1 Samuel 17; 1 Samuel 18; Luke 11:1-28

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1 Samuel 17

1 The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim.

2 So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines.

3 The Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them.

4 The Philistine army's champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.

5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds.

6 On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin.

7 The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him.

8 Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, "Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine, and aren't you Saul's servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to [fight] me.

9 If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us."

10 The Philistine added, "I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other."

11 When Saul and all the Israelites heard what this Philistine said, they were gripped with fear.

12 David was a son of a man named Jesse from the region of Ephrath and the city of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's day he was an old man.

13 Jesse's three oldest sons joined Saul's army for the battle. The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, the third was Shammah,

14 and David was the youngest. The three oldest joined Saul's army.

15 David went back and forth from Saul's camp to Bethlehem, where he tended his father's flock.

16 Each morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistine came forward and made his challenge.

17 Jesse told his son David, "Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Take them to your brothers in the camp right away.

18 And take these ten cheeses to the captain of the regiment. See how your brothers are doing, and bring back some news about them.

19 They, along with Saul and all the soldiers of Israel, are in the Elah Valley fighting the Philistines."

20 David got up early in the morning and had someone else watch [the sheep]. He took [the food] and went, as Jesse ordered him. He went to the camp as the army was going out to the battle line shouting their war cry.

21 Israel and the Philistines formed their battle lines facing each other.

22 David left the supplies behind in the hands of the quartermaster, ran to the battle line, and greeted his brothers.

23 While he was talking to them, the Philistine champion, Goliath from Gath, came from the battle lines of the Philistines. He repeated his words, and David heard them.

24 When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him because they were terrified.

25 The men of Israel said, "Did you see that man coming [from the Philistine lines]? He keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his daughter to that man to marry and elevate the social status of his family."

26 David asked the men who were standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel's disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of the living God?"

27 The soldiers repeated [to David] how the man who kills Goliath would be treated.

28 Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. "Why did you come here," he asked him, "and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle."

29 "What have I done now?" David snapped at him. "Didn't I [merely] ask a question?"

30 He turned to face another man and asked the same question, and the other soldiers gave him the same answer.

31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, who then sent for him.

32 David told Saul, "No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine."

33 Saul responded to David, "You can't fight this Philistine. You're just a boy, but he's been a warrior since he was your age."

34 David replied to Saul, "I am a shepherd for my father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

35 I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it.

36 I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of the living God."

37 David added, "The LORD, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine." "Go," Saul told David, "and may the LORD be with you."

38 Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David's head and dressed him in armor.

39 David fastened Saul's sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. "I can't walk in these things," David told Saul. "I've never had any practice doing this." So David took all those things off.

40 He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd's bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

41 The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David.

42 When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.

43 The Philistine asked David, "Am I a dog that you come to [attack] me with sticks?" So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David.

44 "Come on," the Philistine told David, "and I'll give your body to the birds."

45 David told the Philistine, "You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted.

46 Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God.

47 Then everyone gathered here will know that the LORD can save without sword or spear, because the LORD determines every battle's outcome. He will hand all of you over to us."

48 When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine.

49 Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and struck the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank into Goliath's forehead, and he fell to the ground on his face.

50 So using [only] a sling and a stone, David proved to be stronger than the Philistine. David struck down and killed the Philistine, even though David didn't have a sword in his hand.

51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took Goliath's sword, pulled it out of its sheath, and made certain the Philistine was dead by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw their hero had been killed, they fled.

52 Then the soldiers of Israel and Judah rose up, shouted a battle cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines lay on the road to Shaaraim and all the way to Gath and Ekron.

53 When the Israelites came back from their pursuit of the Philistines, they looted all the goods in the Philistine camp.

54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's armor in his tent.

55 As Saul watched David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" Abner answered, "I solemnly swear, as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know."

56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."

57 When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him to Saul. David had the Philistine's head in his hand.

58 Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man?" "The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem," David answered.

1 Samuel 18

1 David finished talking to Saul. After that, Jonathan became David's closest friend. He loved David as much as [he loved] himself.

2 (From that day on Saul kept David [as his servant] and didn't let him go back to his family.)

3 So Jonathan made a pledge of mutual loyalty with David because he loved him as much as [he loved] himself.

4 Jonathan took off the coat he had on and gave it to David along with his battle tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

5 David was successful wherever Saul sent him. Saul put him in charge of the fighting men. This pleased all the people, including Saul's officials.

6 As they arrived, David was returning from a campaign against the Philistines. Women from all of Israel's cities came to meet King Saul. They sang and danced, accompanied by tambourines, joyful music, and triangles.

7 The women who were celebrating sang, "Saul has defeated thousands but David tens of thousands!"

8 Saul became very angry because he considered this saying to be insulting. "To David they credit tens of thousands," he said, "but to me they credit [only] a few thousand. The only thing left for David is my kingdom."

9 From that day on Saul kept an eye on David.

10 The next day an evil spirit from God seized Saul. He began to prophesy in his house while David strummed a tune on the lyre as he did every day. Now, Saul had a spear in his hand.

11 He raised the spear and thought, "I'll nail David to the wall." But David got away from him twice.

12 Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had left Saul.

13 So he kept David away. He made David captain of a regiment. David led the troops out [to battle] and back again.

14 He was successful in everything he undertook because the LORD was with him.

15 Saul noticed how very successful he was and became [even more] afraid of him.

16 Everyone in Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in and out [of battle].

17 Finally, Saul said to David, "Here is my oldest daughter Merab. I will give her to you as your wife if you prove yourself to be a warrior for me and fight the LORD's battles." (Saul thought, "I must not lay a hand on him. Let the Philistines do that.")

18 "Who am I?" David asked Saul. "And how important are my relatives or my father's family in Israel that I should be the king's son-in-law?"

19 But when the time came to give Saul's daughter Merab to David, she was married to Adriel from Meholah.

20 However, Saul's daughter Michal fell in love with David. When Saul was told about it, the news pleased him.

21 Saul thought, "I'll give her to David. She will trap him, and the Philistines will get him." So he said to David a second time, "You will now be my son-in-law."

22 Saul ordered his officers, "Talk to David in private. Tell him, 'The king likes you, and all his officers are fond of you. Become the king's son-in-law.'"

23 When Saul's officers made it a point to say this, David asked, "Do you think it's easy to become the king's son-in-law? I am a poor and unimportant person."

24 When the officers told Saul what David had said,

25 Saul replied, "Tell David, 'The king doesn't want any payment for the bride except 100 Philistine foreskins so that he can get revenge on his enemies.'" In this way Saul planned to have David fall into the hands of the Philistines.

26 When his officers told David this, David concluded that it was acceptable to become the king's son-in-law. Before the time was up,

27 David and his men went out and struck down 200 Philistines. David brought the foreskins, and they counted them out for the king so that David could become the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal as his wife.

28 Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David.

29 Then Saul was even more afraid of David, and so Saul became David's constant enemy.

30 The Philistine generals still went out [to fight Israel]. But whenever they went out [to fight], David was more successful than the rest of Saul's officers. So David gained a good reputation.

Luke 11:1-28

1 Once Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he stopped praying, one of his disciples said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his disciples."

2 Jesus told them, "When you pray, say this: Father, let your name be kept holy. Let your kingdom come.

3 Give us our bread day by day.

4 Forgive us as we forgive everyone else. Don't allow us to be tempted."

5 Jesus said to his disciples, "Suppose one of you has a friend. Suppose you go to him at midnight and say, 'Friend, let me borrow three loaves of bread.

6 A friend of mine on a trip has dropped in on me, and I don't have anything to serve him.'

7 Your friend might answer you from inside his house, 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children are in bed. I can't get up to give you anything.'

8 I can guarantee that although he doesn't want to get up to give you anything, he will get up and give you whatever you need because he is your friend and because you were so bold.

9 "So I tell you to ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.

10 Everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find, and for the person who knocks, the door will be opened.

11 "If your child asks you, his father, for a fish, would you give him a snake instead?

12 Or if your child asks you for an egg, would you give him a scorpion?

13 Even though you're evil, you know how to give good gifts to your children. So how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

14 Jesus was forcing a demon out of a man. The demon had made the man unable to talk. When the demon had gone out, the man began to talk. The people were amazed.

15 But some of them said, "He can force demons out of people only with the help of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons."

16 Others wanted to test Jesus and demanded that he show them some miraculous sign from heaven.

17 Since Jesus knew what they were thinking, he said to them, "Every kingdom divided against itself is ruined. A house divided against itself falls.

18 Now, if Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom last? I say this because you say Beelzebul helps me force demons out of people.

19 If I force demons out with the help of Beelzebul, who helps your followers force them out? That's why they will be your judges.

20 But if I force out demons with the help of God's power, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

21 "When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own mansion, his property is safe.

22 But a stronger man than he may attack him and defeat him. Then the stronger man will take away all the weapons in which the strong man trusted and will divide the loot.

23 "Whoever isn't with me is against me. Whoever doesn't gather with me scatters.

24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it goes through dry places looking for a place to rest. But it doesn't find any. Then it says, 'I'll go back to the home I left.'

25 When it comes, it finds the house swept clean and in order.

26 Then the spirit goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself. They enter and take up permanent residence there. In the end the condition of that person is worse than it was before."

27 While Jesus was speaking, a woman in the crowd shouted, "How blessed is the mother who gave birth to you and the breasts that nursed you."

28 Jesus replied, "Rather, how blessed are those who hear and obey God's word."

1 Samuel 17; 1 Samuel 18; Luke 11:1-28

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1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 18

Luke 11:1-28