Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹⁹ Your brothers are with Saul and all the Israelite soldiers in the Valley of Elah. They are there to fight against the Philistines.”

²⁰ Early in the morning, David had another shepherd take care of the sheep while he took the food and left as Jesse had told him to. David drove their wagon to the camp. The soldiers were going out to their battle positions just as David arrived. The soldiers began shouting their war cry. ²¹ The Israelites and Philistines were lined up and ready for battle.

²² David left the food with the man who kept supplies. Then he ran to the place where the Israelite soldiers were and asked about his brothers. ²³ While David was talking with his brothers, the Philistine champion fighter came out from the Philistine army. This was Goliath, the Philistine from Gath. Goliath shouted things against Israel as usual. David heard what he said.

²⁴ The Israelite soldiers saw Goliath and ran away. They were all afraid of him. ²⁵ One of the Israelite men said, “Did you see that man? Look at him! He comes out each day and makes fun of Israel. Whoever kills him will get rich. King Saul will give him a lot of money. Saul will also let his daughter marry the man who kills Goliath. He will also make that man’s family free from taxes in Israel.”

²⁶ David asked the men standing near him, “What did he say? What is the reward for killing this Philistine and taking away this shame from Israel? Who is this Goliath anyway? He is only some foreigner,^[a] nothing but a Philistine. Why does he think he can speak against the army of the living God?”

²⁷ So the Israelite told David about the reward for killing Goliath. ²⁸ David’s oldest brother Eliab heard David talking with the soldiers and became angry. Eliab asked David, “Why did you come here? Who did you leave those few sheep with in the desert? I know why you came down here. You didn’t want to do what you were told to do. You just wanted to come down here to watch the battle.”

²⁹ David said, “What did I do now? I didn’t do anything wrong! I was only talking.” ³⁰ He turned to some other people and asked them the same questions. They gave him the same answers as before.

³¹ Some men heard David talking. They took David to Saul and told him what David had said. ³² David said to Saul, “People shouldn’t let Goliath discourage them. I am your servant. I will go fight this Philistine.”

The Apostles Are Arrested

¹⁷ The high priest and all his friends, a group called the Sadducees, became very jealous. ¹⁸ They grabbed the apostles and put them in jail. ¹⁹ But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail. The angel led the apostles outside and said, ²⁰ “Go and stand in the Temple area. Tell the people everything about this new life.” ²¹ When the apostles heard this, they did what they were told. They went into the Temple area about sunrise and began to teach the people.

The high priest and his friends came together and called a meeting of the high council and all the older Jewish leaders. They sent some men to the jail to bring the apostles to them. ²² When the men went to the jail, they could not find the apostles there. So they went back and told the Jewish leaders about this. ²³ They said, “The jail was closed and locked. The guards were standing at the doors. But when we opened the doors, the jail was empty!” ²⁴ The captain of the Temple guards and the leading priests heard this. They were confused and wondered what it all meant.

²⁵ Then another man came and told them, “Listen! The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple area teaching the people.” ²⁶ The captain and his men went out and brought the apostles back. But the soldiers did not use force, because they were afraid of the people. They were afraid the people would stone them to death.