Immerse: Kingdoms Full Volume - Flipbook - Page 128
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IMMERSE
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KINGDOMS
1S
| 17:34-52
Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war
since his youth.”
But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and
goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock,
I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal
turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to
both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has
defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the
claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord
be with you!”
Then Saul gave David his own a rmor—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’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So Da
vid took them off again. He picked up five smooth stones from a stream
and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him,
sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. “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. “Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds
and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and
javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—
the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 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! And everyone
assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with
sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.
Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with
his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Go
liath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for
he had no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its
sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned
and ran. Then the men of Israel and Judah 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