I Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered at #Gen. 41:46; Prov. 22:29Sochoh, which belongs to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines. 3The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
4And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named #Josh. 15:35; 2 Chr. 28:18Goliath, from #2 Sam. 21:19Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the #Josh. 11:21, 22servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and #1 Sam. 8:17serve us.” 10And the Philistine said, #1 Sam. 11:1“I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12Now David was #1 Sam. 17:26, 36, 45; 2 Sam. 21:21the son of that #Ruth 4:22; 1 Sam. 16:1, 18; 17:58Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had #Gen. 35:19eight sons. And the man was old, advanced in years, in the days of Saul. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The #1 Sam. 16:10, 11; 1 Chr. 2:13–15names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul. 15But David occasionally went and returned from Saul #1 Sam. 16:6, 8, 9; 1 Chr. 2:13to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.
17Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp. 18And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and #1 Sam. 16:11, 19; 2 Sam. 7:8see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them.” 19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took the things and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army. 22And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. 23Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke #Gen. 37:13, 14according to the same words. So David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid. 25So the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be that the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, #1 Sam. 17:8–10will give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption from taxes in Israel.”
26Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away #Josh. 15:16the reproach from Israel? For who is this #1 Sam. 11:2uncircumcised Philistine, that he should #1 Sam. 14:6; 17:36; Jer. 9:25, 26defy the armies of #1 Sam. 17:10the living God?”
27And the people answered him in this manner, saying, #Deut. 5:26; 2 Kin. 19:4; Jer. 10:10“So shall it be done for the man who kills him.”
28Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s #1 Sam. 17:25anger was aroused against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”
29And David said, “What have I done now? #Gen. 37:4, 8–36; (Prov. 18:19; Matt. 10:36)Is there not a cause?” 30Then he turned from him toward another and #1 Sam. 17:17said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones did.
31Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul; and he sent for him. 32Then David said to Saul, #1 Sam. 17:26, 27“Let no man’s heart fail because of him; #Deut. 20:1–4your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33And Saul said to David, #1 Sam. 16:18“You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a #Num. 13:31; Deut. 9:2lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37Moreover David said, #Judg. 14:5“The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”
And Saul said to David, #(2 Cor. 1:10; 2 Tim. 4:17, 18)“Go, and the Lord be with you!”
38So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off.
40Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he #1 Sam. 20:13; 1 Chr. 22:11, 16disdained him; for he was only a youth, #(Ps. 123:4; Prov. 16:18; 1 Cor. 1:27, 28)ruddy and good-looking. 43So the Philistine #1 Sam. 16:12said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine #1 Sam. 24:14; 2 Sam. 3:8; 9:8; 16:9; 2 Kin. 8:13said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”
45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. #1 Sam. 17:46; 1 Kin. 20:10, 11But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have #2 Sam. 22:33, 35; 2 Chr. 32:8; Ps. 124:8; (2 Cor. 10:4); Heb. 11:33, 34defied. 46This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give #1 Sam. 17:10the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, #Deut. 28:26that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord #Josh. 4:24; 1 Kin. 8:43; 18:36; 2 Kin. 19:19; Is. 52:10does not save with sword and spear; for #1 Sam. 14:6; 2 Chr. 14:11; 20:15; Ps. 44:6; Hos. 1:7; Zech. 4:6the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”
48So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and #2 Chr. 20:15ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a #Ps. 27:3sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his #Judg. 3:31; 15:15; 20:16sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.
And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, #1 Sam. 21:9; 2 Sam. 23:21they fled. 52Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to #Heb. 11:34Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 53Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents. 54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to #Josh. 15:36Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, #1 Sam. 14:50whose son is this youth?”
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
56So the king said, “Inquire whose son this young man is.”
57Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul #1 Sam. 16:21, 22with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
So David answered, #1 Sam. 17:54“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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I Samuel 17: NKJV
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 17
17
Goliath’s Challenge
1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle and were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah; and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together and they camped in the Valley of Elah, and assembled in battle formation to meet the Philistines. 3The Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side and Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. 4Then a #17:4 The Hebrew refers to one who fights alone, single-handedly representing his nation. If warring nations agree to the contest, a great deal of bloodshed can be avoided.champion came out from the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was #17:4 I.e. about nine feet, ten inches.six cubits and a span. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head, and wore a coat of scale-armor (overlapping metal plates) which weighed #17:5 The weight is uncertain, but may have been 100 lbs. or more.5,000 shekels of bronze. 6He had bronze shin protectors on his legs and a bronze #17:6 Or perhaps a scimitar (short curved sword).javelin hung between his shoulders. 7The [wooden] shaft of his spear was like a #17:7 I.e. the cross beam of a loom.weaver’s beam; the blade-head of his spear weighed #17:7 Probably 12 lbs. or more.six hundred shekels of iron. And a #17:7 The shield was the type designed to protect the whole body, so it was probably about eight and one-half feet tall.shield-bearer walked in front of him. 8Goliath stood and shouted to the battle lines of Israel, saying to them, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not the Philistine and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and have him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.” 10Again the Philistine said, “I defy the battle lines of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12Now David was the son of the #17:12 Lit this. “Ephrathite” was an older name for a resident of Bethlehem.Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. 13His three older sons had followed Saul into battle. The names of his three sons who went to battle were Eliab, the firstborn; next, Abinadab; and third, Shammah. 14David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem. 16The Philistine [Goliath] came out morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.
17Then Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread and run quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18Also take these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of the #17:18 Lit thousand.unit. See how your brothers are doing and bring back news of them. 19Now they are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
David Accepts the Challenge
20So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, picked up the provisions and went just as Jesse had directed him. And he came to the encampment as the army was going out in battle formation shouting the battle cry. 21Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle formation, army against army. 22Then David left his provisions in the care of the supply keeper, and ran to the ranks and came and greeted his brothers. 23As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words again; and David heard him.
24When the men of Israel all saw the man, they fled from him, and were very frightened. 25The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. The king will reward the man who kills him with great riches, and will give him his daughter [in marriage] and make his father’s house (family) free [from taxes and service] in Israel.”
26Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes the disgrace [of his taunting] from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God?” 27The men #17:27 Lit spoke according to this word.told him, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
28Now Eliab his oldest brother heard what he said to the men; and Eliab’s #17:28 Lit his nose got hot.anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption (overconfidence) and the evil of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.” 29But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a [harmless] question?” 30Then David turned away from Eliab to someone else and asked the same question; and the people gave him the same answer as the first time.
David Kills Goliath
31When the words that David spoke were heard, the men reported them to Saul, and he sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Let no man’s #17:32 Lit heart.courage fail because of him (Goliath). Your servant will go out and fight with this Philistine.” 33Then Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight him. For you are [only] a young man and he has been a warrior since his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35I went out after it and attacked it and rescued the lamb from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I seized it by its whiskers and struck and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted and defied the armies of the living God.” 37David said, “The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38Then Saul dressed David in his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a coat of mail (armor) on him. 39Then David fastened his sword over his armor and tried to walk, [but he could not,] because he was not used to them. And David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I am not used to them.” So David took them off. 40Then he took his [shepherd’s] staff in his hand and chose for himself five #17:40 Smooth stones offered less resistance to the air in flight and would travel with greater speed and accuracy. The sling was a pouch attached to the ends of two long leather thongs, and was a formidable weapon (as the Philistine giant was about to discover).smooth stones out of the stream bed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch. With his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41The Philistine came and approached David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he derided and disparaged him because he was [just] a young man, with a ruddy complexion, and a handsome appearance. 43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with [shepherd’s] staffs?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a #17:45 This weapon may have been similar to a scimitar (short curved sword).javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that this entire assembly may know that the Lord does not save with the sword or with the spear; for the battle is the Lord’s and He will hand you over to us.”
48When the Philistine rose and came forward to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand into his bag and took out a stone and slung it, and it struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand. 51So he ran and stood over the Philistine, grasped his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their [mighty] champion was dead, they fled. 52The men of Israel and Judah stood with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance to the valley and the gates of Ekron. And the [fatally] wounded Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron. 53The sons of Israel returned from their pursuit of the Philistines and plundered their camp. 54Then David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.
55When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” And Abner answered, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” 56The king said, “Ask whose son the young man is.” 57When David returned from killing [Goliath] the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58Saul asked him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
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