¹⁷The Philistines were told that David had been made king of Israel, so their army set out to capture him. When David heard of it, he went down to a fortified place. ¹⁸The Philistines arrived at the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it. ¹⁹David asked the Lord, “Shall I attack the Philistines? Will you give me the victory?”

“Yes, attack!” the Lord answered. “I will give you the victory!”

²⁰So David went to Baal Perazim and there he defeated the Philistines. He said, “The Lord has broken through my enemies like a flood.” And so that place is called Baal Perazim.^g ²¹When the Philistines fled, they left their idols behind, and David and his men carried them away.

²²Then the Philistines went back to the Valley of Rephaim and occupied it again. ²³Once more David consulted the Lord, who answered, “Don’t attack them from here, but go round and get ready to attack them from the other side, near the balsam trees. ²⁴When you hear the sound of marching in the treetops, then attack because I will be marching ahead of you to defeat the Philistine army.” ²⁵David did what the Lord had commanded, and was able to drive the Philistines back from Geba all the way to Gezer.

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Footnotes

gbaal perazim: This name in Hebrew means “Lord of the Break-through”.