The Bible Story Part 162

But his armorbearer would not; for he was sore afraid. Therefore Saul took his sword and fell upon it.

And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he likewise fell upon his sword, and died with him. So Saul died, and his three sons, and his armorbearer, and all his men, that same day together. And when the men of Israel that were on the other side of the valley, and they that were beyond Jordan, saw that the men of Israel fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.

And it came to pa.s.s on the morrow, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, that they found Saul and his three sons fallen in Mount Gilboa. And they cut off his head, and stripped off his armor, and sent into the land of the Philistines round about, to carry the tidings unto the house of their idols, and to the people. And they put his armor in the house of the G.o.d Ashtaroth: and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan. And when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul, all the valiant men arose, and went all night, and took the body of Saul and the bodies of his sons from the wall of Beth-shan; and they came to Jabesh, and burnt them there. And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh, and fasted seven days.

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DAVID

_The Story of the Shepherd Boy Who Became King_.

THE SHEPHERD LAD OF BETHLEHEM.

_Samuel Secretly Anoints David as the Future King of Israel_.

(After Samuel had said to Saul that G.o.d wanted no king who would not do exactly as he said, he himself became very sad, because he loved Saul.)

But the Lord said to Samuel, "How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons."

And Samuel said, "How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me."

And the Lord said, "Take an heifer with thee, and say, 'I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.' And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint to me him whom I name to thee."

And Samuel did that which the Lord spoke, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "earnest thou peaceably?"

And he said, "Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

DAVID

This is the head of the great statue of David in Florence, carved by the most famous of all sculptors, Michael Angelo. The story is that the great sculptor took a piece of marble partly spoiled by another man, and carved this wonderful statue out of it. The statue shows the young shepherd with his sling, ready for the conflict with the giant.

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And it came to pa.s.s, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him."

But the Lord said unto Samuel, "Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart."

Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pa.s.s before Samuel. And he said, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this."

Then Jesse made Shammah to pa.s.s by. And he said, "Neither hath the Lord chosen this."

And Jesse made seven of his sons to pa.s.s before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, "The Lord hath not chosen these."

And Samuel said unto Jesse, "Are here all thy children?"

And he said, "There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep."

And Samuel said unto Jesse, "Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither."

And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And the Lord said, "Arise, anoint him; for this is he."

Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him {386} in the midst of his brethren: and the spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

DAVID AND GOLIATH.

_How a Giant Was Killed by a Stone from a Shepherd's Sling_.

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle. And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and camped in the vale of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. And the 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.

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. And he had an helmet of bra.s.s upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bra.s.s.

And he had greaves of bra.s.s upon his legs, and a javelin of bra.s.s between his shoulders. And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and his shieldbearer went before him. And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us."

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[Ill.u.s.tration]

SCENE OF THE FIGHT BETWEEN DAVID AND GOLIATH IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH

Copyright by Underwood & Underwood and used by special permission.

"It is the very battlefield for those ancient foes. Israel in one of the gateways to her mountain land; the Philistines on the low hills they so often overran; and between them the great valley. The Philistines were probably on the hill of Sochoh.

"Sochoh is a strong position isolated from the rest of the ridge, and it keeps open the line of retreat down the valley. Saul's army was probably not immediately opposite, but a little way up on the slopes of the incoming Wady el Jindy, and so placed that the Philistines, in attacking it, must cross not only the level land and the main stream, but one of the two other streams as well, and must also climb the slopes for some distance. Both positions were thus very strong, and this fact perhaps explains the long hesitation of the armies in face of each other, even though the Philistines had the advantage of Goliath. The Israelite position certainly looks the stronger. It is interesting, too, that from its rear the narrow pa.s.s goes right up to the interior of the land near Bethlehem; so that the shepherd boy, whom the story represents as being sent by his father for news of the battle, would have almost twelve miles to cover between his father's house and the camp"

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And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together."

And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul. And the three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

And Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren; and bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand; and look how thy brethren fare, and bring back some token of their welfare."

Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the vale of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the presents and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the barricade of wagons, as the host which was going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. And David left the presents he had brought in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and saluted his brethren. And as he talked with them, behold, there {390} came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke as before: and David heard him. And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. And the men of Israel said, "Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up, and it shall be that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter in marriage, and make his father's house free in Israel."

And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living G.o.d?"

And the people answered him after this manner, saying, "So shall it be done to the man that killeth him."

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, "Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle."