The One Year Bible TLB (109 page)
Read The One Year Bible TLB Online
Authors: Tyndale
May 15The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
2
Saul countered with a buildup of forces at Elah Valley.
3
So the Philistines and Israelis faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
4-7
Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was a giant of a man, measuring over nine feet tall! He wore a bronze helmet, a two-hundred-pound coat of mail, bronze leggings, and carried a bronze javelin several inches thick, tipped with a twenty-five-pound iron spearhead, and his armor bearer walked ahead of him with a huge shield.
8
He stood and shouted across to the Israelis, “Do you need a whole army to settle this? I will represent the Philistines, and you choose someone to represent you, and we will settle this in single combat!
9
If your man is able to kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, then you must be our slaves!
10
I defy the armies of Israel! Send me a man who will fight with me!”
11
When Saul
*
and the Israeli army heard this, they were dismayed and frightened.
12
David (the son of aging Jesse, a member of the tribe of Judah who lived in Bethlehem) had seven older brothers.
13
The three oldest—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shammah—had already volunteered for Saul’s army to fight the Philistines.
14-15
David was the youngest son and was on Saul’s staff on a part-time basis. He went back and forth to Bethlehem to help his father with the sheep.
16
For forty days, twice a day, morning and evening the Philistine giant strutted before the armies of Israel.
17
One day Jesse said to David, “Take this bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers.
18
Give this cheese to their captain and see how the boys are getting along; and bring us back a letter
*
from them!”
19
(Saul and the Israeli army were camped at the valley of Elah.)
20
So David left the sheep with another shepherd and took off early the next morning with the gifts. He arrived at the outskirts of the camp just as the Israeli army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries.
21
Soon the Israeli and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army.
22
David left his luggage with a baggage officer and hurried out to the ranks to find his brothers.
23
As he was talking with them, he saw Goliath the giant step out from the Philistine troops and shout his challenge to the army of Israel.
24
As soon as they saw him the Israeli army began to run away in fright.
25
“Have you seen the giant?” the soldiers were asking. “He has insulted the entire army of Israel. And have you heard about the huge reward the king has offered to anyone who kills him? And the king will give him one of his daughters for a wife, and his whole family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
26
David talked to some others standing there to verify the report. “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his insults to Israel?” he asked them. “Who is this heathen Philistine, anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
27
And he received the same reply as before.
28
But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking like that, he was angry. “What are you doing around here, anyway?” he demanded. “What about the sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know what a cocky brat you are; you just want to see the battle!”
29
“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!”
30
And he walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer.
31
When it was finally realized what David meant, someone told King Saul, and the king sent for him.
32
“Don’t worry about a thing,” David told him. “I’ll take care of this Philistine!”
33
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army
since
he was a boy!”
34
But David persisted. “When I am taking care of my father’s sheep,” he said, “and a lion or a bear comes and grabs a lamb from the flock,
35
I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If it turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death.
36
I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this heathen Philistine too, for he has defied the armies of the living God!
37
The Lord who saved me from the claws and teeth of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented, “All right, go ahead,” he said, “and may the Lord be with you!”
38-39
Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can hardly move!” he exclaimed, and took them off again.
40
Then he picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd’s bag and, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, started across to Goliath.
41-42
Goliath walked out toward David with his shield-bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this nice little red-cheeked boy!
43
“Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods.
44
“Come over here and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals,” Goliath yelled.
45
David shouted in reply, “You come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the armies of heaven and of Israel—the very God whom you have defied.
46
Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head; and then I will give the dead bodies of
your
men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel!
47
And Israel will learn that the Lord does not depend on weapons to fulfill his plans—he works without regard to human means! He will give you to us!”
48-49
As Goliath approached, David ran out to meet him and, reaching into his shepherd’s bag, took out a stone, hurled it from his sling, and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and the man fell on his face to the ground.
50-51
So David conquered the Philistine giant with a sling and a stone. Since he had no sword, he ran over and pulled Goliath’s from its sheath and killed him with it, and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.
52
Then the Israelis gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road to Shaaraim.
53
Then the Israeli army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp.
54
(Later David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem, but stored his armor in his tent.)
55
As Saul was watching David go out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the general of his army, “Abner, what sort of family does this young fellow come from?”
*
“I really don’t know,” Abner said.
56
“Well, find out!” the king told him.
57
After David had killed Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.
58
“Tell me about your father, my boy,” Saul said.
And David replied, “His name is Jesse and we live in Bethlehem.”
18:
1-3
After King Saul had finished his conversation with David, David met Jonathan, the king’s son, and there was an immediate bond of love between them. Jonathan swore to be his blood brother,
4
and sealed the pact by giving him his robe, sword, bow, and belt.
Later he [Jesus] said to them again,
“I am going away; and you will search for me, and die in your sins. And you cannot come where I am going.”
22
The Jews asked, “Is he planning suicide? What does he mean, ‘You cannot come where I am going’?”
23
Then he said to them,
“You are from below; I am from above. You are of this world; I am not.
24
That is why I said that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am the Messiah, the Son of God, you will die in your sins.”
25
“Tell us who you are,” they demanded.
He replied,
“I am the one I have always claimed to be.
26
I could condemn you for much and teach you much, but I won’t, for I say only what I am told to by the one who sent me; and he is Truth.”
27
But they still didn’t understand that he was talking to them about God.
*
28
So Jesus said,
“When you have killed the Messiah,
*
then you will realize that I am he and that I have not been telling you my own ideas, but have spoken what the Father taught me.
29
And he who sent me is with me—he has not deserted me—for I always do those things that are pleasing to him.”
Hallelujah! I want to express publicly before his people my heartfelt thanks to God for his mighty miracles. All who are thankful should ponder them with me.
3
For his miracles demonstrate his honor, majesty, and eternal goodness.
4
Who can forget the wonders he performs—deeds of mercy and of grace?
5
He gives food to those who trust him; he never forgets his promises.
6
He has shown his great power to his people by giving them the land of Israel, though it was the home of many nations living there.
7
All he does is just and good, and all his laws are right,
8
for they are formed from truth and goodness and stand firm forever.
9
He has paid a full ransom for his people; now they are always free to come to Jehovah (what a holy, awe-inspiring name that is).
10
How can men be wise? The only way to begin is by reverence for God. For growth in wisdom comes from obeying his laws. Praise his name forever.
The depths of hell are open to God’s knowledge. How much more the hearts of all mankind!
May 16King Saul now kept David with him and wouldn’t let him return home anymore. He was Saul’s special assistant, and he always carried out his assignments successfully. So Saul made him commander of his troops, an appointment that was applauded by the army and general public alike.
6
But something had happened when the victorious Israeli army was returning home after David had killed Goliath. Women came out from all the towns along the way to celebrate and to cheer for King Saul, and were singing and dancing for joy with tambourines and cymbals.
7
However, this was their song: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands!”
8
Of course Saul was very angry. “What’s this?” he said to himself. “They credit David with ten thousands and me with only thousands. Next they’ll be making him their king!”
9
So from that time on King Saul kept a jealous watch on David.
10
The very next day, in fact, a tormenting spirit from God overwhelmed Saul, and he began to rave like a madman. David began to soothe him by playing the harp, as he did whenever this happened. But Saul, who was fiddling with his spear,
11-12
suddenly hurled it at David, intending to pin him to the wall. But David jumped aside and escaped. This happened another time, too, for Saul was afraid of him and jealous because the Lord had left him and was now with David.
13
Finally Saul banned him from his presence and demoted him to the rank of captain. But the controversy put David more than ever in the public eye.
14
David continued to succeed in everything he undertook, for the Lord was with him.
15-16
When King Saul saw this, he became even more afraid of him; but all Israel and Judah loved him, for he was as one of them.
17
One day Saul said to David, “I am ready to give you my oldest daughter Merab as your wife. But first you must prove yourself to be a real soldier by fighting the Lord’s battles.” For Saul thought to himself, “I’ll send him out against the Philistines and let them kill him rather than doing it myself.”
18
“Who am I that I should be the king’s son-in-law?” David exclaimed. “My father’s family is nothing!”
19
But when the time arrived for the wedding, Saul married her to Adriel, a man from Meholath, instead.
20
In the meantime Saul’s daughter Michal had fallen in love with David, and Saul was delighted when he heard about it.
21
“Here’s another opportunity to see him killed by the Philistines!” Saul said to himself. But to David he said, “You can be my son-in-law after all, for I will give you my youngest daughter.”
22
Then Saul instructed his men to say confidentially to David that the king really liked him a lot, and that they all loved him and thought he should accept the king’s proposition and become his son-in-law.
23
But David replied, “How can a poor man like me from an unknown family find enough dowry to marry the daughter of a king?”
24
When Saul’s men reported this back to him,
25
he told them, “Tell David that the only dowry I need is one hundred dead Philistines!
*
Vengeance on my enemies is all I want.” But what Saul had in mind was that David would be killed in the fight.
26
David was delighted to accept the offer. So, before the time limit expired,
27
he and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines and presented their foreskins to King Saul. So Saul gave Michal to him.
28
When the king realized how much the Lord was with David and how immensely popular he was with all the people,
29
he became even more afraid of him and grew to hate him more with every passing day.
30
Whenever the Philistine army attacked, David was more successful against them than all the rest of Saul’s officers. So David’s name became very famous throughout the land.
19:
1
Saul now urged his aides and his son Jonathan to assassinate David. But Jonathan, because of his close friendship with David,
2
told him what his father was planning. “Tomorrow morning,” he warned him, “you must find a hiding place out in the fields.
3
I’ll ask my father to go out there with me, and I’ll talk to him about you; then I’ll tell you everything I can find out.”
4
The next morning
*
as Jonathan and his father were talking together, he spoke well of David and begged him not to be against David.
“He’s never done anything to harm you,” Jonathan pleaded. “He has always helped you in any way he could.
5
Have you forgotten about the time he risked his life to kill Goliath, and how the Lord brought a great victory to Israel as a result? You were certainly happy about it then. Why should you now murder an innocent man? There is no reason for it at all!”
6
Finally Saul agreed and vowed, “As the Lord lives, he shall not be killed.”
7
Afterwards Jonathan called David and told him what had happened. Then he took David to Saul and everything was as it had been before.
8
War broke out shortly after that, and David led his troops against the Philistines and slaughtered many of them, and put to flight their entire army.
9-10
But one day as Saul was sitting at home, listening to David playing the harp, suddenly the tormenting spirit from the Lord attacked him. He had his spear in his hand and hurled it at David in an attempt to kill him. But David dodged out of the way and fled into the night, leaving the spear imbedded in the timber of the wall.
11
Saul sent troops to watch David’s house and kill him when he came out in the morning.
“If you don’t get away tonight,” Michal warned him, “you’ll be dead by morning.”
12
So she helped him get down to the ground through a window.
13
Then she took an idol
*
and put it in his bed, and covered it with blankets, with its head on a pillow of goat’s hair.
14
When the soldiers came to arrest David and take him to Saul,
*
she told them he was sick and couldn’t get out of bed.
15
Saul said to bring him in his bed, then, so that he could kill him.
16
But when they came to carry him out, they discovered that it was only an idol!
17
“Why have you deceived me and let my enemy escape?” Saul demanded of Michal.
“I had to,” Michal replied. “He threatened to kill me if I didn’t help him.”
18
In that way David got away and went to Ramah to see Samuel, and told him all that Saul had done to him. So Samuel took David with him to live at Naioth.
19
When the report reached Saul that David was at Naioth in Ramah,
20
he sent soldiers to capture him; but when they arrived and saw Samuel and the other prophets prophesying, the Spirit of God came upon them and they also began to prophesy.
21
When Saul heard what had happened, he sent other soldiers, but they too prophesied! The same thing happened a third time!
22
Then Saul himself went to Ramah and arrived at the great well in Secu.
“Where are Samuel and David?” he demanded.
Someone told him they were at Naioth.
23
But on the way to Naioth the Spirit of God came upon Saul, and he too began to prophesy!
24
He tore off his clothes and lay naked all day and all night, prophesying with Samuel’s prophets. Saul’s men were incredulous!
“What!” they exclaimed. “Is Saul a prophet too?”
*
Then many of the Jewish leaders who heard him say these things began believing him to be the Messiah.
Jesus said to them,
“You are truly my disciples if you live as I tell you to,
32
and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
33
“But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said, “and have never been slaves to any man on earth! What do you mean, ‘set free’?”
34
Jesus replied,
“You are slaves of sin, every one of you.
35
And slaves don’t have rights, but the Son has every right there is!
36
So if the Son sets you free, you will indeed be free—
37
(Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham!) And yet some of you are trying to kill me because my message does not find a home within your hearts.
38
I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father. But you are following the advice of
your
father.”
39
“Our father is Abraham,” they declared.
“No!”
Jesus replied,
“for if he were, you would follow his good example.
40
But instead you are trying to kill me—and all because I told you the truth I heard from God. Abraham wouldn’t do a thing like that!
41
No, you are obeying your
real
father when you act that way.”
They replied, “We were not born out of wedlock—our true Father is God himself.”
42
Jesus told them,
“If that were so, then you would love me, for I have come to you from God. I am not here on my own, but he sent me.
43
Why can’t you understand what I am saying? It is because you are prevented from doing so!
44
For you are the children of your father the devil and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning and a hater of truth—there is not an iota of truth in him. When he lies, it is perfectly normal; for he is the father of liars.
45
And so when I tell the truth, you just naturally don’t believe it!
46
“Which of you can truthfully accuse me of one single sin? No one!
*
And since I am telling you the truth, why don’t you believe me?
47
Anyone whose Father is God listens gladly to the words of God. Since you don’t, it proves you aren’t his children.”
48
“You Samaritan! Foreigner! Devil!” the Jewish leaders snarled. “Didn’t we say all along you were possessed by a demon?”
49
“No,”
Jesus said,
“I have no demon in me. For I honor my Father—and you dishonor me.
50
And though I have no wish to make myself great, God wants this for me and judges those who reject me.
*
51
With all the earnestness I have I tell you this—no one who obeys me shall ever die!”
52
The leaders of the Jews said, “Now we know you are possessed by a demon. Even Abraham and the mightiest prophets died, and yet you say that obeying you will keep a man from dying!
53
So you are greater than our father Abraham, who died? And greater than the prophets, who died? Who do you think you are?”
54
Then Jesus told them this:
“If I am merely boasting about myself, it doesn’t count. But it is my Father—and you claim him as your God—who is saying these glorious things about me.
55
But you do not even know him. I do. If I said otherwise, I would be as great a liar as you! But it is true—I know him and fully obey him.
56
Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day. He knew I was coming and was glad.”
57
The Jewish leaders:
“You aren’t even fifty years old—sure, you’ve seen Abraham!”
58
Jesus:
“The absolute truth is that I was in existence before Abraham was ever born!”
59
At that point the Jewish leaders picked up stones to kill him. But Jesus was hidden from them, and walked past them and left the Temple.
Praise the Lord! For all who fear God and trust in him are blessed beyond expression. Yes, happy is the man who delights in doing his commands.
2
His children shall be honored everywhere, for good men’s sons have a special heritage.
3
He himself shall be wealthy, and his good deeds will never be forgotten.
4
When darkness overtakes him, light will come bursting in. He is kind and merciful—
5
and all goes well for the generous man who conducts his business fairly.
6
Such a man will not be overthrown by evil circumstances. God’s constant care of him will make a deep impression on all who see it.
7
He does not fear bad news, nor live in dread of what may happen. For he is settled in his mind that Jehovah will take care of him.
8
That is why he is not afraid but can calmly face his foes.
9
He gives generously to those in need. His deeds will never be forgotten.
*
He shall have influence and honor.
10
Evil-minded men will be infuriated when they see all this; they will gnash their teeth in anger and slink away, their hopes thwarted.