1 Samuel 17
17
David Slays Goliath with Sling and Stone
1Now the Philistines assembled their armies to battle. They were gathered at Socoh of Judah, and camped in Ephes-dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.
2Saul and the men of Israel gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, then lined up in battle array against 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 champion stepped out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
5He had a bronze helmet on his head and a breastplate of scale armor; the weight of the bronze breastplate was 5,000 shekels.
6He also had bronze shin-guards on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.
7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed 600 shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer was marching ahead of him.
8Then he stood and shouted out to the ranks of Israel saying to them, “Why come out to line up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose for yourselves a man and let him come down to me.
9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we become your slaves; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then will you become our slaves and serve us.”
10The Philistine added, “Today I defy the ranks of Israel—give me a man, so we may fight together!”
11But when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very terrified.
12Now David was son of a certain Ephrathite man of Beth-lehem of Judah, whose name was Jesse. He had eight sons and during the days of Saul the man was old, advanced in years among men.
13Now the three oldest sons of Jesse had already left and gone after Saul to the battle; the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14David was the youngest. So the three oldest followed Saul.
15Now David would go back and forth from Saul to tending his father’s sheep by Beth-lehem.
16For forty days that Philistine would come out every morning and evening to present himself.
17Then Jesse said to his son David, “Take now, for your brothers, an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.
18Also take these ten slices of cheese to the captain of their thousand—and check out the welfare of your brothers and bring back some token from them.
19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”
20So David rose up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. When he reached the camp, the army was going out to the battle line shouting the war cry.
21Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines, army against army.
22Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered to check out his brothers’ welfare.
23But as he was talking with them, behold the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the ranks of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.
24Upon seeing him, all the men of Israel fled from him in great fear.
25All the men of Israel were saying, “Have you seen this man who keeps coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel! The man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, give him his daughter in marriage and make his father’s house tax-free in Israel!”
26Then David asked the men who were standing by him saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the ranks of the living God?”
27The people answered him with the same speech saying, “Thus it will be done for the man who strikes him down.”
28Now when Eliab his oldest brother heard him speaking to the men, Eliab’s anger was kindled against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “So with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart! For you’ve come down here to watch the battle.”
29“What have I done now?” David said. “It was only a question!”
30Then he turned away from him toward someone else and asked the same question. So the people gave him the same answer as before.
31The words that David said were overheard and reported before Saul. So he was taken to him.
32David said to Saul, “Let no one’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33Then Saul said to David, “You can’t go fight this Philistine—for you’re just a youth, and he’s been a warrior since his youth.”
34But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb out of the flock,
35I went out after it, struck it down, and rescued the lamb out of its mouth. If it rose up against me, I grabbed him by its fur, struck it and killed it.
36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear, so this uncircumcised Philistine will become like one of them—since he has defied the ranks of the living God.”
37Then David said, “Adonai, who has delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go!” said Saul to David, “and may Adonai be with you.”
38Then Saul clothed David with his own garb, put a bronze helmet on his head, and clothed him in armor.
39David strapped his sword on his garment and tried to walk, but he was not used to it. So David said to Saul, “I cannot walk in these, for I am not used to them.” So David took them off.
40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the valley, put them in the pocket of the shepherd’s bag that he had, and with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41Meanwhile, the Philistine drew nearer and approached David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
42Now when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was just a ruddy boy with a handsome appearance.
43Then the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, so I may give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”
45Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I am coming to you in the Name of Adonai-Tzva’ot, God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46This very day Adonai will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and take your head off you, and I will give the carcasses of the Philistines’ camp today to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth. Then all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel,
47and so all this assembly will know that Adonai delivers not with sword and spear—for the battle belongs to Adonai—and He will give you into our hands.”
48Then when the Philistine rose and began to advance, drawing near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49David put his hand in his bag, took from it a stone and slung it, striking the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, struck the Philistine down and killed him. Since there was no sword in David’s hand,
51David ran, stood over the Philistine, picked up his sword, drew it from its sheath, slew him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up, shouted and pursued the Philistines all the way to the valley up to the gates of Ekron. The slain Philistines fell down along the way to Shaaraim, even up to Gath and Ekron.
53When Bnei-Yisrael returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his own tent.
55Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this boy?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, your majesty, I don’t know.”
56So the king said, “Then, find out whose son this young man is.”
57So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58“Whose son are you, young man?” Saul said to him. David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.”
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1 Samuel 17: TLV
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Copyright © 2014 - Messianic Jewish Family Bible Society
1 Samuel 17
17
David defeats Goliath
1The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. 3The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.
4A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall.#17.4 LXX over six feet tall 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.#17.5 Five thousand shekels 6He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. 7His spear shaft#17.7 Qere, LXX, Syr (cf 2 Sam 21:19); Kethib the point of his spear was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds.#17.7 Six hundred shekels His shield-bearer walked in front of him.
8He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion,#17.8 MT the Philistine lacks champion. and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t that right? Select one of your men, and let him come down against me. 9If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves, but if I overcome him and kill him, then you will become our slaves and you will serve us. 10I insult Israel’s troops today!” The Philistine continued, “Give me an opponent, and we’ll fight!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.#17.11 The following verses are absent from LXXB: 17:12-31, 41, 48b, 50, 55-58.
12Now David was Jesse’s son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul’s time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.#17.12 LXX, Syr 13Jesse’s three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest. 14(David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul’s side to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
16For forty days straight the Philistine came out and took his stand, both morning and evening. 17Jesse said to his son David, “Please take your brothers an ephah#17.17 One ephah is approximately twenty quarts. of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread. Deliver them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18And here, take these ten wedges of cheese to their unit commander. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back some sign that they are okay. 19They are with Saul and all the Israelite troops fighting the Philistines in the Elah Valley.”
20So David got up early in the morning, left someone in charge of the flock, and loaded up and left, just as his father Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp right when the army was taking up their battle formations and shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines took up their battle formations opposite each other. 22David left his things with an attendant and ran to the front line. When he arrived, he asked how his brothers were doing. 23Right when David was speaking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came forward from the Philistine ranks and said the same things he had said before. David listened. 24When the Israelites saw Goliath, every one of them ran away terrified of him. (25Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes#17.25 Heb uncertain in Israel.”)
26David asked the soldiers standing by him, “What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?”
27Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. “So that’s what will be done for the man who kills him,” they said.
28When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. “Why did you come down here?” he said. “Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!”
29“What did I do wrong this time?” David replied. “It was just a question!”
30So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply. 31The things David had said were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
32“Don’t let anyone#17.32 LXX my master (the king) lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”
33“You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”
34“Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, 35I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.
37“The LORD,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”
“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the LORD be with you!”
38Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. 40He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.
41The Philistine got closer and closer to David, and his shield-bearer was in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy; reddish brown and good-looking.
43The Philistine asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. 44“Come here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the wild animals!”
45But David told the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of heavenly forces, the God of Israel’s army, the one you’ve insulted. 46Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head! Today I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the entire Philistine camp#17.46 LXX; MT lacks your dead body. to the wild birds and the wild animals. Then the whole world will know that there is a God on Israel’s side. 47And all those gathered here will know that the LORD doesn’t save by means of sword and spear. The LORD owns this war, and he will hand all of you over to us.”
48The Philistine got up and moved closer to attack David, and David ran quickly to the front line to face him. 49David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50And that’s how David triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the Philistine down and killing him—and David didn’t even have a sword! 51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and finished him off. Then David cut off the Philistine’s head with the sword.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52The soldiers from Israel and Judah jumped up with a shout and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath#17.52 LXX; MT Gai or a valley and the gates of Ekron. The dead Philistines were littered along the Shaarim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
55Now when Saul saw David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner the army general, “Abner, whose son is that boy?”
“As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know,” Abner answered.
56“Then find out whose son that young man is,” the king replied.
57So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner sent for him and presented him to Saul. The Philistine’s head was still in David’s hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?”
“I’m the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.
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