1 Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1The Philistines gathered their armies for war. They met at Socoh in Judah. Their camp was at Ephes Dammim between Socoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the Israelites gathered in the Valley of Elah. And they camped there. They took their positions to fight the Philistines. 3The Philistines controlled one hill. The Israelites controlled another. The valley was between them.
4The Philistines had a champion fighter named Goliath. He was from Gath. He was about nine feet four inches tall. He came out of the Philistine camp. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head. And he wore a coat of scale armor. It was made of bronze and weighed about 125 pounds. 6He wore bronze protectors on his legs. And he had a small spear of bronze tied on his back. 7The wooden part of his larger spear was like a weaver’s rod. And its blade weighed about 15 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 become your servants. But if I defeat and kill him, you will become 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 afraid.
12Now David was the son of Jesse, an Ephrathite. Jesse was from Bethlehem in Judah. He 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 son was Abinadab. And the third son was Shammah. 14David was the youngest son. Jesse’s three oldest sons followed Saul. 15But David went back and forth from Saul to Bethlehem. There he took care of his father’s sheep.
16The Philistine Goliath came out every morning and evening. He stood before the Israelite army. This continued for 40 days.
17Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this half bushel of cooked grain. And take ten loaves of bread. Take them to your brothers in the camp. 18Also take ten pieces of cheese. Give them to the commander of your brothers’ group of 1,000 soldiers. See how your brothers are. Bring back something to show me they are all right. 19Your brothers are with Saul and the army in the Valley of Elah. They are 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 leaving. They were going out to their battle positions. The soldiers were 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. Then he ran to the battle line and talked to his brothers. 23While he was talking with them, Goliath came out. He was the Philistine champion from Gath. He shouted things against Israel as usual, and David heard it. 24When the Israelites saw Goliath, they were very much afraid and ran away.
25They said, “Look at this man Goliath. He keeps coming out to speak against Israel. The king will give much money to the man who kills Goliath. He will also give his daughter in marriage to whoever kills him. 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? What will be done for whoever takes away the shame from Israel? Goliath is a Philistine. He is not circumcised. Why does he think he can speak against the armies of the living God?”
27The Israelites told David what they had been saying. They said, “This is what will be done for the man who kills Goliath.”
28David’s oldest brother Eliab heard David talking with the soldiers. He became 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. Your attitude is very bad. You came down here just to watch the battle!”
29David asked, “Now what have I done wrong? Can’t I even talk?” 30He then turned to other people and asked the same questions. And they gave him the same answer as before. 31Some men heard what David said and told Saul. Then Saul ordered David to be sent to him.
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. I would hit it and kill it. 36I, your servant, have killed both a lion and a bear! Goliath, the Philistine who is not circumcised, will be like the lion or bear I killed. He will die because he has stood against the armies of the living God. 37The Lord saved me from a lion and a bear. He will also 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 David’s head and armor on his body. 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. I’m not used to it.” Then David took it all off. 40He took his stick in his hand. And he chose five smooth stones from a stream. He put them in his pouch and held his sling in his hand. Then he went to meet Goliath.
41At the same time, the Philistine was coming closer to David. The man who held his shield walked in front of him. 42Goliath looked at David. He saw that David was only a boy, tanned and handsome. He looked down at 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, a large spear and a small spear. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven’s armies. He’s the God of the armies of Israel! You have spoken out against him. 46Today the Lord will give you to me. I’ll kill you, and I’ll 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 help us defeat all of you.”
48As Goliath came near to attack him, David ran quickly to meet him. 49He took a stone from his pouch. He put it into his sling and slung it. The stone hit the Philistine on his forehead and sank into it. 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. 51David ran and stood beside the Philistine. He took Goliath’s sword out of its holder and killed him. Then he cut off Goliath’s head.
When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. 52The men of Israel and Judah shouted and started chasing the Philistines. They chased them all the way to the entrance to the city of Gath. And they chased them to the gates of Ekron.
Many of the Philistines died. Their bodies lay on the Shaaraim road as far as Gath and Ekron. 53The Israelites returned after chasing the Philistines. Then they took many things from the Philistine camp. 54David took Goliath’s head to Jerusalem. He also put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55Saul had watched David go out to meet Goliath. Saul spoke to Abner, commander of the army. He said, “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 still held Goliath’s head.
58Saul asked him, “Young man, who is your father?”
David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”
Currently Selected:
1 Samuel 17: ICB
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
1 Samuel 17
17
1And the Philistines assembled their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of terebinths, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side; and the ravine was between them. 4And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was clothed with a corselet of scales; and the weight of the corselet was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders. 7And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and the shield-bearer went before him. 8And he stood and cried to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I the Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to smite me, then will we be your servants; but if I overcome and smite him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I have defied the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, and they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons; and the man was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. 13And the three eldest of the sons of Jesse had gone and followed Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14And David was the youngest; and the three eldest had followed Saul. 15But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17And Jesse said to David his son, Take, I pray, for thy brethren, this ephah of parched corn and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren; 18and carry these ten cheeses to the captain of the thousand, and visit thy brethren to see how they are, and take a pledge of them. 19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of terebinths, fighting against the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took his charge and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the wagon-defence; and the host which was going forth to the battle-array shouted for the fight. 21And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, rank against rank. 22And David left the things he was carrying in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the ranks, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And as he talked with them, behold there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same words; and David heard them. 24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were greatly afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that comes up? for to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who smites him, him will the king enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that smites this Philistine, and takes away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God#GodHebrew: Elohim 27And the people told him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that smites him. 28And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard while he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Was it not laid upon me? 30And he turned from him to another, and spoke after the same manner; and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31And the words were heard which David spoke, and they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34And David said to Saul, Thy servant fed his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. 35And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God#GodHebrew: Elohim 37And David said, Jehovah who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and Jehovah be with thee. 38And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet. 39And David girded his sword upon his dress, and endeavoured to go; for he had not yet tried it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go in these; for I have never tried them. And David put them off him.
40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag that he had, into the pocket; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. 41And the Philistine came on and approached David; and the man that bore the shield was before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was a youth, and ruddy, and besides of a beautiful countenance. 43And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh to the fowls of the heavens and to the beasts of the field. 45And David said to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with sword, and with spear, and with javelin; but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God#GodHebrew: Elohim of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will Jehovah deliver thee up into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens and to the wild beasts of the earth. And all the earth shall know that Israel has a God#GodHebrew: Elohim 47and all this congregation shall know that Jehovah saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is Jehovah's, and he will give you into our hands.
48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and advanced to meet David, that David hasted, and ran towards the ranks to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand into the bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead; and he fell on his face to the earth. 50So David overcame the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine and killed him; and there was no sword in the hand of David. 51And David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and killed him completely, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the ravine and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down on the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron. 53And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they pillaged their camps. 54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. 55And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 56And the king said, Inquire thou whose son this youth is. 57And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, young man? And David said, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.
Currently Selected:
:
Highlight
Share
Copy
Want to have your highlights saved across all your devices? Sign up or sign in
First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.