1 Samuel 17 - 18, Hebrews 9, Proverbs 17

Goliath Challenges Israel

17Now ^athe Philistines gathered their camps for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between ^bSocoh and ^cAzekah, in ^dEphes-dammim. ²But Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in ^athe valley of Elah and arranged themselves for battle to meet the Philistines. ³Now the Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. ⁴Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines named ^aGoliath, from ^bGath, whose height was ¹six cubits and a ²span. ⁵And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor, and the weight of that scale-armor was five thousand ¹shekels of bronze. ⁶He also had bronze ¹greaves on his legs and a ^abronze ²javelin slung between his shoulders. ⁷^aAnd the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; ^bhis shield-carrier also walked before him. ⁸And he stood and called out to the ¹battle lines of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to arrange yourselves for battle? Am I not the Philistine and you ^aslaves of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. ⁹“^aIf he is able to fight with me and strike me down, then we will become your slaves; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you shall become our slaves and serve us.” ¹⁰Again the Philistine said, “^aI openly ¹reproach the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.” ¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was ^athe son of ¹the ^bEphrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and ^che had eight sons. And ²Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. ¹³And the three older sons of Jesse had gone. They had gone after Saul to the battle. And ^athe names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴^aBut David was the youngest. Now the three oldest had gone after Saul, ¹⁵^abut David went back and forth from Saul ^bto shepherd his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

¹⁶Then the Philistine approached, morning and evening, for forty days and took his stand.

¹⁷Then Jesse said to David his son, “^aTake now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers. ¹⁸“^aYou shall also bring these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, ^band look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back ¹a token from them. ¹⁹“And Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

²⁰So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and carried the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the ^acircle of the camp while the military force was going out in battle lines shouting the war cry. ²¹And Israel and the Philistines arranged themselves in battle lines, battle line ¹against battle line. ²²Then David left his ^abaggage in the ¹care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. ²³As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines, and he spoke ^athese same words; and David heard them.

²⁴Now all the men of Israel saw the man, and they fled from him and were greatly afraid. ²⁵And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to ¹reproach Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who strikes him down with great riches and ^awill give him his daughter and make his father’s house ²free in Israel.”

²⁶Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away ^athe reproach from Israel? For who is this ^buncircumcised Philistine, that he should ¹^,^creproach the battle lines of ^dthe living God?” ²⁷And the people spoke to him in accord with this word, saying, “^aThus it will be done for the man who strikes him down.”

²⁸Then Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and ^aEliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your arrogance and the wickedness of your heart, for you have come down in order to see the battle.” ²⁹But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a word?” ³⁰Then he turned ¹away from him to another and ^asaid the same word; and the people responded to him with the same word as ²before.

David Puts Goliath to Death

³¹Then the words which David spoke were heard. And they told them ¹to Saul, and he sent for him. ³²And David said to Saul, “^aLet no man’s heart fail on account of him; ^byour servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” ³³Then Saul said to David, “^aYou are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant was shepherding his father’s sheep. And a lion and a bear would come and take a lamb from the flock, ³⁵and I would go out after it and strike it and ^arescue the lamb from its mouth. Then it rose up against me, and I would seize it by its beard and strike it down and put it to death. ³⁶“Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has ¹reproached the battle lines of the living God.” ³⁷And David said, “^aYahweh, who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “^bGo, and may Yahweh be with you.” ³⁸Then Saul clothed David with his robes and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. ³⁹And David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them ¹off. ⁴⁰Then he took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and ^ahis sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹Then the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴²And the Philistine looked and saw David. And ^ahe despised him; for he was but a youth and ^bruddy, with a handsome appearance. ⁴³And the Philistine said to David, “^aAm I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^bthe Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^ato the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, ^abut I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have ¹reproached. ⁴⁶“This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the ^adead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, ^bthat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that ^aYahweh does not save by sword or by spear; ^bfor the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that ^aDavid ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹And David sent his hand down into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and put him to death; but there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and ^atook his sword and drew it out of its sheath and put him to death and cut off his head with it. ^bThen the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, so they fled. ⁵²But the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines ¹as far as the valley and to the gates of ^aEkron. And the slain Philistines lay fallen along the way to ^bShaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³Then the sons of Israel returned from hotly pursuing the Philistines and plundered their camps. ⁵⁴And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

⁵⁵Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is ^athis young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶And the king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.” ⁵⁷So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and ^abrought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. ⁵⁸And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “^aI am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Jonathan Cuts a Covenant with David

18Now it happened when he had finished speaking to Saul, that ^athe soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and ^bJonathan loved him as his own soul. ²And Saul took him that day and ^adid not let him return to his father’s house. ³Then ^aJonathan cut a covenant with David because he loved him as his own soul. ⁴^aAnd Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵So David went out wherever Saul sent him and ¹prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the eyes of all the people and also in the eyes of Saul’s servants.

Saul Looks at David with Suspicion

⁶And it happened as they were coming, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, that ^athe women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with gladness, and with ¹musical instruments. ⁷And the women ^asang as they ¹were merry and said, “^bSaul has struck his thousands,^cAnd David his ten thousands.”

⁸Then Saul became very angry, for this saying was ¹displeasing in his eyes; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, but to me they have ascribed thousands. Now ^awhat more can he have but the kingdom?” ⁹So Saul looked at David with suspicion from that day on.

¹⁰Now it happened on the next day that ^aan evil spirit from God ¹came mightily upon Saul, and ^bhe raved in the midst of the house. Now David was playing the harp with his hand, ²^,^cas usual; and ³^,^da spear was in Saul’s hand. ¹¹^aThen Saul hurled the spear for he thought, “I will ¹pin David to the wall.” But David ²escaped from his presence twice.

¹²And ^aSaul was afraid of David, ^bfor Yahweh was with him but ^chad turned away from Saul. ¹³Therefore Saul turned him away from ¹his presence and appointed him as his commander of one thousand; and ^ahe went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴And David was ¹prospering in all his ways, and ^aYahweh was with him. ¹⁵Then Saul saw that he was ¹prospering greatly, so he dreaded him. ¹⁶But ^aall Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “^aHere is my older daughter Merab; I will give her to you as a wife; only be a man of valor for me and fight ^bYahweh’s battles.” For Saul thought, “My hand shall not be against him, but ^clet the hand of the Philistines be against him.” ¹⁸But David said to Saul, “^aWho am I, and what is my life or my father’s family in Israel, that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” ¹⁹So it happened at the time when Merab, Saul’s daughter, should have been given to David, that she was given to ^aAdriel ^bthe Meholathite as a wife.

Saul’s Daughter Given to David

²⁰And ^aMichal, Saul’s daughter, loved David. So they told Saul, and the thing was right in his eyes. ²¹And Saul said, “I will give her to him that she may become a snare to him, and ^athat the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” Therefore Saul said to David, “^bFor a second time you may be my son-in-law today.” ²²Then Saul commanded his servants, “Speak to David secretly, saying, ‘Behold, the king delights in you, and all his servants love you; so now, become the king’s son-in-law.’” ²³So Saul’s servants spoke these words in ¹David’s hearing. But David said, “Is it trivial in your eyes to become the king’s son-in-law, ^asince I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?” ²⁴And the servants of Saul told to him ¹according to these words which David spoke. ²⁵Saul then said, “Thus you shall say to David, ‘The king does not desire any ^adowry except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, ^bto take vengeance on the king’s enemies.’” Now ^cSaul planned to make David fall by the hand of the Philistines. ²⁶Then his servants told David these words, and it was right in the eyes of David to become the king’s son-in-law. ¹^,^aSo before the days had expired, ²⁷David rose up and went, ^ahe and his men, and struck down two hundred men among the Philistines. Then ^bDavid brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. So Saul gave him Michal his daughter as a wife. ²⁸Then Saul saw and knew that Yahweh was with David, and that Michal, Saul’s daughter, loved him, ²⁹so Saul was even more afraid of David. So Saul was David’s enemy continually.

³⁰Then the commanders of the Philistines ^awent out to battle, and it happened as often as they went out, that David ^bbehaved himself more insightfully than all the servants of Saul. So his name was highly esteemed.

The Old Covenant

9Now even the first covenant had ^arequirements of divine worship and ^bthe earthly sanctuary. ²For there was ^aa tabernacle prepared: the first part, in which were ^bthe lampstand and ^cthe table and ^dthe ¹sacred bread, which is called the holy place. ³And behind ^athe second veil there was a tabernacle which is called the ^bHoly of Holies, ⁴having a golden ¹^,^aaltar of incense and ^bthe ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was ^ca golden jar holding the manna, and ^dAaron’s rod which budded, and ^ethe tablets of the covenant. ⁵And above it were the ^acherubim of glory ^bovershadowing the ¹mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

⁶Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests ^aare continually entering the first part of the tabernacle performing the divine worship, ⁷but into ^athe second, only ^bthe high priest enters ^conce a year, ^dnot without taking blood, which he ^eoffers for himself and for the ¹^,^fsins of the people committed in ignorance. ⁸^aThe Holy Spirit is indicating this, ^bthat the way into the holy places has not yet been manifested while that first part of the tabernacle is still standing, ⁹which is a symbol for the present time. Accordingly ^aboth gifts and sacrifices are offered which ^bcannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, ¹⁰since they relate only to ^afood and ^bdrink and various ^cwashings, ^drequirements for the ¹body imposed until ^ea time of reformation.

The New Covenant

¹¹But when Christ appeared as a ^ahigh priest of the ^bgood things ¹to come, He entered through ^cthe greater and more perfect tabernacle, ^dnot made with hands, that is to say, ^enot of this creation, ¹²and not through ^athe blood of goats and calves, but ^bthrough His own blood, He ^centered the holy places ^donce for all, ¹having obtained ^eeternal redemption. ¹³For if ^athe blood of goats and bulls and ^bthe ashes of a heifer sprinkling those who have been defiled sanctify for the ¹cleansing of the flesh, ¹⁴how much more will ^athe blood of Christ, who through ¹^,^bthe eternal Spirit ^coffered Himself without blemish to God, ^dcleanse ²your conscience from ^edead works to serve ^fthe living God?

¹⁵And for this reason ^aHe is the ^bmediator of a ^cnew covenant, so that, since a death has taken place for the redemption of the trespasses that were committed under the first covenant, those who have been ^dcalled may ^ereceive the promise of ^fthe eternal inheritance. ¹⁶For where a ¹covenant is, there must of necessity ²be the death of the one who made it. ¹⁷For a ¹covenant is valid only when ²men are dead, ³for it is never in force while the one who made it lives. ¹⁸Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. ¹⁹For when every commandment had been ^aspoken by Moses to all the people according to the Law, ^bhe took the ^cblood of the calves and the goats, with ^dwater and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both ^ethe book itself and all the people, ²⁰saying, “^aThis is the blood of the covenant which God commanded you.” ²¹And in the same way, both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry he ^asprinkled with the blood. ²²And according to the ¹Law, one may ^aalmost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and ^bwithout shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³Therefore it was necessary for the ^acopies of the things in the heavens to be cleansed with these, but ^bthe heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴For Christ ^adid not enter holy places made with hands, mere copies of ^bthe true ones, but into ^cheaven itself, now ^dto appear in the presence of God for us; ²⁵nor was it that He would offer Himself often, as ^athe high priest enters ^bthe holy places ^cyear by year with blood that is not his own. ²⁶Otherwise, He would have needed to suffer often since ^athe foundation of the world; but now ^bonce at ^cthe consummation of the ages He has been ^dmanifested to put away sin ¹^,^eby the sacrifice of Himself. ²⁷And inasmuch as ^ait is ¹appointed for men to die once and after this ^bcomes judgment, ²⁸so Christ also, having been ^aoffered once to ^bbear the sins of many, will appear ^ca second time for ^dsalvation ^ewithout reference to sin, to those who ^feagerly await Him.

17^aBetter is a dry morsel and tranquility with itThan a house full of ¹feasting with strife.²A slave who acts insightfully will rule over a son who acts shamefully,And will share in the inheritance among brothers.³The ^arefining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,But ^bYahweh tests hearts.⁴An ^aevildoer gives heed to lips of wickedness;¹A liar gives ear to a destructive tongue.⁵He who mocks the ^apoor reproaches his Maker;He who is ^bglad at disaster will not go unpunished.⁶¹^,^aGrandchildren are the crown of old men,And the ^bbeauty of sons is their fathers.⁷^aExcellent lips are not fitting for a ¹wicked fool,Even less are ^blying lips for a noble man.⁸A ^abribe is a ¹charm in the eyes of its owner;Wherever he turns, he prospers.⁹He who ^acovers a transgression seeks love,But he who repeats a matter ^bseparates close companions.¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into one who understandsThan a hundred blows into a fool.¹¹A rebellious man seeks only evil,So a cruel messenger will be sent against him.¹²Let a ^aman meet a ^bbear robbed of her cubs,Rather than a fool in his folly.¹³He who ^areturns evil for good,^bEvil will not depart from his house.¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water,So ^aabandon the dispute before it breaks out.¹⁵He who ^ajustifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.¹⁶Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to ^aacquire wisdom,When ¹he has no heart of wisdom?¹⁷A ^afriend loves at all times,And a brother is born for adversity.¹⁸A man lacking a heart of wisdom ^astrikes his ¹hands in pledgeAnd becomes guarantor in the presence of his neighbor.¹⁹He who ^aloves transgression loves quarreling;He who ^bmakes his doorway high seeks destruction.²⁰He who has a crooked heart ^afinds no good,And he who is ^bperverted in his tongue falls into evil.²¹He who ^abegets a fool does so to his grief,And the father of a wicked fool is not glad.²²A ^aglad heart ¹is good medicine,But a broken spirit ^bdries up the bones.²³A wicked man receives a ^abribe from the bosomTo ^bthrust aside the paths of justice.²⁴Wisdom is in the presence of the one who understands,But the ^aeyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.²⁵A ^afoolish son is a vexation to his fatherAnd ^bbitterness to her who gave birth to him.²⁶It is also not good to ^apunish the righteous,Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.²⁷He who ^aholds back his words ¹has knowledge,And he who has a ^bcool spirit is a man of discernment.²⁸Even an ignorant fool, when he ^akeeps silent, is considered wise;When he closes his lips, he is considered understanding.