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

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1 Samuel 17

1 The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They met at Socoh in Judah and camped at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah.

2 Saul and the Israelites gathered in the Valley of Elah and camped there and took their positions to fight the Philistines.

3 The Philistines controlled one hill while the Israelites controlled another. The valley was between them.

4 The Philistines had a champion fighter from Gath named Goliath. He was about nine feet, four inches tall. He came out of the Philistine camp

5 with a bronze helmet on his head and a coat of bronze armor that weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds.

6 He wore bronze protectors on his legs, and he had a bronze spear on his back.

7 The wooden part of his larger spear was like a weaver's rod, and its blade weighed about fifteen pounds. The officer who carried his shield walked in front of him.

8 Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite soldiers, "Why have you taken positions for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul's servants! Choose a man and send him to fight me.

9 If he can fight and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I can kill him, you will be our servants."

10 Then he said, "Today I stand and dare the army of Israel! Send one of your men to fight me!"

11 When Saul and the Israelites heard the Philistine's words, they were very scared.

12 Now David was the son of Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons. In Saul's time Jesse was an old man.

13 His three oldest sons followed Saul to the war. The first son was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

14 David was the youngest. Jesse's three oldest sons followed Saul,

15 but David went back and forth from Saul to Bethlehem, where he took care of his father's sheep.

16 For forty days the Philistine came out every morning and evening and stood before the Israelite army.

17 Jesse said to his son David, "Take this half bushel of cooked grain and ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp.

18 Also take ten pieces of cheese to the commander and to your brothers. See how your brothers are and bring back some proof to show me that they are all right.

19 Your brothers are with Saul and the army in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

20 Early in the morning David left the sheep with another shepherd. He took the food and left as Jesse had told him. When David arrived at the camp, the army was going out to their battle positions, shouting their war cry.

21 The Israelites and Philistines were lining up their men to face each other in battle.

22 David left the food with the man who kept the supplies and ran to the battle line to talk to his brothers.

23 While he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out. He shouted things against Israel as usual, and David heard him.

24 When the Israelites saw Goliath, they were very much afraid and ran away.

25 They said, "Look at this man! He keeps coming out to challenge Israel. The king will give much money to whoever kills him. He will also let whoever kills him marry his daughter. And his father's family will not have to pay taxes in Israel."

26 David asked the men who stood near him, "What will be done to reward the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? Who does this uncircumcised Philistine think he is? Does he think he can speak against the armies of the living God?"

27 The Israelites told David what would be done for the man who would kill Goliath.

28 When David's oldest brother Eliab heard David talking with the soldiers, he was angry with David. He asked David, "Why did you come here? Who's taking care of those few sheep of yours in the desert? I know you are proud and wicked at heart. You came down here just to watch the battle."

29 David asked, "Now what have I done wrong? Can't I even talk?"

30 When he turned to other people and asked the same questions, they gave him the same answer as before.

31 Yet what David said was told to Saul, and he sent for David.

32 David said to Saul, "Don't let anyone be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and fight this Philistine!"

33 Saul answered, "You can't go out against this Philistine and fight him. You're only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man."

34 But David said to Saul, "I, your servant, have been keeping my father's sheep. When a lion or bear came and took a sheep from the flock,

35 I would chase it. I would attack it and save the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its fur and hit it and killed it.

36 I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! This uncircumcised Philistine will be like them, because he has spoken against the armies of the living God.

37 The Lord who saved me from a lion and a bear will save me from this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."

38 Saul put his own clothes on David. He put a bronze helmet on his head and dressed him in armor.

39 David put on Saul's sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to all the armor Saul had put on him. He said to Saul, "I can't go in this, because I'm not used to it." Then David took it all off.

40 He took his stick in his hand and chose five smooth stones from a stream. He put them in his shepherd's bag and grabbed his sling. Then he went to meet the Philistine.

41 At the same time, the Philistine was coming closer to David. The man who held his shield walked in front of him.

42 When Goliath looked at David and saw that he was only a boy, tanned and handsome, he looked down on David with disgust.

43 He said, "Do you think I am a dog, that you come at me with a stick?" He used his gods' names to curse David.

44 He said to David, "Come here. I'll feed your body to the birds of the air and the wild animals!"

45 But David said to him, "You come to me using a sword and two spears. But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel! You have spoken against him.

46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me, and I'll kill you and cut off your head. Today I'll feed the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds of the air and the wild animals. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel!

47 Everyone gathered here will know the Lord does not need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to him, and he will hand you over to us."

48 As Goliath came near to attack him, David ran quickly to meet him.

49 He took a stone from his bag, put it into his sling, and slung it. The stone hit the Philistine and went deep into his forehead, and Goliath fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. He did not even have a sword in his hand.

51 Then David ran and stood beside him. He took Goliath's sword out of its holder and killed him by cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.

52 The men of Israel and Judah shouted and chased the Philistines all the way to the entrance of the city of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines' bodies lay on the Shaaraim road as far as Gath and Ekron.

53 The Israelites returned after chasing the Philistines and robbed their camp.

54 David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem and put Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

55 When Saul saw David go out to meet Goliath, Saul asked Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, who is that young man's father?" Abner answered, "As surely as you live, my king, I don't know."

56 The king said, "Find out whose son he is."

57 When David came back from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul. David was still holding Goliath's head.

58 Saul asked him, "Young man, who is your father?" David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

1 Samuel 18

1 When David finished talking with Saul, Jonathan felt very close to David. He loved David as much as he loved himself.

2 Saul kept David with him from that day on and did not let him go home to his father's house.

3 Jonathan made an agreement with David, because he loved David as much as himself.

4 He took off his coat and gave it to David, along with his armor, including his sword, bow, and belt.

5 Saul sent David to fight in different battles, and David was very successful. Then Saul put David over the soldiers, which pleased Saul's officers and all the other people.

6 After David had killed the Philistine, he and the men returned home. Women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul. They sang songs of joy, danced, and played tambourines and stringed instruments.

7 As they played, they sang, "Saul has killed thousands of his enemies, but David has killed tens of thousands."

8 The women's song upset Saul, and he became very angry. He thought, "The women say David has killed tens of thousands, but they say I have killed only thousands. The only thing left for him to have is the kingdom!"

9 So Saul watched David closely from then on, because he was jealous.

10 The next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and he prophesied in his house. David was playing the harp as he usually did, but Saul had a spear in his hand.

11 He threw the spear, thinking, "I'll pin David to the wall." But David escaped from him twice.

12 The Lord was with David but had left Saul. So Saul was afraid of David.

13 He sent David away and made him commander of a thousand soldiers. So David led them in battle.

14 He had great success in everything he did because the Lord was with him.

15 When Saul saw that David was very successful, he feared David even more.

16 But all the people of Israel and Judah loved David because he led them well in battle.

17 Saul said to David, "Here is my older daughter Merab. I will let you marry her. All I ask is that you remain brave and fight the Lord's battles." Saul thought, "I won't have to kill David. The Philistines will do that."

18 But David answered Saul, saying, "Who am I? My family is not important enough for me to become the king's son-in-law."

19 So, when the time came for Saul's daughter Merab to marry David, Saul gave her instead to Adriel of Meholah.

20 Now Saul's other daughter, Michal, loved David. When they told Saul, he was pleased.

21 He thought, "I will let her marry David. Then she will be a trap for him, and the Philistines will defeat him." So Saul said to David a second time, "You may become my son-in-law."

22 And Saul ordered his servants to talk with David in private and say, "Look, the king likes you. His servants love you. You should be his son-in-law."

23 Saul's servants said these words to David, but David answered, "Do you think it is easy to become the king's son-in-law? I am poor and unimportant."

24 When Saul's servants told him what David had said,

25 Saul said, "Tell David, 'The king doesn't want money for the bride. All he wants is a hundred Philistine foreskins to get even with his enemies.'" Saul planned to let the Philistines kill David.

26 When Saul's servants told this to David, he was pleased to become the king's son-in-law.

27 So he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. David brought all their foreskins to Saul so he could be the king's son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michal for his wife.

28 Saul saw that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David.

29 So he grew even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy all his life.

30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to fight the Israelites, but every time, David was more skillful than Saul's officers. So he became famous.

Luke 11:1-28

1 One time Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his followers said to him, "Lord, teach us to pray as John taught his followers."

2 Jesus said to them, "When you pray, say: 'Father, may your name always be kept holy. May your kingdom come.

3 Give us the food we need for each day.

4 Forgive us for our sins, because we forgive everyone who has done wrong to us. And do not cause us to be tempted.'"

5 Then Jesus said to them, "Suppose one of you went to your friend's house at midnight and said to him, 'Friend, loan me three loaves of bread.

6 A friend of mine has come into town to visit me, but I have nothing for him to eat.'

7 Your friend inside the house answers, 'Don't bother me! The door is already locked, and my children and I are in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything.'

8 I tell you, if friendship is not enough to make him get up to give you the bread, your boldness will make him get up and give you whatever you need.

9 So I tell you, ask, and God will give to you. Search, and you will find. Knock, and the door will open for you.

10 Yes, everyone who asks will receive. The one who searches will find. And everyone who knocks will have the door opened.

11 If your children ask for a fish, which of you would give them a snake instead?

12 Or, if your children ask for an egg, would you give them a scorpion?

13 Even though you are bad, you know how to give good things to your children. How much more your heavenly Father will give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!"

14 One time Jesus was sending out a demon that could not talk. When the demon came out, the man who had been unable to speak, then spoke. The people were amazed.

15 But some of them said, "Jesus uses the power of Beelzebul, the ruler of demons, to force demons out of people."

16 Other people, wanting to test Jesus, asked him to give them a sign from heaven.

17 But knowing their thoughts, he said to them, "Every kingdom that is divided against itself will be destroyed. And a family that is divided against itself will not continue.

18 So if Satan is divided against himself, his kingdom will not continue. You say that I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons.

19 But if I use the power of Beelzebul to force out demons, what power do your people use to force demons out? So they will be your judges.

20 But if I use the power of God to force out demons, then the kingdom of God has come to you.

21 "When a strong person with many weapons guards his own house, his possessions are safe.

22 But when someone stronger comes and defeats him, the stronger one will take away the weapons the first man trusted and will give away the possessions.

23 "Anyone who is not with me is against me, and anyone who does not work with me is working against me.

24 "When an evil spirit comes out of a person, it travels through dry places, looking for a place to rest. But when it finds no place, it says, 'I will go back to the house I left.'

25 And when it comes back, it finds that house swept clean and made neat.

26 Then the evil spirit goes out and brings seven other spirits more evil than it is, and they go in and live there. So the person has even more trouble than before."

27 As Jesus was saying these things, a woman in the crowd called out to Jesus, "Happy is the mother who gave birth to you and nursed you."

28 But Jesus said, "No, happy are those who hear the teaching of God and obey it."

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

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1 Samuel 17

1 Samuel 18

Luke 11:1-28