13 Once more the Philistines raided the valley; 14 so David inquired of God again, and God answered him, “Do not go directly after them, but circle around them and attack them in front of the poplar trees. 15 As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the poplar trees, move out to battle, because that will mean God has gone out in front of you to strike the Philistine army.” 16 So David did as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army, all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

17 So David’s fame spread throughout every land, and the Lord made all the nations fear him.

13 And the Philistines yet again spread themselves abroad in the valley. 14 Therefore David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Go not up after them; turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry trees. 15 And it shall be, when thou shalt hear a sound of going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle: for God is gone forth before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. 16 David therefore did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gazer. 17 And the fame of David went out into all lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.

13 But after a while the Philistines returned and raided the valley again. 14 And once again David asked God what to do. “Do not attack them straight on,” God replied. “Instead, circle around behind and attack them near the poplar trees. 15 When you hear a sound like marching feet in the tops of the poplar trees, go out and attack! That will be the signal that God is moving ahead of you to strike down the Philistine army.” 16 So David did what God commanded, and they struck down the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

17 So David’s fame spread everywhere, and the Lord caused all the nations to fear David.

13 Then the Philistines once again made a raid on the valley. 14 Therefore David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around them, and come upon them in front of the mulberry trees. 15 And it shall be, when you hear a sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God has gone out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 16 So David did as God commanded him, and they drove back the army of the Philistines from Gibeon as far as Gezer. 17 Then the fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him upon all nations.

13 Soon the Philistines attacked the people in the valley again. 14 David prayed to God again, and God answered him, saying, “Don’t attack the Philistines from the front. Instead, go around them and attack them in front of the balsam trees. 15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then attack. I, God, will have gone out before you to defeat the Philistine army.” 16 David did as God commanded, and he and his men defeated the Philistine army all the way from Gibeon to Gezer.

17 So David became famous in all the countries, and the Lord made all nations afraid of him.

13 And the Philistines yet again made a raid in the valley. 14 And David inquired again of God; and God said unto him, Thou shalt not go up after them: turn away from them, and come upon them over against the mulberry-trees. 15 And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle; for God is gone out before thee to smite the host of the Philistines. 16 And David did as God commanded him: and they smote the host of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. 17 And the fame of David went out into all lands; and Jehovah brought the fear of him upon all nations.

13 And the Philistines yet again spread themselves in the valley. 14 And David inquired again of God; and God said to him, Go not up after them; turn round them and come upon them opposite the mulberry-trees. 15 And it shall be, when thou hearest the sound of marching in the tops of the mulberry-trees, that then thou shalt go out to battle; for God will have gone forth before thee to smite the army of the Philistines. 16 And David did as God commanded him; and they smote the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even to Gezer. 17 And the fame of David went out into all lands; and Jehovah brought the fear of him upon all the nations.

13 The Philistines again raided the valley. 14 Once more David asked God. 

God answered him, “Don’t go after them. Circle around, and come at them in front of the balsam trees. 15 As you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out and fight because God has gone ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” 

16 David did as God ordered him, and his men defeated the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. 17 David’s fame spread through all lands, and the Lord made all the nations fear him. 

13 Once again the Philistines raided in the valley. 14 So David again inquired of God, and God answered him, “Do not pursue them directly. Circle around them and attack them opposite the balsam trees. 15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then march out to battle, for God will have marched out ahead of you to attack the camp of the Philistines.” 16 So David did exactly as God commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. 17 Then David’s fame spread throughout the lands, and the Lord caused all the nations to be terrified of him.

13 Once again the Philistines made a raid in the valley. 14 When David again inquired of God, God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; go around and come on them opposite the balsam trees. 15 When you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out to battle; for God has gone out before you to strike down the army of the Philistines.” 16 David did as God had commanded him, and they struck down the Philistine army from Gibeon to Gezer. 17 The fame of David went out into all lands, and the Lord brought the fear of him on all nations.

13 Then the Philistines carried out another raid in the valley. 14 Then David inquired again of God. And God said to him, “You shall not go up after them. Go around from before them and come against them the opposite way of the balsam trees. 15 And it shall be that when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then go out into battle, for God goes out before you to strike the camp of the Philistines.” 16 And David did as God commanded him, and they struck the camp of the Philistines from Gibeon to Gezer. 17 And the fame of David went out through all the lands. And Yahweh put the fear of him upon all the nations.

13 Once more the Philistines attacked the people in the valley. 14 So David asked God for advice again.

God answered him, “Do not go straight up. Instead, circle around them. Attack them in front of the balsam trees. 15 Listen for the sound of marching in the tops of the trees. Then move out to fight. The sound will mean that I have gone out in front of you. I will strike down the Philistine army.”

16 So David did just as God had commanded him. He and his men struck down the Philistine army. They struck them down from Gibeon all the way to Gezer.

17 So David became famous in every land. The Lord made all of the nations afraid of him.

13 The Philistines made yet another raid in the valley.

14 David inquired again of God, and God said to him, “You shall not go up after them; circle around behind them and come at them in front of the balsam trees.

15 “It shall be when you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the balsam trees, then you shall go out to battle, for God will have gone out before you to strike the army of the Philistines.”

16 David did just as God had commanded him, and they struck down the army of the Philistines from Gibeon even as far as Gezer.

17 Then the fame of David went out into all the lands; and the Lord brought the fear of him on all the nations.