1 Samuel 17:32–51; Ephesians 3:14–21; John 6:1–21

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1 Samuel 17:32–51

32 And David said to Saul, cLet no man’s heart fail because of him. dYour servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth. 34 But David said to Saul, Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, efor he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 And David said, fThe Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, gand the Lord be with you!

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them. So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, hwith his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, iruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I ja dog, that you come to me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh kto the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field. 45 Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with la javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ewhom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. mAnd I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day nto the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, othat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that pthe Lord saves not with sword and spear. qFor the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.

48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine rand took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, sthey fled.


Ephesians 3:14–21

Prayer for Spiritual Strength

14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom wevery family1 in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to xthe riches of his glory yhe may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit zin your inner being, 17 aso that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faiththat you, being brooted and cgrounded in love, 18 may have strength to dcomprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and eheight and depth, 19 and to know the love of Christ fthat surpasses knowledge, that gyou may be filled with all hthe fullness of God.

20 iNow to jhim who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, kaccording to the power at work within us, 21 lto him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.


John 6:1–21

Jesus Feeds the Five Thousand

After this jJesus went away to the other side of kthe Sea of Galilee, which is lthe Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on mthe mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now nthe Passover, the ofeast of the Jews, was at hand. pLifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to qPhilip, Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat? He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. rPhilip answered him, Two hundred denarii1 worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. One of his disciples, sAndrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, There is a boy here who has five tbarley loaves and two fish, but twhat are they for so many? 10 Jesus said, Have the people sit down. uNow there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. 11 Jesus then took the loaves, and vwhen he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. 12 And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost. 13 So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. 14 When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, wThis is indeed xthe Prophet ywho is to come into the world!

15 zPerceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus awithdrew again to bthe mountain by himself.

Jesus Walks on Water

16 When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, 17 got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. 18 The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. 19 When they had rowed about three or four miles,2 they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. 20 cBut he said to them, It is I; do not be afraid. 21 Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.