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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1 Samuel 17: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 17
17
Goliath Challenges the Israelites
1The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah; they camped at a place called Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, where they got ready to fight the Philistines. 3The Philistines lined up on one hill and the Israelites on another, with a valley between them.
4A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was nearly three metres#17.4 Hebrew nearly three metres; one ancient Hebrew manuscript and one ancient translation about two metres. tall 5and wore bronze armour that weighed about 57 kilogrammes and a bronze helmet. 6His legs were also protected by bronze armour, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. 7His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about seven kilogrammes. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield. 8Goliath stood and shouted at the Israelites, “What are you doing there, lined up for battle? I am a Philistine, you slaves of Saul! Choose one of your men to fight me. 9If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. 10Here and now I challenge the Israelite army. I dare you to pick someone to fight me!” 11When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified.
David in Saul's Camp
12David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.#17.12 Some ancient translations a very old man; Hebrew unclear. 13His three eldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The eldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14David was the youngest son, and while the three eldest brothers stayed with Saul, 15David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father's sheep.
16Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.
17One day Jesse said to David, “Take ten kilogrammes of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp. 18And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting on and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. 19King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in the Valley of Elah fighting the Philistines.”
20David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry. 21The Philistine and the Israelite armies took up positions for battle, facing each other. 22David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting on. 23As he was talking to them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him. 24When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror. 25“Look at him!” they said to each other. “Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father's family to pay taxes.”#17.25 to pay taxes; or either to pay taxes or serve him.
26David asked the men who were near him, “What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?” 27They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.
28Eliab, David's eldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He was angry with David and said, “What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You cheeky brat, you! You just came to watch the fighting!”
29“Now what have I done?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?” 30He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.
31Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him. 32David said to Saul, “Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him.”
33“No,” answered Saul. “How could you fight him? You're just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!”
34“Your Majesty,” David said, “I take care of my father's sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, 35I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. 36I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. 37The LORD has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine.”
“All right,” Saul answered. “Go, and the LORD be with you.” 38He gave his own armour to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armour. 39David strapped Saul's sword over the armour and tried to walk, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to wearing them. “I can't fight with all this,” he said to Saul. “I'm not used to it.” So he took it all off. 40He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.
David Defeats Goliath
41The Philistine started walking towards David, with his shield-bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer, 42and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy. 43He said to David, “What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?” And he called down curses from his god on David. 44“Come on,” he challenged David, “and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.”
45David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. 46This very day the LORD will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, 47and everyone here will see that the LORD does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”
48Goliath started walking towards David again, and David ran quickly towards the Philistine battle line to fight him. 49He put his hand into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downwards on the ground. 50#2 Sam 21.19And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone! 51#1 Sam 21.9He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.
When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. 52The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath#17.52 One ancient translation Gath; Hebrew a valley. and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp. 54David picked up Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.
David is Presented to Saul
55When Saul saw David going out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is he?”
“I have no idea, Your Majesty,” Abner answered.
56“Then go and find out,” Saul ordered.
57So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head. 58Saul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?”
“I am the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.