主耶和华如此说：“因非利士人向犹大人报仇，就是以恨恶的心报仇雪恨，永怀仇恨，要毁灭他们，

“主耶和华如此说：因非利士人报仇，就是心存轻蔑报仇；他们永怀仇恨，意图毁灭，

“主耶和华如此说：因非利士人报仇，就是心存轻蔑报仇；他们永怀仇恨，意图毁灭，

“主耶和华说，‘非利士人心存仇恨，为了报世仇要毁灭犹大，

主耶和华这样说：“因为非利士人向犹大人报仇雪恨，心存轻蔑报仇雪恨，他们永远怀恨，要毁灭犹大，

主耶和華如此說：「因非利士人向猶大人報仇，就是以恨惡的心報仇雪恨，永懷仇恨，要毀滅他們，

「主耶和華如此說：因非利士人報仇，就是心存輕蔑報仇；他們永懷仇恨，意圖毀滅，

「主耶和華如此說：因非利士人報仇，就是心存輕蔑報仇；他們永懷仇恨，意圖毀滅，

「主耶和華說，『非利士人心存仇恨，為了報世仇要毀滅猶大，

主耶和華這樣說：“因為非利士人向猶大人報仇雪恨，心存輕蔑報仇雪恨，他們永遠懷恨，要毀滅猶大，

『永恆主這麼說：非利士人對猶大人既行了報仇的事，既滿心懷着輕蔑之意而報仇，以永存的仇恨心要毁滅他們，

主耶和華曰、非利士人心存蔑視、而行報復、從其永憾、圖滅我民、

主耶和華曰、非利士人藏匿舊怨、中心叵測、以害我民、

主天主如是云、非利士人攻我民、狂傲復仇、欲翦滅之、乃從其舊恨、

“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says:‘ Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with malice in their hearts, and with ancient hostility sought to destroy Judah,

The Lord and King says,“ Deep down inside them, the Philistines hated Judah. So the Philistines tried to get even with them. They had been Judah’s enemies for many years. So they tried to destroy them.”

“ Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted revengefully and took vengeance with malice of soul to destroy in never-ending enmity,

“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says: The people of Philistia have acted against Judah out of bitter revenge and long standing contempt.

“‘ This is what the Lord GOD says: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with deep contempt, destroying because of their perpetual hatred,

‘ This is what the Lord God says:“ Because the Philistines have acted in revenge, and have taken vengeance with malice in their souls to destroy with everlasting hostility,”

‘ Thus says the Lord GOD:“ Because the Philistines dealt vengefully and took vengeance with a spiteful heart, to destroy because of the old hatred,”

Thus saith the Lord Jehovah: Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with despite of soul to destroy with perpetual enmity;

This is what the Lord God says:“ Because the Philistines acted in vengeance and took revenge with deep contempt, destroying because of their ancient hatred,

Thus saith the Lord GOD; Because the Philistines have dealt by revenge, and have taken vengeance with a despiteful heart, to destroy[ it] for the old hatred;

“ This is what the sovereign LORD says:‘ The Philistines have exacted merciless revenge, showing intense scorn in their effort to destroy Judah with unrelenting hostility.

“‘ The Lord Yahweh says:“ Because the Philistines have taken revenge, and have taken vengeance with contempt of soul to destroy with perpetual hostility;”

For this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because you have clapped your hands and stamped your feet, rejoicing with all the malice of your heart against the land of Israel, (niv)

Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, that the rod that struck you is broken; from the root of that snake will spring up a viper, its fruit will be a darting, venomous serpent.The poorest of the poor will find pasture, and the needy will lie down in safety. But your root I will destroy by famine; it will slay your survivors.Wail, you gate! Howl, you city! Melt away, all you Philistines! A cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there is not a straggler in its ranks. (niv)

“ This is what the Sovereign Lord says:‘ Because Edom took revenge on Judah and became very guilty by doing so, (niv)

while the Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. (niv)

and all the foreign people there; all the kings of Uz; all the kings of the Philistines( those of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, and the people left at Ashdod); (niv)

This is what the Lord says:“ For three sins of Gaza, even for four, I will not relent. Because she took captive whole communities and sold them to Edom,I will send fire on the walls of Gaza that will consume her fortresses.I will destroy the king of Ashdod and the one who holds the scepter in Ashkelon. I will turn my hand against Ekron, till the last of the Philistines are dead,” says the Sovereign Lord. (niv)

Zabad his son and Shuthelah his son. Ezer and Elead were killed by the native-born men of Gath, when they went down to seize their livestock. (niv)

And Samuel’s word came to all Israel. Now the Israelites went out to fight against the Philistines. The Israelites camped at Ebenezer, and the Philistines at Aphek.The Philistines deployed their forces to meet Israel, and as the battle spread, Israel was defeated by the Philistines, who killed about four thousand of them on the battlefield.When the soldiers returned to camp, the elders of Israel asked,“ Why did the Lord bring defeat on us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant from Shiloh, so that he may go with us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”So the people sent men to Shiloh, and they brought back the ark of the covenant of the Lord Almighty, who is enthroned between the cherubim. And Eli’s two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, were there with the ark of the covenant of God.When the ark of the Lord’s covenant came into the camp, all Israel raised such a great shout that the ground shook.Hearing the uproar, the Philistines asked,“ What’s all this shouting in the Hebrew camp?” When they learned that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp, (niv)

Ashkelon will see it and fear; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted.A mongrel people will occupy Ashdod, and I will put an end to the pride of the Philistines.I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites.But I will encamp at my temple to guard it against marauding forces. Never again will an oppressor overrun my people, for now I am keeping watch. (niv)

Byblos, Ammon and Amalek, Philistia, with the people of Tyre. (niv)

Arameans from the east and Philistines from the west have devoured Israel with open mouth. Yet for all this, his anger is not turned away, his hand is still upraised. (niv)

“ Now what have you against me, Tyre and Sidon and all you regions of Philistia? Are you repaying me for something I have done? If you are paying me back, I will swiftly and speedily return on your own heads what you have done.For you took my silver and my gold and carried off my finest treasures to your temples.You sold the people of Judah and Jerusalem to the Greeks, that you might send them far from their homeland.“ See, I am going to rouse them out of the places to which you sold them, and I will return on your own heads what you have done.I will sell your sons and daughters to the people of Judah, and they will sell them to the Sabeans, a nation far away.” The Lord has spoken.Proclaim this among the nations: Prepare for war! Rouse the warriors! Let all the fighting men draw near and attack.Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks into spears. Let the weakling say,“ I am strong!”Come quickly, all you nations from every side, and assemble there. Bring down your warriors, Lord!“ Let the nations be roused; let them advance into the Valley of Jehoshaphat, for there I will sit to judge all the nations on every side.Swing the sickle, for the harvest is ripe. Come, trample the grapes, for the winepress is full and the vats overflow— so great is their wickedness!”Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision.The sun and moon will be darkened, and the stars no longer shine.The Lord will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the Lord will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel.“ Then you will know that I, the Lord your God, dwell in Zion, my holy hill. Jerusalem will be holy; never again will foreigners invade her.“ In that day the mountains will drip new wine, and the hills will flow with milk; all the ravines of Judah will run with water. A fountain will flow out of the Lord’s house and will water the valley of acacias.But Egypt will be desolate, Edom a desert waste, because of violence done to the people of Judah, in whose land they shed innocent blood.Judah will be inhabited forever and Jerusalem through all generations.Shall I leave their innocent blood unavenged? No, I will not.” The Lord dwells in Zion! (niv)

David went to Nob, to Ahimelek the priest. Ahimelek trembled when he met him, and asked,“ Why are you alone? Why is no one with you?”David answered Ahimelek the priest,“ The king sent me on a mission and said to me,‘ No one is to know anything about the mission I am sending you on.’ As for my men, I have told them to meet me at a certain place.Now then, what do you have on hand? Give me five loaves of bread, or whatever you can find.”But the priest answered David,“ I don’t have any ordinary bread on hand; however, there is some consecrated bread here— provided the men have kept themselves from women.”David replied,“ Indeed women have been kept from us, as usual whenever I set out. The men’s bodies are holy even on missions that are not holy. How much more so today!”So the priest gave him the consecrated bread, since there was no bread there except the bread of the Presence that had been removed from before the Lord and replaced by hot bread on the day it was taken away.Now one of Saul’s servants was there that day, detained before the Lord; he was Doeg the Edomite, Saul’s chief shepherd.David asked Ahimelek,“ Don’t you have a spear or a sword here? I haven’t brought my sword or any other weapon, because the king’s mission was urgent.”The priest replied,“ The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom you killed in the Valley of Elah, is here; it is wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod. If you want it, take it; there is no sword here but that one.” David said,“ There is none like it; give it to me.”That day David fled from Saul and went to Achish king of Gath.But the servants of Achish said to him,“ Isn’t this David, the king of the land? Isn’t he the one they sing about in their dances:“‘ Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands’?David took these words to heart and was very much afraid of Achish king of Gath.So he pretended to be insane in their presence; and while he was in their hands he acted like a madman, making marks on the doors of the gate and letting saliva run down his beard.Achish said to his servants,“ Look at the man! He is insane! Why bring him to me?Am I so short of madmen that you have to bring this fellow here to carry on like this in front of me? Must this man come into my house?” (niv)

This is the word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet concerning the Philistines before Pharaoh attacked Gaza:This is what the Lord says:“ See how the waters are rising in the north; they will become an overflowing torrent. They will overflow the land and everything in it, the towns and those who live in them. The people will cry out; all who dwell in the land will wailat the sound of the hooves of galloping steeds, at the noise of enemy chariots and the rumble of their wheels. Parents will not turn to help their children; their hands will hang limp.For the day has come to destroy all the Philistines and to remove all survivors who could help Tyre and Sidon. The Lord is about to destroy the Philistines, the remnant from the coasts of Caphtor.Gaza will shave her head in mourning; Ashkelon will be silenced. You remnant on the plain, how long will you cut yourselves?“‘ Alas, sword of the Lord, how long till you rest? Return to your sheath; cease and be still.’But how can it rest when the Lord has commanded it, when he has ordered it to attack Ashkelon and the coast?” (niv)

Saul was thirty years old when he became king, and he reigned over Israel forty- two years.Saul chose three thousand men from Israel; two thousand were with him at Mikmash and in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. The rest of the men he sent back to their homes.Jonathan attacked the Philistine outpost at Geba, and the Philistines heard about it. Then Saul had the trumpet blown throughout the land and said,“ Let the Hebrews hear!”So all Israel heard the news:“ Saul has attacked the Philistine outpost, and now Israel has become obnoxious to the Philistines.” And the people were summoned to join Saul at Gilgal.The Philistines assembled to fight Israel, with three thousand chariots, six thousand charioteers, and soldiers as numerous as the sand on the seashore. They went up and camped at Mikmash, east of Beth Aven.When the Israelites saw that their situation was critical and that their army was hard pressed, they hid in caves and thickets, among the rocks, and in pits and cisterns.Some Hebrews even crossed the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. Saul remained at Gilgal, and all the troops with him were quaking with fear.He waited seven days, the time set by Samuel; but Samuel did not come to Gilgal, and Saul’s men began to scatter.So he said,“ Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings.” And Saul offered up the burnt offering.Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him.“ What have you done?” asked Samuel. Saul replied,“ When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Mikmash,I thought,‘ Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord’s favor.’ So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering.”“ You have done a foolish thing,” Samuel said.“ You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time.But now your kingdom will not endure; the Lord has sought out a man after his own heart and appointed him ruler of his people, because you have not kept the Lord’s command.” (niv)

Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah.Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels;on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him.Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel,“ Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.”Then the Philistine said,“ This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.”On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old.Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.Now Jesse said to his son David,“ Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them.They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were.As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.Now the Israelites had been saying,“ Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.”David asked the men standing near him,“ What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?”They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him,“ This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked,“ Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”“ Now what have I done?” said David.“ Can’t I even speak?”He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.David said to Saul,“ Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”Saul replied,“ You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”But David said to Saul,“ Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David,“ Go, and the Lord be with you.”Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.“ I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul,“ because I am not used to them.” So he took them off.Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.He said to David,“ Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.“ Come here,” he said,“ and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”David said to the Philistine,“ You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army,“ Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied,“ As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”The king said,“ Find out whose son this young man is.”As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.“ Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. David said,“ I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.” (niv)

Gaza will be abandoned and Ashkelon left in ruins. At midday Ashdod will be emptied and Ekron uprooted.Woe to you who live by the sea, you Kerethite people; the word of the Lord is against you, Canaan, land of the Philistines. He says,“ I will destroy you, and none will be left.”The land by the sea will become pastures having wells for shepherds and pens for flocks.That land will belong to the remnant of the people of Judah; there they will find pasture. In the evening they will lie down in the houses of Ashkelon. The Lord their God will care for them; he will restore their fortunes. (niv)

In the course of time, David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Metheg Ammah from the control of the Philistines.David also defeated the Moabites. He made them lie down on the ground and measured them off with a length of cord. Every two lengths of them were put to death, and the third length was allowed to live. So the Moabites became subject to David and brought him tribute.Moreover, David defeated Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah, when he went to restore his monument at the Euphrates River.David captured a thousand of his chariots, seven thousand charioteers and twenty thousand foot soldiers. He hamstrung all but a hundred of the chariot horses.When the Arameans of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand of them.He put garrisons in the Aramean kingdom of Damascus, and the Arameans became subject to him and brought tribute. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David took the gold shields that belonged to the officers of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.From Tebah and Berothai, towns that belonged to Hadadezer, King David took a great quantity of bronze.When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the entire army of Hadadezer,he sent his son Joram to King David to greet him and congratulate him on his victory in battle over Hadadezer, who had been at war with Tou. Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold and of bronze.King David dedicated these articles to the Lord, as he had done with the silver and gold from all the nations he had subdued:Edom and Moab, the Ammonites and the Philistines, and Amalek. He also dedicated the plunder taken from Hadadezer son of Rehob, king of Zobah.And David became famous after he returned from striking down eighteen thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt.He put garrisons throughout Edom, and all the Edomites became subject to David. The Lord gave David victory wherever he went.David reigned over all Israel, doing what was just and right for all his people.Joab son of Zeruiah was over the army; Jehoshaphat son of Ahilud was recorder;Zadok son of Ahitub and Ahimelek son of Abiathar were priests; Seraiah was secretary;Benaiah son of Jehoiada was over the Kerethites and Pelethites; and David’s sons were priests. (niv)

Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman.When he returned, he said to his father and mother,“ I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.”His father and mother replied,“ Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father,“ Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.”( His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.)Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him.The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her.Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey.He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men.When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions.“ Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them.“ If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.”“ Tell us your riddle,” they said.“ Let’s hear it.”He replied,“ Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer.On the fourth day, they said to Samson’s wife,“ Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?”Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing,“ You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.”“ I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied,“ so why should I explain it to you?” (niv)