Ezekiel 25:15

⁶For the Lord GOD says: “Because you have clapped your hands, stamped with the feet, and rejoiced with all the contempt of your soul against the land of Israel,

²⁹Don’t rejoice, O Philistia, all of you, because the rod that struck you is broken; for out of the serpent’s root an adder will emerge, and his fruit will be a fiery flying serpent. ³⁰The firstborn of the poor will eat, and the needy will lie down in safety; and I will kill your root with famine, and your remnant will be killed.

³¹Howl, gate! Cry, city! You are melted away, Philistia, all of you; for smoke comes out of the north, and there is no straggler in his ranks.

⁵Ashkelon will see it, and fear; Gaza also, and will writhe in agony; as will Ekron, for her expectation will be disappointed; and the king will perish from Gaza, and Ashkelon will not be inhabited. ⁶Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. ⁷I will take away his blood out of his mouth, and his abominations from between his teeth; and he also will be a remnant for our God; and he will be as a chieftain in Judah, and Ekron as a Jebusite. ⁸I will encamp around my house against the army, that no one pass through or return; and no oppressor will pass through them any more: for now I have seen with my eyes.

¹²“‘The Lord GOD says: “Because Edom has dealt against the house of Judah by taking vengeance, and has greatly offended, and taken revenge on them,”

²⁰and all the mixed people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, all the kings of the Philistines, Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod;

¹⁸The Philistines also had invaded the cities of the lowland and of the South of Judah, and had taken Beth Shemesh, Aijalon, Gederoth, Soco with its villages, Timnah with its villages, and also Gimzo and its villages; and they lived there.

¹After this, David struck the Philistines and subdued them; and David took the bridle of the mother city out of the hand of the Philistines. ²He defeated Moab, and measured them with the line, making them to lie down on the ground; and he measured two lines to put to death, and one full line to keep alive. The Moabites became servants to David, and brought tribute.

³David also struck Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to recover his dominion at the River. ⁴David took from him one thousand seven hundred horsemen and twenty thousand footmen. David hamstrung the chariot horses, but reserved enough of them for one hundred chariots. ⁵When the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck twenty two thousand men of the Syrians. ⁶Then David put garrisons in Syria of Damascus; and the Syrians became servants to David, and brought tribute. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went. ⁷David took the shields of gold that were on the servants of Hadadezer, and brought them to Jerusalem. ⁸From Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.

⁹When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had struck all the army of Hadadezer, ¹⁰then Toi sent Joram his son to King David to greet him and to bless him, because he had fought against Hadadezer and struck him; for Hadadezer had wars with Toi. Joram brought with him vessels of silver, vessels of gold, and vessels of bronze. ¹¹King David also dedicated these to the LORD, with the silver and gold that he dedicated of all the nations which he subdued— ¹²of Syria, of Moab, of the children of Ammon, of the Philistines, of Amalek, and of the plunder of Hadadezer, son of Rehob, king of Zobah.

¹³David earned a reputation when he returned from striking down eighteen thousand men of the Syrians in the Valley of Salt. ¹⁴He put garrisons in Edom. Throughout all Edom, he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became servants to David. The LORD gave victory to David wherever he went.

¹⁵David reigned over all Israel; and David executed justice and righteousness for all his people. ¹⁶Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder, ¹⁷Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, Seraiah was scribe, ¹⁸Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites; and David’s sons were chief ministers.

²¹Zabad his son, Shuthelah his son, Ezer, and Elead, whom the men of Gath who were born in the land killed, because they came down to take away their livestock.

¹Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephesdammim. ²Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. ³The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. ⁴A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span^[+] went out. ⁵He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels^[+] of bronze. ⁶He had bronze shin armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. ⁷The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron.^[+] His shield bearer went before him. ⁸He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. ⁹If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.” ¹⁰The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”

¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid. ¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. ¹³The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. ¹⁵Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah^[+] of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; ¹⁸and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” ¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. ²¹Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. ²²David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. ²³As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. ²⁴All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified. ²⁵The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house tax-free in Israel.”

²⁶David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

²⁸Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”

²⁹David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” ³⁰He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way. ³¹When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. ³²David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”

³⁴David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵I went out after him, struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, struck him, and killed him. ³⁶Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” ³⁷David said, “The LORD, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! The LORD will be with you.”

³⁸Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. ³⁹David strapped his sword on his clothing and he tried to move, for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these, for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off.

⁴⁰He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine. ⁴¹The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴²When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face. ⁴³The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the field.”

⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶Today, the LORD will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that the LORD doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹David put his hand in his bag, took a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. ⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. ⁵¹Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵²The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron. ⁵³The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent. ⁵⁵When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.”

⁵⁶The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”

⁵⁷As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

¹The LORD’s word that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines, before Pharaoh struck Gaza.

²The LORD says: “Behold, waters rise up out of the north, and will become an overflowing stream, and will overflow the land and all that is therein, the city and those who dwell therein. The men will cry, and all the inhabitants of the land will wail. ³At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong ones, at the rushing of his chariots, at the rumbling of his wheels, the fathers don’t look back for their children because their hands are so feeble, ⁴because of the day that comes to destroy all the Philistines, to cut off from Tyre and Sidon every helper who remains; for the LORD will destroy the Philistines, the remnant of the isle of Caphtor. ⁵Baldness has come on Gaza; Ashkelon is brought to nothing. You remnant of their valley, how long will you cut yourself? ⁶“‘You sword of the LORD, how long will it be before you are quiet? Put yourself back into your scabbard; rest, and be still.’ ⁷“How can you be quiet, since the LORD has given you a command? Against Ashkelon, and against the seashore, there he has appointed it.”