1 Samuel 17
17
Goliath Challenges Israel's Army
1The Philistines got ready for war and brought their troops together to attack the town of Socoh in Judah. They set up camp at Ephes-Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.#17.1 Socoh and Azekah: Socoh was controlled by the Israelites, while Azekah was in Philistine hands. 2-3King Saul and the Israelite army set up camp on a hill overlooking Elah Valley, and they got ready to fight the Philistine army that was on a hill on the other side of the valley.
4The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was about three meters#17.4 about three meters: The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of one ancient translation have “about two meters.” tall. 5-6He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about 57 kilograms. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, 7and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed about seven kilograms. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield.
8Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel:
Why are you lining up for battle? I'm the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul's army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me! 9If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves. 10Here and now I challenge Israel's whole army! Choose someone to fight me!
11Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn't do a thing.
David Decides To Challenge Goliath
12David's father Jesse was an old man, who belonged to the Ephrath clan and lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons: 13-14the oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and Shammah was the third. The three of them had gone off to fight in Saul's army.
David was Jesse's youngest son. 15#Ps 151.1. He took care of his father's sheep, and he went back and forth between Bethlehem and Saul's camp.
16Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for 40 days.
17One day, Jesse told David, “Hurry and take this sack of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers at the army camp. 18And here are ten large chunks of cheese to take to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back something that shows that they're all right. 19They're with Saul's army, fighting the Philistines in Elah Valley.”
20David obeyed his father. He got up early the next morning and left someone else in charge of the sheep; then he loaded the supplies and started off. He reached the army camp just as the soldiers were taking their places and shouting the battle cry. 21The army of Israel and the Philistine army stood there facing each other.
22David left his things with the man in charge of supplies and ran up to the battle line to ask his brothers if they were well. 23While David was talking with them, Goliath came out from the line of Philistines and started boasting as usual. David heard him.
24When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they were scared and ran off. 25They said to each other, “Look how he keeps coming out to insult us. The king is offering a big reward to the man who kills Goliath. That man will even get to marry the king's daughter, and no one in his family will ever have to pay taxes again.”
26David asked some soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He's making fun of the army of the living God!”
27The soldiers told David what the king would give the man who killed Goliath.
28David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the soldiers. Eliab was angry with him and said, “What are you doing here, anyway? Who's taking care of your little flock of sheep out in the desert? You spoiled brat! You came here just to watch the fighting, didn't you?”
29“Now what have I done?” David answered. “Can't I even ask a question?” 30Then he turned and asked another soldier the same thing he had asked the others, and he got the same answer.
31Some soldiers overheard David talking, so they told Saul what David had said. Saul sent for David, and David came. 32“Your Majesty,” he said, “this Philistine shouldn't turn us into cowards. I'll go out and fight him myself!”
33“You don't have a chance against him,” Saul replied. “You're only a boy, and he's been a soldier all his life.”
34But David told him:
Your Majesty, I take care of my father's sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear, 35I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.
36Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn't have made fun of the army of the living God! 37The Lord has rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.
“All right,” Saul answered, “go ahead and fight him. And I hope the Lord will help you.”
38Saul had his own military clothes and armor put on David, and he gave David a bronze helmet to wear. 39David strapped on a sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to wearing those things.
“I can't move with all this stuff on,” David said. “I'm just not used to it.”
David took off the armor 40and picked up his shepherd's stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.
David Kills Goliath
41Goliath came toward David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield. 42When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him. 43#Ps 151.6. “Do you think I'm a dog?” Goliath asked. “Is that why you've come after me with a stick?” He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods 44and shouted, “Come on! When I'm finished with you, I'll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”
45David answered:
You've come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I've come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel's army, and you have insulted him too!
46Today the Lord will help me defeat you. I'll knock you down and cut off your head, and I'll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. 47Everybody here will see that the Lord doesn't need swords or spears to save his people. The Lord always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you.
48When Goliath started forward, David ran toward him. 49He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50#2 S 21.19. David defeated Goliath with a sling and a rock. He killed him without even using a sword.
51 #
2 S 21.19; Ps 151.7. David ran over and pulled out Goliath's sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath's head.
When the Philistines saw what had happened to their hero, they started running away. 52But the soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and went after them as far as Gath#17.52 Gath: One ancient translation; Hebrew “a valley.” and Ekron. The bodies of the Philistines were scattered all along the road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron.
53When the Israelite army returned from chasing the Philistines, they took what they wanted from the enemy camp. 54David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.
David Becomes One of Saul's Officers
55After King Saul had watched David go out to fight Goliath, Saul turned to the commander of his army and said, “Abner, who is that young man?”
“Your Majesty,” Abner answered, “I swear by your life that I don't know.”
56“Then find out!” Saul told him.
57When David came back from fighting Goliath, he was still carrying Goliath's head.
Abner took David to Saul, 58and Saul asked, “Who are you?”
“I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem.”
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1 Samuel 17: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 17
17
1 Now the Philistines, gathering their troops for battle, assembled at Socoh of Judah. And they made camp between Socoh and Azekah, within the borders of Dammim.
2 But Saul and the sons of Israel, having gathered together, went to the Valley of Terebinth. And they positioned the army so as to fight against the Philistines.
3 And the Philistines were standing on a mountain on the one side, and Israel was standing on a mountain on the other side. And there was a valley between them.
4 And there went out from the camp of the Philistines, a man of illegitimate birth, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a palm.
5 And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a breastplate of scales. Moreover, the weight of his breastplate was five thousand shekels of brass.
6 And he had plates of brass on his lower legs, and a small shield of brass was covering his shoulders.
7 Now the shaft of his spear was like the beam used by a weaver. And the iron of his spear held six hundred shekels of iron. And his armor bearer went before him.
8 And standing still, he cried out to the battle lines of Israel, and he said to them: "Why have you arrived, prepared for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose one man from among you, and let him descend to do battle alone.
9 If he is able to fight with me and to strike me down, we will be your servants. But if I will prevail over him, and strike him down, you will be the servants, and you will serve us."
10 And the Philistine was saying: "I have reproached the troops of Israel today. Present a man to me, and let him undertake a fight against me alone."
11 And Saul and all the Israelites, hearing these words of the Philistine in this manner, were stupefied and exceedingly afraid.
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite man, the one mentioned above, from Bethlehem of Judah, whose name was Jesse. He had eight sons, and during the days of Saul, he was an elderly man, and of great age among men.
13 Now his three eldest sons followed Saul into battle. And the names of his three sons, who went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14 But David was the youngest. Therefore, when the three eldest had followed Saul,
15 David went away from Saul, and he returned, so that he might pasture the flock of his father at Bethlehem.
16 Truly, the Philistine advanced morning and evening, and he stood forth, for forty days.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David: "Take, for your brothers, an ephah of cooked grain, and these ten loaves, and hurry to the camp, to your brothers.
18 And you shall carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune. And visit your brothers, to see if they are doing well. And learn with whom they have been stationed."
19 But they were in the valley of Terebinth, with Saul and all the sons of Israel, fighting against the Philistines.
20 And so, David rose up in the morning, and he commended the flock to the caretaker. And he went away burdened, just as Jesse had instructed him. And he went to the place of the battle line, and to the army, which, in going out to fight, was shouting in the conflict.
21 For Israel had positioned their troops, but the Philistines also had prepared themselves against them.
22 Then, leaving the items that he had brought under the hand of the keeper of baggage, David ran to the place of the conflict. And he was asking if all was going well with his brothers.
23 And while he was still speaking with them, there appeared the man of spurious descent, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine of Gath, ascending from the camp of the Philistines. And he was speaking in these same words, which David heard.
24 Then all the Israelites, when they had seen the man, fled from his face, fearing him greatly.
25 And someone of Israel said: "Have you seen this man, who has risen up. For he ascended in order to reproach Israel. Therefore, the man who will strike him down, the king will enrich with great wealth, and will give to him his daughter, and will cause his father's house to be free of tribute in Israel."
26 And David spoke to the men who were standing with him, saying: "What will be given to the man who will have struck down this Philistine, and who will have taken away the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the soldiers of the living God?"
27 Then the people repeated to him the same words, saying, "These things shall be given to the man who will have struck him down."
28 Now when Eliab, his eldest brother, had heard this, as he was speaking with the others, he became angry against David, and he said: "Why did you come here? And why did you leave behind those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the wickedness of your heart, that you have come down so that you might see the battle."
29 And David said: "What have I done? Is there any word against me?"
30 And he turned away from him a little, toward another. And he asked the same question. And the people responded to him as before.
31 Now the words that David had spoken were heard and reported in the sight of Saul.
32 When he had been led to Saul, he said to him: "Let no one lose heart over him. I, your servant, shall go and fight against the Philistine."
33 And Saul said to David: "You are not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him. For you are a boy, but he has been a warrior from his boyhood."
34 And David said to Saul: "Your servant was pasturing the flock of his father. And there approached a lion or a bear, and it took a ram from the midst of the flock.
35 And I pursued after them, and I struck them, and I rescued from their mouth. And they rose up against me. And I caught them by the throat, and I strangled and killed them.
36 For I, your servant, have killed both lion and bear. And so this uncircumcised Philistine, too, will be like one of them. Now I will go and take away the reproach of the people. For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who has dared to curse the army of the living God?"
37 And David said, "The Lord who rescued me from the hand of the lion, and from the hand of the bear, he himself will free me from the hand of this Philistine." Then Saul said to David, "Go, and may the Lord be with you."
38 And Saul clothed David with his garments. And he placed a helmet of brass upon his head, and he clothed him with a breastplate.
39 Then David, having girded his sword over his armor, began to see if he could walk in the armor. But he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: "I cannot move about in this way. For I am not used to it." And he put them aside.
40 And he took up his staff, which he held always in his hands. And he chose for himself five very smooth stones from the torrent. And he put them into the shepherd's bag that he had with him. And he took up a sling in his hand. And he went out against the Philistine.
41 And the Philistine, advancing, went and drew near against David. And his armor bearer was before him.
42 And when the Philistine had seen and considered David, he despised him. For he was a youth, ruddy and of handsome appearance.
43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you approach against me with a staff?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44 And he said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth."
45 But David said to the Philistine: "You approach me with sword, and spear, and shield. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, which you have reproached.
46 Today, the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down. And I will take your head from you. And today, I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth, so that all the earth may know that God is with Israel.
47 And this entire assembly will know that the Lord does not save by sword, nor by spear. For this is his war, and he will deliver you into our hands."
48 Then, when the Philistine had risen up, and was approaching, and was drawing near against David, David hurried and ran to the fight against the Philistine.
49 And he put his hand into his bag, and took out one stone. And swinging it around, he cast it with the sling and struck the Philistine on the forehead. And the stone became imbedded in his forehead. And he fell on his face, upon the ground.
50 And David prevailed against the Philistine with a sling and a stone. And he struck and killed the Philistine. But since David held no sword in his hand,
51 he ran and stood over the Philistine, and he took his sword, and withdrew it from the sheath. And he killed him and cut off his head. Then the Philistines, seeing that their strongest man was dead, fled away.
52 And the men of Israel and Judah, rising up, shouted and pursued after the Philistines, even until they arrived at the valley and as far as the gates of Ekron. And many wounded among the Philistines fell on the way of Shaaraim, and as far as Gath, and as far as Ekron.
53 And the sons of Israel, returning after they had pursued the Philistines, invaded their camp.
54 Then David, taking up the head of the Philistine, brought it to Jerusalem. Yet truly, he placed his armor in his own tent.
55 Now at the time that Saul had seen David going out against the Philistines, he said to Abner, the leader of the military, "From what stock is this youth descended, Abner?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know."
56 And the king said, "You shall inquire as to whose son this boy may be."
57 And when David had returned, after the Philistine had been struck down, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul, having the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58 And Saul said to him, "Young man, from what ancestry are you?" And David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."
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