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The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah; they camped at a place called Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.
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Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in Elah Valley, where they got ready to fight the Philistines.
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The Philistines lined up on one hill and the Israelites on another, with a valley between them.
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A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet tall
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and wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet.
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His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder.
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His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield.
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Goliath stood and shouted at the Israelites, "What are you doing there, lined up for battle? I am a Philistine, you slaves of Saul! Choose one of your men to fight me.
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If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves.
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Here and now I challenge the Israelite army. I dare you to pick someone to fight me!"
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When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified.
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David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.
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His three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.
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David was the youngest son, and while the three oldest brothers stayed with Saul,
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David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father's sheep.
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Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.
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One day Jesse said to David, "Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp.
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And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well.
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King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines."
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David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry.
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The Philistine and the Israelite armies took positions for battle, facing each other.
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David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting along.
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As he was talking with them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him.
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When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror.
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"Look at him!" they said to each other. "Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father's family to pay taxes."
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David asked the men who were near him, "What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?"
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They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.
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Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He became angry with David and said, "What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You smart aleck, you! You just came to watch the fighting!"
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"Now what have I done?" David asked. "Can't I even ask a question?"
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He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.
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Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him.
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David said to Saul, "Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him."
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"No," answered Saul. "How could you fight him? You're just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!"
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"Your Majesty," David said, "I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb,
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I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death.
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I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God.
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The LORD has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine." "All right," Saul answered. "Go, and the LORD be with you."
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He gave his own armor to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armor.
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David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to wearing them. "I can't fight with all this," he said to Saul. "I'm not used to it." So he took it all off.
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He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.
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The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer,
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and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy.
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He said to David, "What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?" And he called down curses from his god on David.
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"Come on," he challenged David, "and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat."
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David answered, "You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied.
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This very day the LORD will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God,
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and everyone here will see that the LORD does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power."
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Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him.
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He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground.
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And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone!
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He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away.
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The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron.
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When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp.
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David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.
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When Saul saw David going out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, "Abner, whose son is he?" "I have no idea, Your Majesty," Abner answered.
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"Then go and find out," Saul ordered.
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So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head.
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Saul asked him, "Young man, whose son are you?" "I am the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem," David answered.
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I will praise you, LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all the wonderful things you have done.
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I will sing with joy because of you. I will sing praise to you, Almighty God.
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My enemies turn back when you appear; they fall down and die.
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You are fair and honest in your judgments, and you have judged in my favor.
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You have condemned the heathen and destroyed the wicked; they will be remembered no more.
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Our enemies are finished forever; you have destroyed their cities, and they are completely forgotten.
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But the LORD is king forever; he has set up his throne for judgment.
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He rules the world with righteousness; he judges the nations with justice.
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The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a place of safety in times of trouble.
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Those who know you, LORD, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you.
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Sing praise to the LORD, who rules in Zion! Tell every nation what he has done!
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God remembers those who suffer; he does not forget their cry, and he punishes those who wrong them.
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Be merciful to me, O LORD! See the sufferings my enemies cause me! Rescue me from death, O LORD,
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that I may stand before the people of Jerusalem and tell them all the things for which I praise you. I will rejoice because you saved me.
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The heathen have dug a pit and fallen in; they have been caught in their own trap.
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The LORD has revealed himself by his righteous judgments, and the wicked are trapped by their own deeds.
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Death is the destiny of all the wicked, of all those who reject God.
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The needy will not always be neglected; the hope of the poor will not be crushed forever.
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Come, LORD! Do not let anyone defy you! Bring the heathen before you and pronounce judgment on them.
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Make them afraid, O LORD; make them know that they are only mortal beings.
1
Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea, during the time when Herod was king. Soon afterward, some men who studied the stars came from the East to Jerusalem
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and asked, "Where is the baby born to be the king of the Jews? We saw his star when it came up in the east, and we have come to worship him."
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When King Herod heard about this, he was very upset, and so was everyone else in Jerusalem.
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He called together all the chief priests and the teachers of the Law and asked them, "Where will the Messiah be born?"
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"In the town of Bethlehem in Judea," they answered. "For this is what the prophet wrote:
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'Bethlehem in the land of Judah, you are by no means the least of the leading cities of Judah; for from you will come a leader who will guide my people Israel.' "
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So Herod called the visitors from the East to a secret meeting and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared.
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Then he sent them to Bethlehem with these instructions: "Go and make a careful search for the child; and when you find him, let me know, so that I too may go and worship him."
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And so they left, and on their way they saw the same star they had seen in the East. When they saw it, how happy they were, what joy was theirs! It went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.
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They went into the house, and when they saw the child with his mother Mary, they knelt down and worshiped him. They brought out their gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, and presented them to him.
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Then they returned to their country by another road, since God had warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod.
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After they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph and said, "Herod will be looking for the child in order to kill him. So get up, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you to leave."
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Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and left during the night for Egypt,
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where he stayed until Herod died. This was done to make come true what the Lord had said through the prophet, "I called my Son out of Egypt."
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When Herod realized that the visitors from the East had tricked him, he was furious. He gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its neighborhood who were two years old and younger---this was done in accordance with what he had learned from the visitors about the time when the star had appeared.
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In this way what the prophet Jeremiah had said came true:
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"A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead."
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After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt
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and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother, and go back to the land of Israel, because those who tried to kill the child are dead."
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So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went back to Israel.
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But when Joseph heard that Archelaus had succeeded his father Herod as king of Judea, he was afraid to go there. He was given more instructions in a dream, so he went to the province of Galilee
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and made his home in a town named Nazareth. And so what the prophets had said came true: "He will be called a Nazarene."
