What the Bible Says About the Israel War: Understanding Its Meaning and Significance

Scripture

⁸ Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim.
⁹ So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.”
¹⁰ So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.
¹¹ Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed.
¹² But Moses’ hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.
¹³ And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.
¹⁴ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
¹⁵ And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The Lord Is My Banner,
¹⁶ saying, “A hand upon the throne of the Lord! The Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Exodus 17:8-16

Numbers 21:1-3: ¹ When the Canaanite, the king of Arad, who lived in the Negeb, heard that Israel was coming by the way of Atharim, he fought against Israel, and took some of them captive.
² And Israel vowed a vow to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed give this people into my hand, then I will devote their cities to destruction.”
³ And the Lord heeded the voice of Israel and gave over the Canaanites, and they devoted them and their cities to destruction.

Deuteronomy 20:1-20: ¹ When you go out to war against your enemies, and see horses and chariots and an army larger than your own, you shall not be afraid of them, for the Lord your God is with you, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
² and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them,
³ and shall say to them, ‘Hear, O Israel, today you are drawing near for battle against your enemies: let not your heart faint. Do not fear or panic or be in dread of them,
⁴ for the Lord your God is he who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies, to give you the victory.
⁵ Then the officers shall speak to the people, saying, ‘Is there any man who has built a new house and has not dedicated it? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man dedicate it.
⁶ And what man is there who has planted a vineyard and has not enjoyed its fruit? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man enjoy its fruit.
⁷ And is there any man who has betrothed a wife and has not taken her? Let him go back to his house, lest he die in the battle and another man take her.’
⁸ And the officers shall speak further to the people, and say, ‘Is there any man who is fearful and fainthearted? Let him go back to his house, lest he make the heart of his fellows melt like his own.’
⁹ And when the officers have finished speaking to the people, then commanders shall be appointed at the head of the people.
¹⁰ “When you draw near to a city to fight against it, offer terms of peace to it.”
¹¹ And if it responds to you peaceably and it opens to you, then all the people who are found in it shall do forced labor for you and shall serve you.
¹² Now, if it will make no peace with you, but makes war against you, then you shall besiege it.
¹³ And when the Lord your God gives it into your hand, you shall put all its males to the sword,
¹⁴ but the women and the little ones, the livestock, and everything else in the city, all its spoil, you shall take as plunder for yourselves. And you shall enjoy the spoil of your enemies, which the Lord your God has given you.
¹⁵ Thus you shall do to all the cities that are very far from you, which are not cities of the nations here.
¹⁶ But in the cities of these peoples that the Lord your God is giving you for an inheritance, you shall save alive nothing that breathes,
¹⁷ but you shall devote them to complete destruction, the Hittites and the Amorites, the Canaanites and the Perizzites, the Hivites and the Jebusites, as the Lord your God has commanded,
¹⁸ that they may not teach you to do according to all their abominable practices that they have done for their gods, and so you sin against the Lord your God.
¹⁹ “When you besiege a city for a long time, making war against it in order to take it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an axe against them. You may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Are the trees in the field human, that they should be besieged by you?
²⁰ Only the trees that you know are not trees for food you may destroy and cut down, that you may build siegeworks against the city that makes war with you, until it falls.

Joshua 6:1-27: ¹ Now Jericho was shut up inside and outside because of the people of Israel.
² And the Lord said to Joshua, “See, I have given Jericho into your hand, with its king and mighty men of valor.
³ You shall march around the city, all the men of war going around the city once. Thus shall you do for six days.
⁴ Seven priests shall bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark. And on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.
⁵ And when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, when you hear the sound of the trumpet, then all the people shall shout with a great shout, and the wall of the city will fall down flat, and the people shall go up, everyone straight before him.”
⁶ So Joshua the son of Nun called the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant and let seven priests bear seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord.”
⁷ And he said to the people, “Proceed, and march around the city, and let the armed men pass on before the ark of the Lord.”
⁸ And just as Joshua had commanded the people, the seven priests bearing the seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the Lord went forward, blowing the trumpets, with the ark of the covenant of the Lord following them.
⁹ And the armed men were walking before the priests who were blowing the trumpets, and the rear guard was walking after the ark, while the trumpets blew continually.
¹⁰ But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”
¹¹ So he caused the ark of the Lord to circle the city, going about it once. And they came into the camp and spent the night in the camp.
¹² And Joshua rose early in the morning, and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.
¹³ And seven priests bearing seven trumpets of rams’ horns before the ark of the Lord walked on, and they blew the trumpets continually.
¹⁴ So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.
¹⁵ On the seventh day they rose early, at the dawn of day, and marched around the city in the same manner seven times. It was only on that day that they marched around the city seven times.
¹⁶ And at the seventh time, when the priests had blown the trumpets, Joshua said to the people, “Shout, for the Lord has given you the city.
¹⁷ And the city and all that is within it shall be devoted to the Lord for destruction. Only Rahab the prostitute and all who are with her in her house shall live, because she hid the messengers whom we sent.
¹⁸ But you, keep yourselves from the things devoted to destruction, lest when you have devoted them you take any of the devoted things and make the camp of Israel a thing for destruction and bring trouble upon it.
¹⁹ But all the silver and gold, and every vessel of bronze and iron, are holy to the Lord; they shall go into the treasury of the Lord.”
²⁰ So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city.
²¹ Then they devoted all in the city to destruction, both men and women, young and old, oxen, sheep, and donkeys, with the edge of the sword.
²² But to the two men who had spied out the land, Joshua said, “Go into the prostitute’s house and bring out from there the woman and all who belong to her, as you swore to her.”
²³ So the young men who had been spies went in and brought out Rahab and her father and mother and brothers and all who belonged to her. And they brought all her relatives and put them outside the camp of Israel.
²⁴ And they burned the city with fire, and everything in it. Only the silver and gold, and the vessels of bronze and iron, they put into the treasury of the house of the Lord.
²⁵ But Rahab the prostitute and her father’s household and all who belonged to her, Joshua saved alive. And she has lived in Israel to this day, because she hid the messengers whom Joshua sent to spy out Jericho.
²⁶ Joshua laid an oath on them at that time, saying, “Cursed before the Lord be the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho. “At the cost of his firstborn shall he lay its foundation, and at the cost of his youngest son shall he set up its gates.”
²⁷ So the Lord was with Joshua, and his fame was in all the land.

Joshua 8:1-29: ¹ And the Lord said to Joshua, “Do not fear and do not be dismayed. Take all the fighting men with you, and arise, go up to Ai. See, I have given into your hand the king of Ai, and his people, his city, and his land.
² And you shall do to Ai and its king as you did to Jericho and its king. Only its spoil and its livestock you shall take as plunder for yourselves. But lay an ambush against the city, behind it.”
³ So Joshua and all the fighting men arose to go up to Ai. And Joshua chose 30,000 mighty men of valor and sent them out by night.
⁴ And he commanded them, “Behold, you shall lie in ambush against the city, behind it.
⁵ And I and all the people who are with me will approach the city. And when they come out against us just as before, we shall flee before them.
⁶ Then they will come out after us, till we have drawn them away from the city. For they will say, ‘They are fleeing from us, just as before.’ So we will flee before them.
⁷ Then you shall rise up from the ambush and seize the city, for the Lord your God will give it into your hand.
⁸ And as soon as you have taken the city, you shall set the city on fire. You shall do according to the word of the Lord. See, I have commanded you.”
⁹ Joshua sent them out. They went to the place of ambush and lay between Bethel and Ai, to the west of Ai, but Joshua spent that night among the people.
¹⁰ Joshua arose early in the morning and mustered the people and went up, he and the elders of Israel, before the people to Ai.
¹¹ And all the fighting men who were with him went up and drew near before the city and encamped on the north side of Ai. With a ravine between them and Ai.
¹² And he took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
¹³ So they stationed the forces, the main encampment that was north of the city and its rear guard west of the city. But Joshua spent that night in the valley.
¹⁴ And as soon as the king of Ai saw this, he and all his people, the men of the city, hurried and went out early to the appointed place toward the Arabah to meet Israel in battle. But he did not know that there was an ambush against him behind the city.
¹⁵ Then Joshua and all Israel pretended to be beaten before them and fled in the direction of the wilderness.
¹⁶ And all the people who were in the city were called out to pursue after them, and they pursued after Joshua and were drawn away from the city.
¹⁷ And not a man was left in Ai or Bethel who did not go out after Israel. They left the city open and pursued Israel.
¹⁸ Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Stretch out the javelin that is in your hand toward Ai, for I will give it into your hand.” And Joshua stretched out the javelin that was in his hand toward the city.
¹⁹ And the men in the ambush rose quickly out of their place, and as soon as he had stretched out his hand, they ran and entered the city and captured it.
²⁰ So when the men of Ai looked back, behold, the smoke of the city went up to heaven, and they had no power to flee this way or that, for the people who fled to the wilderness turned back against the pursuers.
²¹ And when Joshua and all Israel saw that the ambush had captured the city, and that the smoke of the city went up, then they turned back and struck down the men of Ai.
²² And the others came out of the city against them, so they were in the midst of Israel, some on this side, and some on that side. And they struck them down, until there was left none that survived or escaped.
²³ But they took about five thousand men and set them in ambush between Bethel and Ai, to the west of the city.
²⁴ When Israel had finished killing all the inhabitants of Ai in the open wilderness where they pursued them, and all of them to the very last had fallen by the edge of the sword, all Israel returned to Ai and struck it down with the edge of the sword.
²⁵ And twelve thousand men and women fell that day, all the people of Ai.
²⁶ But Joshua did not draw back his hand with which he stretched out the javelin until he had devoted all the inhabitants of Ai to destruction.
²⁷ Only the livestock and the spoil of that city Israel took as their plunder, according to the word of the Lord that he commanded Joshua.
²⁸ And Joshua burned Ai and made it forever a heap of ruins, as it is to this day.
²⁹ And he hanged the king of Ai on a tree until evening. And at sunset Joshua commanded, and they took his body down from the tree and threw it at the entrance of the gate of the city and raised over it a great heap of stones, which stands there to this day.

Judges 4:1-24: ¹ And the people of Israel again did what was evil in the sight of the Lord after Ehud died.
² And the Lord sold them into the hand of Jabin king of Canaan, who reigned in Hazor.
³ Then the people of Israel cried out to the Lord for help, for he had 900 chariots of iron and he oppressed the people of Israel cruelly for twenty years.
⁴ Now Deborah, a prophetess, the wife of Lappidoth, was judging Israel at that time.
⁵ Now she used to sit under the palm of Deborah between Ramah and Bethel in the hill country of Ephraim, and the people of Israel came up to her for judgment.
⁶ She sent and summoned Barak the son of Abinoam from Kedesh-naphtali and said to him, “Has not the Lord, the God of Israel, commanded you, ‘Go, gather your men at Mount Tabor, taking 10,000 from the people of Naphtali and the people of Zebulun.
⁷ And I will draw out Sisera, the general of Jabin’s army, to meet you by the river Kishon with his chariots and his troops, and I will give him into your hand.’”
⁸ Barak said to her, “If you will go with me, I will go, but if you will not go with me, I will not go.”
⁹ And she said, “I will surely go with you. Nevertheless, the road on which you are going will not lead to your glory, for the Lord will sell Sisera into the hand of a woman.” Then Deborah arose and went with Barak to Kedesh.
¹⁰ And Barak called out Zebulun and Naphtali to Kedesh. And 10,000 men went up at his heels, and Deborah went up with him.
¹¹ Now Heber the Kenite had separated from the Kenites, the descendants of Hobab the father-in-law of Moses, and had pitched his tent as far away as the oak in Zaanannim, which is near Kedesh.
¹² When Sisera was told that Barak the son of Abinoam had gone up to Mount Tabor.
¹³ And Sisera called out all his chariots, 900 chariots of iron, and all the men who were with him, from Harosheth-hagoyim to the river Kishon.
¹⁴ And Deborah said to Barak, “Up! For this is the day in which the Lord has given Sisera into your hand. Does not the Lord go out before you?” So Barak went down from Mount Tabor with ten thousand men following him.
¹⁵ And the Lord routed Sisera and all his chariots and all his army before Barak by the edge of the sword. And Sisera got down from his chariot and fled away on foot.
¹⁶ But Barak pursued the chariots and the army to Harosheth-hagoyim, and all the army of Sisera fell by the edge of the sword; not a man was left.
¹⁷ But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
¹⁸ And Jael came out to meet Sisera and said to him, “Turn aside, my lord; turn aside to me; do not be afraid.” So he turned aside to her into the tent, and she covered him with a rug.
¹⁹ But Sisera fled away on foot to the tent of Jael, the wife of Heber the Kenite, for there was peace between Jabin the king of Hazor and the house of Heber the Kenite.
²⁰ And he said to her, “Stand at the opening of the tent, and if any man comes and asks you, ‘Is anyone here?’ say, ‘No.’”
²¹ But Jael the wife of Heber took a tent peg, and took a hammer in her hand. Then she went softly to him and drove the peg into his temple until it went down into the ground while he was lying fast asleep from weariness. So he died.
²² And behold, as Barak was pursuing Sisera, Jael went out to meet him and said to him, “Come, and I will show you the man whom you are seeking.” So he went in to her tent, and there lay Sisera dead, with the tent peg in his temple.
²³ So on that day God subdued Jabin the king of Canaan before the people of Israel.
²⁴ And the hand of the people of Israel pressed harder and harder against Jabin the king of Canaan, until they destroyed Jabin king of Canaan.

Judges 7:1-25: ¹ Then Jerubbaal (that is, Gideon) and all the people who were with him rose early and encamped beside the spring of Harod. And the camp of Midian was north of them, by the hill of Moreh, in the valley.
² The Lord said to Gideon, “The people with you are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hand, lest Israel boast over me, saying, ‘My own hand has saved me.’
³ Now therefore proclaim in the ears of the people, saying, ‘Whoever is fearful and trembling, let him return home and hurry away from Mount Gilead.’” Then 22,000 of the people returned, and 10,000 remained.
⁴ And the Lord said to Gideon, “The people are still too many. Take them down to the water, and I will test them for you there, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall go with you,’ shall go with you, and anyone of whom I say to you, ‘This one shall not go with you,’ shall not go.”
⁵ So he brought the people down to the water. And the Lord said to Gideon, “Every one who laps the water with his tongue, as a dog laps, you shall set by himself. Likewise, every one who kneels down to drink.”
⁶ And the number of those who lapped, putting their hands to their mouths, was 300 men, but all the rest of the people knelt down to drink water.
⁷ And the Lord said to Gideon, “With the 300 men who lapped I will save you and give the Midianites into your hand, and let all the others go every man to his home.”
⁸ So the people took provisions in their hands, and their trumpets. And he sent all the rest of Israel every man to his tent, but retained the three hundred men. And the camp of Midian was below him in the valley.
⁹ That same night the Lord said to him, “Arise, go down against the camp, for I have given it into your hand.
¹⁰ But if you are afraid to go down, go down to the camp with Purah your servant.
¹¹ and you shall hear what they say, and afterward your hands shall be strengthened to go down against the camp.” Then he went down with Purah his servant to the outposts of the armed men who were in the camp.
¹² And the Midianites and the Amalekites and all the people of the East lay along the valley like locusts in abundance, and their camels were without number, as the sand that is on the seashore in abundance.
¹³ And when Gideon came, behold, a man was telling a dream to his comrade. And he said, “Behold, I dreamed a dream, and behold, a cake of barley bread tumbled into the camp of Midian and came to the tent and struck it so that it fell and turned it upside down, so that the tent lay flat.”
¹⁴ And his comrade answered, “This is no other than the sword of Gideon the son of Joash, a man of Israel; God has given into his hand Midian and all the camp.”
¹⁵ As soon as Gideon heard the telling of the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped. And he returned to the camp of Israel and said, “Arise, for the Lord has given the host of Midian into your hand.”
¹⁶ And he divided the 300 men into three companies and put trumpets into the hands of all of them and empty jars, with torches inside the jars.
¹⁷ And he said to them, “Look at me, and do likewise. When I come to the outskirts of the camp, do as I do.
¹⁸ When I blow the trumpet, I and all who are with me, then blow the trumpets also on every side of all the camp and shout, ‘For the Lord and for Gideon.’”
¹⁹ So Gideon and the hundred men who were with him came to the outskirts of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, when they had just set the watch.
²⁰ Then the three companies blew the trumpets and broke the jars. They held in their left hands the torches, and in their right hands the trumpets to blow. And they cried out, “A sword for the Lord and for Gideon!”
²¹ And every man stood in his place around the camp, and all the army ran. They cried out and fled.
²² When they blew the 300 trumpets, the Lord set every man’s sword against his comrade and against all the army. And the army fled as far as Beth-shittah toward Zererah, as far as the border of Abel-meholah, by Tabbath.
²³ And the men of Israel were called out from Naphtali and from Asher and from all Manasseh, and they pursued after Midian.
²⁴ And Gideon sent messengers throughout all the hill country of Ephraim, saying, “Come down against the Midianites and capture the waters against them, as far as Beth-barah, and also the Jordan.”
²⁵ And they captured two princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb. They killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the winepress of Zeeb. Then they pursued Midian, and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon across the Jordan.

1 Samuel 17:1-58: ¹⁷ Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.
³ And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
⁴ And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
⁵ He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
⁶ And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.
⁷ 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 shield-bearer went before him.
⁸ He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
⁹ If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”
¹⁰ And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.”
¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
¹² Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul, the man was already old and advanced in years.
¹³ The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed 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.
¹⁴ David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul.
¹⁵ but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
¹⁶ For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
¹⁷ And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
¹⁸ Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.
¹⁹ Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
²⁰ And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.
²¹ And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.
²² And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers.
²³ As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.
²⁴ All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.
²⁵ And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”
²⁶ And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for 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?”
²⁷ And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
²⁸ Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
²⁹ And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?”
³⁰ Then he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
³¹ When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.
³² And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your 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, for he has defied the armies of the living God.
³⁷ And David said, “The 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, and 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 Then David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. So 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, with 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, ruddy and handsome in appearance.
⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a 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 to 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 a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom 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.
⁴⁷ And that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For 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 and 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, they fled.
⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.
⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
⁵⁴ Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
⁵⁵ As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
⁵⁶ The king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.”
⁵⁷ And as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

1 Samuel 31:1-13: ¹ Now the Philistines fought against Israel, and the men of Israel fled before the Philistines and fell slain on Mount Gilboa.
² And the Philistines overtook Saul and his sons, and the Philistines struck down Jonathan and Abinadab and Malchi-shua, the sons of Saul.
³ The battle pressed hard against Saul, and the archers found him, and he was badly wounded by the archers.
⁴ Then Saul said to his armor-bearer, “Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised come and thrust me through, and mistreat me.” But his armor-bearer would not, for he feared greatly. Therefore Saul took his own sword and fell upon it.
⁵ And when his armor-bearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell upon his sword and died with him.
⁶ Thus Saul died, and his three sons, and his armor-bearer, and all his men, on the same day together.
⁷ And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley and those beyond the Jordan saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they abandoned their cities and fled. And the Philistines came and lived in them.
⁸ The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his three sons fallen on Mount Gilboa.
⁹ They cut off his head and stripped off his armor, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to the house of their idols and to the people.
¹⁰ They put his armor in the temple of Ashtaroth, and they fastened his body to the wall of Beth-shan.
¹¹ But when the inhabitants of Jabesh-gilead heard what the Philistines had done to Saul,
¹² 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 burned them there.
¹³ And they took their bones and buried them under the tamarisk tree in Jabesh and fasted seven days.

2 Samuel 5:17-25: ¹⁷ When the Philistines heard that David had been anointed king over Israel, all the Philistines went up to search for David. But David heard of it and went down to the stronghold.
¹⁸ Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
¹⁹ And David inquired of the Lord, “Shall I go up against the Philistines? Will you give them into my hand?” And the Lord said to David, “Go up, for I will certainly give the Philistines into your hand.”
²⁰ So David came to Baal-perazim, and David defeated them there. And he said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies before me like a breaking flood.” So the name of that place is called Baal-perazim.
²¹ And the Philistines left their idols there, and David and his men carried them away.
²² And the Philistines came up yet again and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim.
²³ And when David inquired of the Lord, he said, “You shall not go up; go around to their rear, and come against them opposite the balsam trees.
²⁴ And when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then rouse yourself, for then the Lord has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.
²⁵ And David did as the Lord commanded him, and struck down the Philistines from Geba to Gezer.

2 Samuel 8:1-18: ¹ After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and David took Metheg-ammah out of the hand of the Philistines.
² And he defeated Moab and measured them with a line, making them lie down on the ground. Two lines he measured to be put to death, and one full line to be spared. And the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
³ David also defeated Hadadezer the son of Rehob, king of Zobah, as he went to restore his power at the river Euphrates.
⁴ And David took from him 1,700 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots.
⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down twenty-two thousand men of the Syrians.
⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
⁸ And from Betah and from Berothai, cities of Hadadezer, King David took very much bronze.
⁹ When Toi king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer,
¹⁰ then Toi sent Joram his son to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Toi. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze.
¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had dedicated from all the nations he subdued,
¹² from Edom, and from Moab, and from the Ammonites, and from the Philistines, and from Amalek. And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
¹³ And David made a name for himself when he returned from striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
¹⁴ He put garrisons in Edom; throughout all Edom he put garrisons, and all the Edomites became David’s servants. And the Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
¹⁵ So David reigned over all Israel. And David administered justice and equity to all his people.
¹⁶ Joab the son of Zeruiah was over the army, and Jehoshaphat the son of Ahilud was recorder.
¹⁷ and Zadok the son of Ahitub and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar were priests, and Seraiah was secretary;
¹⁸ and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada was over the Cherethites and the Pelethites, and David’s sons were priests.

2 Kings 6:8-23: ⁸ Once when the king of Syria was warring against Israel, he took counsel with his servants, saying, “At such and such a place shall be my camp.”
⁹ And the man of God sent word to the king of Israel, “Beware that you do not pass this place, for the Syrians are going down there.”
¹⁰ And the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God told him. Thus he used to warn him, so that he saved himself there more than once or twice.
¹¹ And the mind of the king of Syria was greatly troubled because of this thing, and he called his servants and said to them, “Will you not show me who of us is for the king of Israel?”
¹² And one of his servants said, “None, my lord, O king; but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the words that you speak in your bedroom.”
¹³ And he said, “Go and see where he is, that I may send and seize him.” It was told him, “Behold, he is in Dothan.”
¹⁴ So he sent there horses and chariots and a great army, and they came by night and surrounded the city.
¹⁵ When the servant of the man of God rose early in the morning and went out, behold, an army with horses and chariots was all around the city. And the servant said, “Alas, my master! What shall we do?”
¹⁶ He said, “Do not be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
¹⁷ Then Elisha prayed and said, “O Lord, please open his eyes that he may see.” So the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw, and behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
¹⁸ And when the Syrians came down against him, Elisha prayed to the Lord and said, “Please strike this people with blindness.” So he struck them with blindness in accordance with the prayer of Elisha.
¹⁹ And Elisha said to them, “This is not the way, and this is not the city. Follow me, and I will bring you to the man whom you seek.” And he led them to Samaria.
²⁰ As soon as they entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open the eyes of these men, that they may see.” So the Lord opened their eyes and they saw, and behold, they were in the midst of Samaria.
²¹ As soon as the king of Israel saw them, he said to Elisha, “My father, shall I strike them down? Shall I strike them down?”
²² He answered, “You shall not strike them down. Would you strike down those whom you have taken captive with your sword and with your bow? Set bread and water before them, that they may eat and drink and go to their master.”
²³ So he prepared for them a great feast, and when they had eaten and drunk, he sent them away, and they went to their master. And the Syrians did not come again on raids into the land of Israel.

2 Kings 19:32-37: ³² Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.
³³ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.
³⁴ For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
³⁵ And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
³⁶ And Sennacherib the king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh.
³⁷ And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

1 Chronicles 18:1-13: ¹ After this David defeated the Philistines and subdued them, and he took Gath and its villages out of the hand of the Philistines.
² And he defeated Moab, and the Moabites became servants to David and brought tribute.
³ And David defeated Hadadezer king of Zobah-Hamath, as he went to set up his monument at the river Euphrates.
⁴ And David took from him 1,000 chariots, 7,000 horsemen, and 20,000 foot soldiers. And David hamstrung all the chariot horses but left enough for 100 chariots.
⁵ And when the Syrians of Damascus came to help Hadadezer king of Zobah, David struck down 22,000 men of the Syrians.
⁶ Then David put garrisons in Aram of Damascus, and the Syrians became servants to David and brought tribute. The Lord gave victory to David wherever he went.
⁷ And David took the shields of gold that were carried by the servants of Hadadezer and brought them to Jerusalem.
⁸ Likewise from Tibhath and from Chun, cities of Hadadezer, David took a large amount of bronze. With it Solomon made the bronze sea and the pillars and the vessels of bronze.
⁹ When Tou king of Hamath heard that David had defeated the whole army of Hadadezer, king of Zobah,
¹⁰ he sent his son Hadoram to King David, to ask about his health and to bless him because he had fought against Hadadezer and defeated him, for Hadadezer had often been at war with Tou. And Joram brought with him articles of silver, of gold, and of bronze.
¹¹ King David also dedicated these to the Lord, together with the silver and gold that he had carried off from all the nations, from Edom, Moab, the Ammonites, the Philistines, and Amalek.
¹² And Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, killed 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.
¹³ And he made silver and gold as common in Jerusalem as stone, and he made cedar as plentiful as the sycamore of the Shephelah.

2 Chronicles 20:1-30: ²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
² Some men came and told Jehoshaphat, “A great multitude is coming against you from Edom, from beyond the sea; and, behold, they are in Hazazon-tamar” (that is, Engedi).
³ Then Jehoshaphat was afraid and set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah.
⁴ And Judah assembled to seek help from the Lord; from all the cities of Judah they came to seek the Lord.
⁵ And Jehoshaphat stood in the assembly of Judah and Jerusalem, in the house of the Lord, before the new court,
⁶ and said, “O Lord, God of our fathers, are you not God in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. In your hand are power and might, so that none is able to withstand you.
⁷ Did you not, our God, drive out the inhabitants of this land before your people Israel, and give it forever to the descendants of Abraham your friend?
⁸ and they have lived in it and have built for you in it a sanctuary for your name, saying,
⁹ ‘If disaster comes upon us, the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we will stand before this house and before you—for your name is in this house—and cry out to you in our affliction, and you will hear and save.’
¹⁰ And now behold, the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir, whom you would not let Israel invade when they came from the land of Egypt, and whom they avoided and did not destroy—
¹¹ behold, they reward us by coming to drive us out of your possession, which you have given us to inherit.
¹² O our God, will you not execute judgment on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.”
¹³ Meanwhile all Judah stood before the Lord, with their little ones, their wives, and their children.
¹⁴ And the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jahaziel the son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite of the sons of Asaph, in the midst of the assembly.
¹⁵ Thus says the Lord to you, ‘Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed at this great horde, for the battle is not yours but God’s.
¹⁶ Tomorrow go down against them. Behold, they will come up by the ascent of Ziz. You will find them at the end of the valley, east of the wilderness of Jeruel.
¹⁷ You will not need to fight in this battle. Stand firm, hold your position, and see the salvation of the Lord on your behalf, O Judah and Jerusalem.’ Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, and the Lord will be with you.”
¹⁸ Then Jehoshaphat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell down before the Lord, worshiping the Lord.
¹⁹ And the Levites, of the Kohathites and the Korahites, stood up to praise the Lord, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
²⁰ And they rose early in the morning and went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. And when they went out, Jehoshaphat stood and said, “Hear me, Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem! Believe in the Lord your God, and you will be established; believe his prophets, and you will succeed.”
²¹ And when he had taken counsel with the people, he appointed those who were to sing to the Lord and praise him in holy attire, as they went before the army, and say, “Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
²² And when they began to sing and praise, the Lord set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir, who had come against Judah, so that they were routed.
²³ For the men of Ammon and Moab rose against the inhabitants of Mount Seir, devoting them to destruction, and when they had made an end of the inhabitants of Seir, they all helped to destroy one another.
²⁴ When Judah came to the watchtower of the wilderness, they looked toward the horde, and behold, there were dead bodies lying on the ground; none had escaped.
²⁵ When Jehoshaphat and his people came to take their spoil, they found among them, in great numbers, goods, clothing, and precious things, which they took for themselves until they could carry no more. They were three days in taking the spoil, it was so much.
²⁶ On the fourth day they assembled in the Valley of Beracah, for there they blessed the Lord. Therefore the name of that place has been called the Valley of Beracah to this day.
And they returned every man of Judah and Jerusalem, and Jehoshaphat at their head, returning to Jerusalem with joy, for the Lord had made them rejoice over their enemies.
²⁸ They came to Jerusalem with harps and lyres and trumpets, to the house of the Lord.
²⁹ And the fear of God came on all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard that the Lord had fought against the enemies of Israel.
³⁰ So the realm of Jehoshaphat was quiet, for his God gave him rest all around.

Nehemiah 4:7-23: ⁷ But when Sanballat and Tobiah and the Arabs and the Ammonites and the Ashdodites heard that the repairing of the walls of Jerusalem was going forward and that the breaches were beginning to be closed, they were very angry.
⁸ And they all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it.
⁹ And we prayed to our God and set a guard as a protection against them day and night.
¹⁰ In Judah it was said, “The strength of those who bear the burdens is failing. There is too much rubble. By ourselves we will not be able to rebuild the wall.”
¹¹ And our enemies said, “They will not know or see till we come among them and kill them and stop the work.”
¹² In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
¹³ So in the lowest parts of the space behind the wall, in open places, I stationed the people by their clans, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.
¹⁴ And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.”
¹⁵ When our enemies heard that it was known to us and that God had frustrated their plan, we all returned to the wall, each to his work.
¹⁶ From that day on, half of my servants worked on construction, and half held the spears, shields, bows, and coats of mail.
¹⁷ who were building on the wall. Those who carried burdens were loaded in such a way that each labored on the work with one hand and held his weapon with the other.
¹⁸ And each of the builders had his sword strapped at his side while he built. The man who sounded the trumpet was beside me.
¹⁹ And I said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “The work is great and widely spread, and we are separated on the wall, far from one another.
²⁰ In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
²¹ So we labored at the work, and half of them held the spears from the break of dawn until the stars came out.
²² In the place where you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us.”
²³ So neither I nor my brothers nor my servants nor the men of the guard who followed me, none of us took off our clothes; each kept his weapon at his right hand.

Isaiah 37:33-38: ³³ “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it.”
³⁴ By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord.
³⁵ For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.
³⁶ And the angel of the Lord went out and struck down a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.
³⁷ So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and returned home and lived at Nineveh.
³⁸ And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword. And after they escaped into the land of Ararat, Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Jeremiah 21:1-14: ² “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
² “Inquire of the Lord for us, for Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon is making war against us. Perhaps the Lord will deal with us according to all his wonderful deeds and will make him withdraw from us.”
³ Then Jeremiah said to them: “Thus you shall say to Zedekiah, ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.
⁴ Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Behold, I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls. And I will bring them together into the midst of this city.
⁵ I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.
⁶ And I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence.
⁷ Afterward, declares the Lord, I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine, into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.
⁸ “And to this people you shall say: ‘Thus says the Lord: Behold, I set before you the way of life and the way of death.”
⁹ He who stays in this city shall die by the sword, by famine, and by pestilence, but he who goes out and surrenders to the Chaldeans who are besieging you shall live and shall have his life as a prize of war.
¹⁰ For I have set my face against this city for harm and not for good, declares the Lord: it shall be given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire.
¹¹ “And to the house of the king of Judah say, ‘Hear the word of the Lord,
¹² O house of David! Thus says the Lord:
“‘Execute justice in the morning,
and deliver from the hand of the oppressor
him who has been robbed,
lest my wrath go forth like fire,
and burn with none to quench it,
because of your evil deeds.’””
¹² O house of David! Thus says the Lord: “‘Execute justice in the morning, and deliver from the hand of the oppressor him who has been robbed, lest my wrath go forth like fire, and burn with none to quench it, because of your evil deeds.’”
¹³ Behold, I am against you, O inhabitant of the valley, O rock of the plain, declares the Lord; you who say, ‘Who shall come down against us, or who shall enter our habitations?’
¹⁴ I will punish you according to the fruit of your deeds, declares the Lord; I will kindle a fire in her forest, and it shall devour all that is around her.

Ezekiel 38:1-23: ¹ The word of the Lord came to me:
² “Son of man, set your face against Gog, of the land of Magog, the chief prince of Meshech and Tubal, and prophesy against him,”
³ and say, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I am against you, O Gog, chief prince of Meshech and Tubal.
⁴ And I will turn you about and put hooks into your jaws, and I will bring you out, and all your army, horses and horsemen, all of them clothed in full armor, a great host, all of them with buckler and shield, wielding swords.
⁵ Persia, Cush, and Put are with them, all of them with shield and helmet;
⁶ Gomer and all his hordes; Beth-togarmah from the uttermost parts of the north with all his hordes—many peoples are with you.
⁷ “Be ready and keep ready, you and all your hosts that are assembled about you, and be a guard for them.
⁸ After many days you will be mustered. In the latter years you will go against the land that is restored from war, the land whose people were gathered from many peoples upon the mountains of Israel, which had been a continual waste. But its people were brought out from the peoples and now dwell securely, all of them.
⁹ You will advance, coming on like a storm. You will be like a cloud covering the land, you and all your hordes, and many peoples with you.
¹⁰ “Thus says the Lord God: On that day, thoughts will come into your mind, and you will devise an evil scheme.
¹¹ and say, ‘I will go up against the land of unwalled villages. I will fall upon the quiet people who dwell securely, all of them dwelling without walls, and having no bars or gates,’
¹² to seize spoil and carry off plunder, to turn your hand against the waste places that are now inhabited, and the people who were gathered from the nations, who have acquired livestock and goods, who dwell at the center of the earth.
¹³ Sheba and Dedan and the merchants of Tarshish and all its leaders will say to you, ‘Have you come to seize spoil? Have you assembled your hosts to carry off plunder, to carry away silver and gold, to take away livestock and goods, to seize great spoil?’
¹⁴ “Therefore, son of man, prophesy, and say to Gog, Thus says the Lord God: On that day when my people Israel are dwelling securely, will you not know it?”
¹⁵ You will come from your place out of the uttermost parts of the north, you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great host, a mighty army.
¹⁶ You will come up against my people Israel, like a cloud covering the land.
¹⁷ “Thus says the Lord God: Are you he of whom I spoke in former days by my servants the prophets of Israel, who in those days prophesied for years that I would bring you against them?
¹⁸ But on that day, the day that Gog shall come against the land of Israel, declares the Lord God, my wrath will be roused.
¹⁹ For in my jealousy and in my blazing wrath I declare, On that day there shall be a great earthquake in the land of Israel.
²⁰ The fish of the sea and the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field and all creeping things that creep on the ground, and all the people who are on the face of the earth, shall quake at my presence.
²¹ I will summon a sword against Gog on all my mountains, declares the Lord God. Every man’s sword will be against his brother.
²² With pestilence and bloodshed I will enter into judgment with him, and I will rain upon him and his hordes and the many peoples who are with him torrential rains and hailstones, fire and sulfur.
²³ So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the Lord.

Zechariah 14:1-21: ¹ Behold, a day is coming for the Lord, when the spoil taken from you will be divided in your midst.
² For I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to battle, and the city shall be taken and the houses plundered and the women raped. Half of the city shall go out into exile, but the rest of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
³ Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations as when he fights on a day of battle.
⁴ On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley, so that one half of the Mount shall move northward, and the other half southward.
⁵ And you shall flee to the valley of my mountains, for the valley of the mountains shall reach to Azal. And you shall flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.
⁶ On that day there shall be no light, cold, or frost.
⁷ And there shall be a unique day, which is known to the Lord, neither day nor night, but at evening time there shall be light.
⁸ On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea. It shall continue in summer as in winter.
⁹ And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one.
¹⁰ The whole land shall be turned into a plain from Geba to Rimmon south of Jerusalem. But Jerusalem shall remain aloft on its site from the Gate of Benjamin to the place of the former gate, to the Corner Gate, and from the Tower of Hananel to the king’s winepresses.
¹¹ And it shall be inhabited, for there shall never again be a decree of utter destruction. Jerusalem shall dwell in security.
¹² And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths.
¹³ And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other.
¹⁴ And Judah also will fight at Jerusalem, and the wealth of all the surrounding nations shall be collected, gold, silver, and garments in great abundance.
¹⁵ And so shall be the plague on the horse, the mule, the camel, the donkey, and whatever beasts may be in those camps.
¹⁶ Then everyone who survives of all the nations that have come against Jerusalem shall go up year after year to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Booths.
¹⁷ And if any of the families of the earth do not go up to Jerusalem to worship the King, the Lord of hosts, there will be no rain on them.
¹⁸ And if the family of Egypt does not go up and present themselves, then on them there shall be no rain; there shall be the plague with which the Lord afflicts the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
¹⁹ And this shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all the nations that do not go up to keep the Feast of Booths.
²⁰ And on that day there shall be inscribed on the bells of the horses, “Holy to the Lord.” And the pots in the house of the Lord shall be as the bowls before the altar.
²¹ And every pot in Jerusalem and Judah shall be holy to the Lord of hosts, so that all who sacrifice may come and take of them and boil the meat of the sacrifice in them. And there shall no longer be a trader in the house of the Lord of hosts on that day.