1 Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They met at Socoh in Judah and camped at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the Israelites gathered in the Valley of Elah and camped there and took their positions to fight the Philistines. 3The Philistines controlled one hill while the Israelites controlled another. The valley was between them.
4The Philistines had a champion fighter from Gath named Goliath. He was about nine feet, four inches tall. He came out of the Philistine camp 5with a bronze helmet on his head and a coat of bronze armor that weighed about one hundred twenty-five pounds. 6He wore bronze protectors on his legs, and he had a bronze spear on his back. 7The wooden part of his larger spear was like a weaver’s rod, and its blade weighed about fifteen pounds. The officer who carried his shield walked in front of him.
8Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite soldiers, “Why have you taken positions for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants! Choose a man and send him to fight me. 9If he can fight and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I can kill him, you will be our servants.” 10Then he said, “Today I stand and dare the army of Israel! Send one of your men to fight me!” 11When Saul and the Israelites heard the Philistine’s words, they were very scared.
12Now David was the son of Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons. In Saul’s time Jesse was an old man. 13His three oldest sons followed Saul to the war. The first son was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14David was the youngest. Jesse’s three oldest sons followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to Bethlehem, where he took care of his father’s sheep.
16For forty days the Philistine came out every morning and evening and stood before the Israelite army.
17Jesse said to his son David, “Take this half bushel of cooked grain and ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp. 18Also take ten pieces of cheese to the commander and to your brothers. See how your brothers are and bring back some proof to show me that they are all right. 19Your brothers are with Saul and the army in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
20Early in the morning David left the sheep with another shepherd. He took the food and left as Jesse had told him. When David arrived at the camp, the army was going out to their battle positions, shouting their war cry. 21The Israelites and Philistines were lining up their men to face each other in battle.
22David left the food with the man who kept the supplies and ran to the battle line to talk to his brothers. 23While he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out. He shouted things against Israel as usual, and David heard him. 24When the Israelites saw Goliath, they were very much afraid and ran away.
25They said, “Look at this man! He keeps coming out to challenge Israel. The king will give much money to whoever kills him. He will also let whoever kills him marry his daughter. And his father’s family will not have to pay taxes in Israel.”
26David asked the men who stood near him, “What will be done to reward the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? Who does this uncircumcised Philistine think he is? Does he think he can speak against the armies of the living God?”
27The Israelites told David what would be done for the man who would kill Goliath.
28When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard David talking with the soldiers, he was angry with David. He asked David, “Why did you come here? Who’s taking care of those few sheep of yours in the desert? I know you are proud and wicked at heart. You came down here just to watch the battle.”
29David asked, “Now what have I done wrong? Can’t I even talk?” 30When he turned to other people and asked the same questions, they gave him the same answer as before. 31Yet what David said was told to Saul, and he sent for David.
32David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. I, your servant, will go and fight this Philistine!”
33Saul answered, “You can’t go out against this Philistine and fight him. You’re only a boy. Goliath has been a warrior since he was a young man.”
34But David said to Saul, “I, your servant, have been keeping my father’s sheep. When a lion or bear came and took a sheep from the flock, 35I would chase it. I would attack it and save the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its fur and hit it and killed it. 36I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! This uncircumcised Philistine will be like them, because he has spoken against the armies of the living God. 37The Lord who saved me from a lion and a bear will save me from this Philistine.”
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38Saul put his own clothes on David. He put a bronze helmet on his head and dressed him in armor. 39David put on Saul’s sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to all the armor Saul had put on him.
He said to Saul, “I can’t go in this, because I’m not used to it.” Then David took it all off. 40He took his stick in his hand and chose five smooth stones from a stream. He put them in his shepherd’s bag and grabbed his sling. Then he went to meet the Philistine.
41At the same time, the Philistine was coming closer to David. The man who held his shield walked in front of him. 42When Goliath looked at David and saw that he was only a boy, tanned and handsome, he looked down on David with disgust. 43He said, “Do you think I am a dog, that you come at me with a stick?” He used his gods’ names to curse David. 44He said to David, “Come here. I’ll feed your body to the birds of the air and the wild animals!”
45But David said to him, “You come to me using a sword and two spears. But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel! You have spoken against him. 46Today the Lord will hand you over to me, and I’ll kill you and cut off your head. Today I’ll feed the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds of the air and the wild animals. Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel! 47Everyone gathered here will know the Lord does not need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to him, and he will hand you over to us.”
48As Goliath came near to attack him, David ran quickly to meet him. 49He took a stone from his bag, put it into his sling, and slung it. The stone hit the Philistine and went deep into his forehead, and Goliath fell facedown on the ground.
50So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling and a stone. He hit him and killed him. He did not even have a sword in his hand. 51Then David ran and stood beside him. He took Goliath’s sword out of its holder and killed him by cutting off his head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52The men of Israel and Judah shouted and chased the Philistines all the way to the entrance of the city of Gath and to the gates of Ekron.
The Philistines’ bodies lay on the Shaaraim road as far as Gath and Ekron. 53The Israelites returned after chasing the Philistines and robbed their camp. 54David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem and put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55When Saul saw David go out to meet Goliath, Saul asked Abner, commander of the army, “Abner, who is that young man’s father?”
Abner answered, “As surely as you live, my king, I don’t know.”
56The king said, “Find out whose son he is.”
57When David came back from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul. David was still holding Goliath’s head.
58Saul asked him, “Young man, who is your father?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
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1 Samuel 17: NCV
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The Holy Bible, New Century Version, Copyright © 2005 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 17
17
David versus Goliath
1The Philistines#1Sm 13:5 gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah and camped between Socoh#2Ch 28:18 and Azekah#Jos 10:10 in Ephes-dammim.#1Ch 11:13 2Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah;#1Sm 21:9 then they lined up in battle formation to face the Philistines.
3The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites were standing on another hill with a ravine between them. 4Then a champion named Goliath, from Gath,#2Sm 21:18–22; 1Ch 20:4–8 came out from the Philistine camp. He was nine feet, nine inches#17:4 DSS, LXX read four cubits and a span; i.e., six and a half feet#17:4 Lit was six cubits and a span tall 5and wore a bronze helmet and bronze scale armor that weighed one hundred twenty-five pounds.#17:5 Lit 5,000 shekels 6There was bronze armor on his shins, and a bronze javelin#1Sm 17:45 was slung between his shoulders. 7His spear shaft#2Sm 21:19; 1Ch 11:23 was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed fifteen pounds.#17:7 Lit 600 shekels In addition, a shield-bearer#1Sm 17:41 was walking in front of him.
8He stood and shouted to the Israelite battle formations, “Why do you come out to line up in battle formation?” He asked them, “Am I not a Philistine and are you not servants of Saul?#1Sm 8:17 Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. 9If he wins in a fight against me and kills me, we will be your servants. But if I win against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”#2Sm 2:12–16 10Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel today.#1Sm 17:26,36,45 Send me a man so we can fight each other!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words from the Philistine, they lost their courage and were terrified.
12Now David was the son of the Ephrathite#Gn 35:19 from Bethlehem of Judah named Jesse. Jesse had eight sons#1Sm 16:10–11; 1Ch 2:13–15 and during Saul’s reign was already an old man. 13Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war, and their names#1Sm 16:6,8–9 were Eliab, the firstborn, Abinadab, the next, and Shammah, the third, 14and David was the youngest.#1Sm 16:11 The three oldest had followed Saul, 15but David kept going back and forth from Saul#1Sm 16:21–23 to tend his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
16Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand. 17One day Jesse had told his son David, “Take this half-bushel#17:17 Lit this ephah of roasted grain along with these ten loaves of bread#1Sm 25:18 for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18Also take these ten portions of cheese to the field commander.#17:18 Lit the leader of 1,000 Check on the well-being of your brothers#Gn 37:13–14 and bring a confirmation from them. 19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.”
20So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with someone to keep it, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had charged him.
He arrived at the perimeter of the camp#1Sm 26:5,7 as the army was marching out to its battle formation shouting their battle cry. 21Israel and the Philistines lined up in battle formation facing each other. 22David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster#Jdg 18:21; Is 10:28 and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were. 23While he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistine battle line and shouted his usual words,#1Sm 17:8–10 which David heard. 24When all the Israelite men saw Goliath, they retreated from him terrified.
25Previously, an Israelite man had declared, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? He comes to defy Israel. The king will make the man who kills him very rich and will give him his daughter.#Jos 15:16 The king will also make the family of that man’s father exempt from paying taxes in Israel.”#1Sm 8:11
26David spoke to the men who were standing with him: “What will be done for the man who kills that Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel?#1Sm 11:2 Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine#1Sm 14:6; 17:36; Jr 9:25–26 that he should defy the armies#1Sm 17:10 of the living God?” #Dt 5:26; 2Kg 19:4
27The troops told him about the offer, concluding, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”#1Sm 17:25
28David’s oldest brother Eliab listened as he spoke to the men, and he became angry with him.#Gn 37:4,8–36 “Why did you come down here?” he asked. “Who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your arrogance and your evil heart — you came down to see the battle!”
29“What have I done now?” protested David. “It was just a question.” 30Then he turned from those beside him to others in front of him and asked about the offer. The people gave him the same answer as before.#1Sm 17:26–27
31What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, so he had David brought to him. 32David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged by him;#Dt 20:1–4 your servant will go#1Sm 16:18 and fight this Philistine!”
33But Saul replied, “You can’t go fight this Philistine. You’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since he was young.”
34David answered Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb from its mouth.#Am 3:12 If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur,#17:35 LXX reads throat; lit beard strike it down, and kill it. 36Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37Then David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”#2Tm 4:17–18
Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”#1Sm 20:13
38Then Saul had his own military clothes put on David. He put a bronze helmet on David’s head and had him put on armor. 39David strapped his sword on over the military clothes and tried to walk, but he was not used to them. “I can’t walk in these,” David said to Saul, “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. 40Instead, he took his staff in his hand#Jdg 20:16 and chose five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the pouch, in his shepherd’s bag. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41The Philistine came closer and closer to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him#Pr 16:18 because he was just a youth, healthy#17:42 Or ruddy#1Sm 16:12 and handsome. 43He said to David, “Am I a dog#1Sm 24:14 that you come against me with sticks?” #17:43 Some LXX mss add and stones?” And David said, “No! Worse than a dog!” Then he cursed David by his gods.#1Kg 20:10 44“Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!” #1Sm 17:46
45David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the ranks of Israel — you have defied him.#2Ch 32:7–8; Ps 124:8; Heb 11:34 46Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, remove your head, and give the corpses#17:46 LXX reads give your limbs and the limbs of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the wild creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God,#1Kg 18:36; 2Kg 19:19; Is 37:20 47and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves,#Hs 1:7 for the battle is the Lord’s.#Ex 14:13–14; Ps 33:16–22; 44:4–8 He will hand you over to us.”
48When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine.#Ps 27:3 49David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown to the ground. 50David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. David overpowered the Philistine and killed him without having a sword. 51David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword,#1Sm 21:9 pulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled.#Heb 11:34 52The men of Israel and Judah rallied, shouting their battle cry, and chased the Philistines to the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron.#17:52 LXX reads Ashkelon#Jos 15:11 Philistine bodies were strewn all along the Shaaraim road#Jos 15:36 to Gath and Ekron.
53When the Israelites returned from the pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54David took Goliath’s#17:54 Lit the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55 # 17:55 LXX omits 1Sm 17:55–18:5 When Saul had seen David going out to confront the Philistine, he asked Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” #1Sm 16:17–22; 17:25
“Your Majesty, as surely as you live, I don’t know,” Abner replied.
56The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is!”
57When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.#1Sm 17:54 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
“The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,”#1Sm 17:12 David answered.
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