Israelite army, where they are fighting against the Philistines.’

²⁰ So David got up early the next morning. He left his father's sheep with another shepherd to take care of them. He did what his father had told him to do. He took the food to give to his brothers. When David arrived at the camp of the Israelite army, the soldiers were going out to fight. They were shouting their war songs while they went. ²¹ The Israelite army and the Philistine army stood in their places ready for the fight. They looked towards each other across the valley. ²² David gave his gifts to the officer who took care of the army's food. Then he ran to the place where the Israelite soldiers were standing. He said ‘hello’ to his brothers to see if they were well. ²³ While David was talking to his brothers, Goliath marched out from the Philistine army. He was the great Philistine soldier from Gath. As he came, Goliath was insulting the Israelites as he did every day. David heard what he said.

The apostles do some powerful things for the people to see

¹² At that time, the apostles were doing many miracles that showed God's power among the people. All the believers often met together in the yard of the temple in a place called Solomon's porch. ¹³ The other people were afraid to meet with the group of believers. But people respected the believers very much. ¹⁴ More and more people became believers and they joined the group. So now many men and women believed in the Lord Jesus.

¹⁵ As a result, people carried their sick friends into the streets and put them on beds and mats. They hoped that Peter would pass that way and make their sick friends well again. They just wanted Peter's shadow to touch them.^{[a] 16} Many people also came into Jerusalem from the small towns near the city. They brought their sick friends with them. Some of those sick people had bad spirits that gave them trouble. God caused all these sick people to become well again.