1 Samuel 17
17
Goliath Challenges the Israelites
1The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah. 3So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.
4Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet#17:4 Hebrew 6 cubits and 1 span [which totals about 9.75 feet or 3 meters]; Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek version read 4 cubits and 1 span [which totals about 6.75 feet or 2 meters]. tall! 5He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.#17:5 Hebrew 5,000 shekels [57 kilograms]. 6He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. 7The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds.#17:7 Hebrew 600 shekels [6.8 kilograms]. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
8Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! 9If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! 10I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” 11When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.
Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp
12Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. 13Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea#17:13 Hebrew Shammah, a variant spelling of Shimea; compare 1 Chr 2:13; 20:7.—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. 14David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, 15but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
16For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
17One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket#17:17 Hebrew ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters]. of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. 18And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.#17:18 Hebrew and take their pledge.” 19David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
20So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel.
24As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25“Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
26David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
27And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”
28But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!”
29“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” 30He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. 31Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.
David Kills Goliath
32“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”
33“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.”
34But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, 35I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. 36I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! 37The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!”
38Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. 39David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before.
“I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. 40He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine.
41Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, 42sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. 43“Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. 44“Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.
45David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! 47And everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
48As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. 49Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground.
50So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. 51Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head.
Israel Routs the Philistines
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52Then the men of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath#17:52 As in some Greek manuscripts; Hebrew reads a valley. and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. 53Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp. 54(David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man’s armor in his own tent.)
55As Saul watched David go out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”
“I really don’t know,” Abner declared.
56“Well, find out who he is!” the king told him.
57As soon as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. 58“Tell me about your father, young man,” Saul said.
And David replied, “His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem.”
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 17: NLT
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
1 Samuel 17
17
1The Philistine armies gathered for battle at Socoh in Judah. They set up camp between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelites gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah and took up their positions to engage in battle with the Philistines. 3The Philistines were on one hill and the Israelites on another with the valley between them.
4Then a champion#17:4. “Champion”: literally “a man of the space between.” This is usually taken to mean a champion who will fight another in a kind of proxy battle, but its precise meaning is uncertain as it only occurs here and in verse 23 in the whole of the Old Testament. came out of the Philistine camp. His name was Goliath from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span tall.#17:4. “Six cubits and a span tall.” This is equivalent to around nine and a half feet. The Septuagint and a manuscript from Qumran have four cubits and a span, equivalent to six and a half feet. 5He had on his head a bronze helmet and he wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels. 6On his legs he wore bronze armor, and he carried a javelin#17:6. “Javelin”: some believe this was more likely a curved sword or scimitar, and certainly a sword is referenced in verse 51. slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was as thick as weaver's beam, with an iron tip that weighed six hundred shekels. His shield-bearer walked ahead of him carrying his shield.#17:7. “Carrying his shield”: added for clarity.
8Goliath stood and shouted at the lines of Israelite soldiers, “Why have you come and lined for battle? I am the Philistine, and you're Saul's servants. Pick one of your men and have him come down and fight me. 9If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I beat him and kill him, then you'll be our slaves and work for us.”
10Then the Philistine said, “I mock the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so we can fight each other!”
11Saul and all the Israelite soldiers were shattered and absolutely terrified when they heard what the Philistine said.
12David was the son of a man named Jesse. He was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. At the time Saul was king, Jesse was very old. 13Jesse's three oldest sons had joined Saul's army. These were Eliab (the firstborn), Abinadab (second), and Shammah (third). 14David was the youngest. The three oldest were with Saul, 15while David went to Saul and then back again to look after his father's sheep.
16Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came out to take his stand.
17Jesse told his son David, “Please take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers. Take them quickly to your brothers' camp. 18Take these ten cheese pieces to their commander. Check carefully to see how your brothers are doing and bring back their news.” 19They were with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.
20David got up early in the morning and left the flock with a shepherd. He took the supplies and set out as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the army was marching out to its battle line, shouting the war cry. 21The Israelites took up their battle line and the Philistines took up their battle line on the opposite side. 22David left his supplies with the one responsible and ran to the battle line. When he got there he asked his brothers how they were. 23While he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came up out of his lines and shouted his challenge as he had before, and David heard what he said.
24All the Israelite soldiers ran away when they saw him because they were terribly afraid. 25“Have you seen this man who keeps on coming out to mock Israel?” they asked. “The king will make the man who kills him really rich. He will also give him his daughter in marriage, and his family will live tax-free in Israel.”
26David asked the men who were standing beside him, “What will the man receive who kills this Philistine and removes this shame from Israel? Who does this heathen#17:26. “Heathen”: literally, “uncircumcised.” Also verse 36. Philistine think he is, mocking the armies of the living God?”
27The soldiers repeated what they had said, telling him, “This is what the man who kills him will receive.”
28When David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the men, he got angry with him. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Whom have you left those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know how proud and wicked you are! You've just come to watch the battle!”
29“What have I done now?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?” 30He went over to some others and asked the same question, and they gave the same answer as before. 31Someone overheard what David said and reported it to Saul who sent for him.
32David told Saul, “No one should lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him!”
33“You can't go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul replied. “You're just a boy, and he's a warrior trained from his youth.”
34David replied, “Your servant has been looking after his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35I would chase after it, knock it down, and save the lamb from its mouth. If it turned to attack me, I would grab its hair, hit it, and kill it. 36I have killed lions and bears, and this heathen Philistine will be just like one of them, for he has mocked the armies of the living God.”
37David concluded, “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine.”
“Go, and may the Lord be with you,” Saul responded.
38Saul gave David his own battle clothes to wear, placed a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him. 39David strapped his sword on over the armor but he couldn't walk because he wasn't used to it.
“I can't walk in all this,” David told Saul. “I'm not used to it.” So David took all the armor off. 40He picked up his stick, chose five smooth stones from the stream, and put them in his shepherd's bag. Carrying his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41The Philistine came towards David, closer and closer, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked closely he could see that David was just a red-faced handsome youth, and so he treated David with contempt.
43“Do you think I'm a dog, coming to fight me with a stick?” the Philistine asked David, and he cursed David by his gods. 44Then the Philistine shouted at David, “Come over here, and I'll feed your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.”
45David replied to the Philistine, “You come to attack me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin. But I come to attack you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel—the one you have mocked. 46Today the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the dead bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and the wild animals. Then all the world will know that there is a God who acts for Israel. 47Everyone gathered here will realize that the Lord saves, but not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will hand all of you over to us.”
48As the Philistine moved forward to attack him, David raced toward the battle line to confront him. 49David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and fired it from his sling, hitting the Philistine on the forehead. The stone went into his forehead, and he collapsed facedown on the ground.
50This is how David defeated the Philistine with just a sling and a stone; with no sword in his hand David knocked the Philistine down and killed him. 51David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the Philistine's sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He killed him and then he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran away.
52Then the men of Israel and Judah rushed forward shouting the war cry and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their bodies were scattered along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
53When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. 54David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
55When Saul had watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he'd asked Abner the army commander, “Abner, whose son is that young man?”
“On your life, Your Majesty, I do not know,” Abner replied.
56“Find out whose son this young man is,” the king ordered.
57As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. David was still clutching the Philistine's head in his hand.
58“Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked.
“I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com