David Defeats Goliath

⁴¹ The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer, ⁴² and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy. ⁴³ He said to David, “What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?” And he called down curses from his god on David. ⁴⁴ “Come on,” he challenged David, “and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.”

⁴⁵ David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. ⁴⁶ This very day the Lord will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, ⁴⁷ and everyone here will see that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”

⁴⁸ Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him. ⁴⁹ He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground. ^50 (A)And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone! ^51 (B)He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. ⁵² The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath^[a] and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp. ⁵⁴ David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

In Praise of Simon

14 In the year 172^[a] King Demetrius the Second gathered his army and went to Media to seek additional help for his war against Trypho. ² When King Arsaces the Sixth of Persia and Media heard that Demetrius had entered his territory, he sent one of his commanders with some troops to capture Demetrius alive. ³ They attacked and defeated the army of Demetrius, took him captive, and brought him back to King Arsaces, who threw him in prison.

⁴ The land of Judea was at peace as long as Simon lived. During his entire reign, he used his position of power and influence to do what was good for his people, and they were always pleased with him as their ruler. ⁵ He added to his reputation when he captured the port of Joppa and opened up the route to the Greek islands. ⁶ He not only enlarged the territory of his nation and gained control of the whole country, ⁷ but he brought back many prisoners of war and captured Gezer, Bethzur, and the fort in Jerusalem. He purified the fort, and there was no one to oppose him.

⁸ The Jews farmed their land in peace; the land produced its crops and the trees bore fruit. ⁹ The young men showed off their splendid military uniforms, while the old men sat around the city squares and talked about the great things that had happened. ¹⁰ Simon supplied the cities with food and provided them with weapons of defense. His fame spread everywhere. ¹¹ He brought peace to the country, and Israel's joy knew no bounds. ¹² Everyone lived in peace among his own grapevines and fig trees, and no one made them afraid. ¹³ In those days all the enemy kings had been defeated, and there was no one left in the land to fight the Jews. ¹⁴ Simon provided help for all the poor among his people, and guided by the Law of Moses, he eliminated all wicked and lawless men. ¹⁵ He provided the Temple with splendid furnishings and added a large number of utensils for use in worship.

¹⁶ When the news that Jonathan had died reached Rome and Sparta, it brought great sorrow. ¹⁷ But when the Spartans heard that Simon had succeeded his brother as High Priest and that he was in control of the country and its towns, ^18 (A)they engraved on bronze tablets a renewal of the treaty of friendship which they had made with his brothers Judas and Jonathan and sent the tablets to him. ¹⁹ These were read to the assembly in Jerusalem. ²⁰ What follows is a copy of the letter sent by the Spartans:

The people of Sparta and their rulers to Simon the High Priest, to the leaders and the priests of the Jews, and to all our Jewish brothers, greetings. ²¹ The delegation that you sent to our people has told us how respected and renowned you are. Their visit has been a source of joy for us, ²² and a report of their visit has been written down in our public records, as follows: