Later David defeated the Philistines and subdued them. David took Metheg Ammah ¹  from the Philistines. ² 

Next in command ¹  was Shammah son of Agee the Hararite. When the Philistines assembled at Lehi, ²  where there happened to be an area of a field that was full of lentils, the army retreated before the Philistines.

The Philistines again came up and spread out in the valley of Rephaim.

David was in the stronghold at the time, while a Philistine garrison was in Bethlehem. ¹ 

But he made a stand in the middle of that area. He defended ¹  it and defeated the Philistines; the Lord gave them a great victory.

When the Philistines heard that David had been designated ¹  king over Israel, they all ²  went up to search for David. When David heard about it, he went down to the fortress.

Don’t report it in Gath, don’t spread the news in the streets of Ashkelon, ¹  or the daughters of the Philistines will rejoice, the daughters of the uncircumcised will celebrate!

When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the trees, act decisively. For at that moment the Lord is going before you to strike down the army ¹  of the Philistines.”

David did just as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the Philistines from Gibeon all the way to Gezer. ¹ 

Another battle was fought between the Philistines and Israel. So David went down with his soldiers ¹  and fought the Philistines. David became exhausted.

Later there was another battle with the Philistines, this time in Gob. On that occasion Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, who was one of the descendants of Rapha.

At the time of ¹  the harvest three ²  of the thirty leaders went down to ³  David at the cave of Adullam. A band of Philistines was camped in the valley of Rephaim.

he ¹  went and took the bones of Saul and of his son Jonathan ²  from the leaders ³  of Jabesh Gilead. (They had secretly taken ⁴  them from the plaza at Beth Shan. It was there that Philistines ⁵  publicly exposed their corpses ⁶  after ⁷  they ⁸  had killed Saul at Gilboa.)

David sent messengers to Ish-bosheth son of Saul with this demand: ¹  “Give me my wife Michal whom I acquired ²  for a hundred Philistine foreskins.”

Act now! For the Lord has said to David, ‘By the hand of my servant David I will save ¹  my people Israel from ²  the Philistines and from all their enemies.’”

So David asked the Lord, “Should I march up against the Philistines? Will you hand them over to me?” The Lord said to David, “March up, for I will indeed ¹  hand the Philistines over to you.”

All the people throughout all the tribes of Israel were arguing among themselves saying, “The king delivered us from the hand of our enemies. He rescued us from the hand of the Philistines, but now he has fled from the land because of Absalom.

Yet another battle occurred with the Philistines in Gob. On that occasion Elhanan the son of Jair ¹  the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, ²  the shaft of whose spear was like a weaver’s beam.

So the three elite warriors broke through the Philistine forces and drew some water from the cistern in Bethlehem near the gate. They carried it back to David, but he refused to drink it. He poured it out as a drink offering to the Lord