1 Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1The Philistines gathered their army together for war. They came to Sokoh in Judah. They set up camp at Ephes Dammim. It was between Sokoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the army of Israel gathered together. They camped in the Valley of Elah. They lined up their men to fight against the Philistines. 3The Philistine army was camped on one hill. Israel’s army was on another. The valley was between them.
4A mighty hero named Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. He was from Gath. He was more than nine feet tall. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore bronze armor that weighed 125 pounds. 6On his legs he wore bronze guards. He carried a bronze javelin on his back. 7His spear was as big as a weaver’s rod. Its iron point weighed 15 pounds. The man who carried his shield walked along in front of him.
8Goliath stood there and shouted to the soldiers of Israel. He said, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? I’m a Philistine. You are servants of Saul. Choose one of your men. Have him come down and face me. 9If he’s able to fight and kill me, we’ll become your slaves. But if I win and kill him, you will become our slaves and serve us.” 10Goliath continued, “This day I dare the soldiers of Israel to send a man down to fight against me.” 11Saul and the whole army of Israel heard what the Philistine said. They were terrified.
12David was the son of an Ephrathite whose name was Jesse. Jesse was from Bethlehem in Judah and had eight sons. When Saul was king, Jesse was already very old. 13Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul into battle. The oldest son was Eliab. The second was Abinadab. The third was Shammah. 14David was the youngest. The three oldest sons followed Saul. 15But David went back and forth from Saul’s camp to Bethlehem. He went to Bethlehem to take care of his father’s sheep.
16Every morning and evening Goliath came forward and stood there. He did it for 40 days.
17Jesse said to his son David, “Get at least half a bushel of grain that has been cooked. Also get ten loaves of bread. Take all of it to your brothers. Hurry to their camp. 18Take along these ten chunks of cheese to the commander of their military group. Find out how your brothers are doing. Bring me back some word about them. 19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel. They are in the Valley of Elah. They are fighting against the Philistines.”
20Early in the morning David left his father’s flock in the care of a shepherd. David loaded up the food and started out, just as Jesse had directed. David reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions. The soldiers were shouting the war cry. 21The Israelites and the Philistines were lining up their armies for battle. The armies were facing each other. 22David left what he had brought with the man who took care of the supplies. He ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23As David was talking with them, Goliath stepped forward from his line. Goliath was a mighty Philistine hero from Gath. He again dared someone to fight him, and David heard it. 24Whenever Israel’s army saw Goliath, all of them ran away from him. That’s because they were so afraid.
25The Israelites had been saying, “Just look at how this man keeps daring Israel to fight him! The king will make the man who kills Goliath very wealthy. The king will also give his own daughter to be that man’s wife. The king won’t require anyone in the man’s family to pay any taxes in Israel.”
26David spoke to the men standing near him. He asked them, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine? Goliath is bringing shame on Israel. What will be done for the one who removes it? This Philistine isn’t even circumcised. He dares the armies of the living God to fight him. Who does he think he is?”
27The men told David what Israel’s soldiers had been saying. The men told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.
28David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking with the men. So Eliab became very angry with him. Eliab asked David, “Why have you come down here? Who is taking care of those few sheep in the desert for you? I know how proud you are. I know how evil your heart is. The only reason you came down here was to watch the battle.”
29“What have I done now?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30Then he turned away to speak to some other men. He asked them the same question he had asked before. And they gave him the same answer. 31Someone heard what David said and reported it to Saul. So Saul sent for David.
32David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone lose hope because of that Philistine. I’ll go out and fight him.”
33Saul replied, “You aren’t able to go out there and fight that Philistine. You are too young. He’s been a warrior ever since he was a boy.”
34But David said to Saul, “I’ve been taking care of my father’s sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock. 35Then I would go after it and hit it. I would save the sheep it was carrying in its mouth. If it turned around to attack me, I would grab its hair. I would strike it down and kill it. 36In fact, I’ve killed both a lion and a bear. I’ll do the same thing to this Philistine. He isn’t even circumcised. He has dared the armies of the living God to fight him. 37The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion. He saved me from the paw of the bear. And he’ll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too.”
Saul said to David, “Go. And may the Lord be with you.”
38Then Saul dressed David in his own military clothes. He put a coat of armor on him. He put a bronze helmet on his head. 39David put on Saul’s sword over his clothes. He walked around for a while in all that armor because he wasn’t used to it.
“I can’t go out there in all this armor,” he said to Saul. “I’m not used to it.” So he took it off. 40Then David picked up his wooden staff. He went down to a stream and chose five smooth stones. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. Then he took his sling in his hand and approached Goliath.
41At that same time, the Philistine kept coming closer to David. The man carrying Goliath’s shield walked along in front of him. 42Goliath looked David over. He saw how young he was. He also saw how healthy and handsome he was. And he hated him. 43He said to David, “Why are you coming at me with sticks? Do you think I’m only a dog?” The Philistine cursed David in the name of his gods. 44“Come over here,” he said. “I’ll feed your body to the birds and wild animals!”
45David said to Goliath, “You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the one you have dared to fight against. 46This day the Lord will give me the victory over you. I’ll strike you down. I’ll cut your head off. This day I’ll feed the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. 47The Lord doesn’t rescue people by using a sword or a spear. And everyone here will know it. The battle belongs to the Lord. He will hand all of you over to us.”
48As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet him. 49He reached into his bag. He took out a stone. He put it in his sling. He slung it at Goliath. The stone hit him on the forehead and sank into it. He fell to the ground on his face.
50So David won the fight against Goliath with a sling and a stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. He did it without even using a sword.
51David ran and stood over him. He picked up Goliath’s sword and cut off his head with it.
The Philistines saw that their hero was dead. So they turned around and ran away. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah shouted and rushed forward. They chased the Philistines to the entrance of Gath. They chased them to the gates of Ekron. Bodies of dead Philistines were scattered all along the road to Gath and Ekron. That’s the road that leads to Shaaraim. 53Israel’s army returned from chasing the Philistines. They had taken everything from the Philistine camp.
54David picked up Goliath’s head. He brought it to Jerusalem. He put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55Saul had been watching David as he went out to meet the Philistine. He spoke to Abner, the commander of the army. Saul said to him, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
Abner replied, “Your Majesty, I don’t know. And that’s just as sure as you are alive.”
56The king said, “Find out whose son that young man is.”
57After David killed Goliath, he returned to the camp. Then Abner brought him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath’s head.
58“Young man, whose son are you?” Saul asked him.
David said, “I’m the son of Jesse from Bethlehem.”
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1 Samuel 17: NIrV
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1 Samuel 17
17
1And the Philistines gather their camps to battle, and are gathered to Shochoh, which [is] to Judah, and encamp between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim;
2and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines.
3And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this side, and the Israelites are standing on the mountain on that side, and the valley [is] between them.
4And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath [is] his name, from Gath; his height [is] six cubits and a span,
5and a helmet of brass [is] on his head, and [with] a scaled coat of mail he [is] clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail [is] five thousand shekels of brass,
6and a frontlet of brass [is] on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,
7and the wood of his spear [is] like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear [is] six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him.
8And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, ‘Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? [am] not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me;
9if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.’
10And the Philistine saith, ‘I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.’
11And Saul heareth — and all Israel — these words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid.
12And David [is] son of this Ephrathite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name [is] Jesse, and he hath eight sons, and the man in the days of Saul hath become aged among men;
13and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle [are] Eliab the first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul,
15and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem.
16And the Philistine draweth nigh, morning and evening, and stationeth himself forty days.
17And Jesse saith to David his son, ‘Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted [corn], and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;
18and these ten cuttings of the cheese thou dost take in to the head of the thousand, and thy brethren thou dost inspect for welfare, and their pledge dost receive.’
19And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel [are] in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20And David riseth early in the morning, and leaveth the flock to a keeper, and lifteth up, and goeth, as Jesse commanded him, and he cometh in to the path, and to the force which is going out unto the rank, and they have shouted for battle;
21and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank.
22And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare.
23And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine [is] his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth;
24and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.
25And the men of Israel say, ‘Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath been — the man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.’
26And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, ‘What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?’
27And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, ‘Thus it is done to the man who smiteth him.’
28And Eliab, his eldest brother, heareth when he speaketh unto the men, and the anger of Eliab burneth against David, and he saith, ‘Why [is] this — thou hast come down! and to whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known thy pride, and the evil of thy heart — for, to see the battle thou hast come down.’
29And David saith, ‘What have I done now? is it not a word?’
30And he turneth round from him unto another, and saith according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word.
31And the words which David hath spoken are heard, and they declare before Saul, and he receiveth him;
32and David saith unto Saul, ‘Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.’
33And Saul saith unto David, ‘Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou [art], and he a man of war from his youth.’
34And David saith unto Saul, ‘A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come — and the bear — and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove,
35and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death.
36Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.’
37And David saith, ‘Jehovah, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He doth deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.’ And Saul saith unto David, ‘Go, and Jehovah is with thee.’
38And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.
39And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried [it]; and David saith unto Saul, ‘I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;’ and David turneth them aside from off him.
40And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling [is] in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.
41And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler [is] before him,
42and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance.
43And the Philistine saith unto David, ‘Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?’ and the Philistine revileth David by his gods,
44and the Philistine saith unto David, ‘Come unto me, and I give thy flesh to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the field.’
45And David saith unto the Philistine, ‘Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached.
46This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my hand — and I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel.
47And all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle [is] Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.’
48And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine,
49and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth.
50And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David,
51and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero [is] dead, and flee.
52And the men of Israel rise — also Judah — and shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron,
53and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.
54And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent.
55And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, ‘Whose son [is] this — the youth, Abner?’ and Abner saith, ‘Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.’
56And the king saith, ‘Ask thou whose son this [is] — the young man.’
57And when David turneth back from smiting the Philistine, then Abner taketh him and bringeth him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine in his hand;
58and Saul saith unto him, ‘Whose son [art] thou, O youth?’ and David saith, ‘Son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.’
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