1 Samuel 17
17
David Kills Goliath
1Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Aze´kah, in Ephes–dam´mim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. 4And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goli´ath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. 6And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders. 7And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him. 8And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. 9If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us. 10And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. 11When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
12Now David was the son of that Eph´rathite of Beth–lehem–judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul. 13And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eli´ab the firstborn, and next unto him Abin´adab, and the third Shammah. 14And David was the youngest: and the three eldest 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 unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren; 18and carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
19Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle. 21For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army. 22And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren. 23And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goli´ath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake 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 sore afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Israel. 26And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God? 27And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
28And Eli´ab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eli´ab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. 29And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause? 30And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
31And when the words were heard which David spake, 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 unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock: 35and I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God. 37David said moreover, The Lord that 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 unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. 38And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail. 39And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved 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 a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
41And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. 42And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance. 43And the Philistine said unto 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 unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field. 45Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied. 46This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hands.
48And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Sha-ara´im, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. 53And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents. 54And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
55And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell. 56And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling 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, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth´lehemite.
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1 Samuel 17: KJVAAE
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King James Version 1611, spelling, punctuation and text formatting modernized by ABS in 1962; typesetting © 2010 American Bible Society.
1 Samuel 17
17
The Philistine Champion Taunts Israel
1The Philistines gathered their camps#Or “armies” for battle and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. 2Then Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and they formed ranks for the battle to meet the Philistines. 3The Philistines were standing on the hill on one side and the army of Israel was standing on the hill on the other side with the valley between them. 4Then a champion#Literally “a man of the space between” went out from the camps of the Philistines, whose name was Goliath from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.#A cubit was about eighteen inches and a span about nine inches, so the Masoretic Hebrew text gives the height of nine feet, nine inches. Ancient Greek versions variously give Goliath’s height as four, five, or sixteen cubits. 5A bronze helmet was on his head, and he was clothed with scale body armor; the weight of the body armor was five thousand bronze shekels. 6Bronze greaves#Or “shin guards” were on his legs,#Hebrew “feet” and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and the point of his spear weighed six hundred iron shekels. His shield bearer#Literally “The one who carried his shield” was walking in front of him.
8He stood and called to the battle lines of Israel and said to them, “Why have you come out to form ranks for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Commission for yourselves a man and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and he defeats me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail over him and defeat him, then you will be our servants and you will serve us.” 10Then the Philistine said, “I hereby defy the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so that we may fight each other!” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very afraid.
David Enters the Scene of Battle
12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite. This man was from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse. He had#Literally “And for him were” eight sons; in the days of Saul this man was old, yet he still walked among#The LXX reads “he went in years”; that is, he was advanced in years the men. 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone and followed#Literally “went after” Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, his second oldest was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14Now David was the youngest. The three oldest followed#Literally “went after” Saul, 15but David went back and forth#Literally “was going and was returning” from Saul to feed the sheep of his father in Bethlehem. 16Now the Philistine came forward early and late, and he took his stand for forty days.
17Then Jesse said to his son David, “Please take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and bring them quickly to the camp for your brothers. 18And these ten portions of cheese you will bring to the commander of the thousand; find out how your brothers are doing,#Literally “make a careful inspection as far as peace concerning your brothers” and take their pledge.”#That is, some pledge or token of assurance that they had received the goods 19Now Saul and they#That is, David’s brothers and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting the Philistines.
20David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops were going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle lines, one battle line against the other.#Literally “battle line to oppose battle line” 22David left the baggage he had with him in the care#Literally “hand” of the baggage keeper, ran to the battle line, and came and asked how his brothers were doing.#Literally “asked his brothers as far as peace” 23While he was speaking to them, the champion,#Literally “the man of the space between” whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the caves#So the Masoretic Hebrew text (Kethib); the reading tradition (Qere) and LXX have “ranks” of the Philistines. He spoke just as he had previously,#Literally “according to these words” and David heard his words. 24When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from his presence and were very afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, “Did you see this man who has come up? For he is going up to defy Israel! It will be that the man who defeats him, the king will make him#That is, the man who defeats Goliath very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter in marriage and will make his father’s house free in Israel.”#That is, free from taxation 26Now David had spoken to the men who were standing with him, saying, “What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?” 27And the troops had spoken to him according to this word, saying, “So it will be done for the man who defeats#Or “kills” him.”
28His oldest brother Eliab heard while he was speaking to the men, and Eliab became very angry against David#Literally “and the nose of Eliab became hot concerning David” and said, “Why have you come down today, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness and the evil of your heart! For you have come down in order to see the battle!” 29David replied, “What have I done now? I merely asked a question!#Literally “Is this not a word?” 30He turned around from him to another opposite him and he spoke to him in the same way,#Literally “and he said according to this word” and the people#Or “troops” answered him as before.#Literally “returned to him a word as the first word”
David Appears before Saul
31Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported them to#Literally “before the face/in the presence of” Saul, and he summoned him. 32David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone’s heart fail concerning him! Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33But Saul said to David, “You will not be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are only a boy, whereas he has been a man of war since his childhood!” 34And David said to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group, 35I would go out after it and strike it down and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose against me, I would grab it by its beard and strike it down and kill it. 36Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he defied the battle lines of the living God.”
37And David said, “Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go and may Yahweh be with you!” 38Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with body armor. 39Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk around, for he was not trained to use them. So David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use them.” So David removed them. 40Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi,#A valley that is usually dry but contains a stream during the rainy season and he put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41Then the Philistine came on, getting nearer and nearer#Literally “went going and near” to David, with his shield bearer#Literally “the man carrying the shield” in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was only a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance. 43So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defied! 46This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head!#Literally “and I will remove your head from upon you” Then I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God who is for Israel. 47And all of this assembly will know that Yahweh does not rescue with sword or with spear, for the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hands!”
David Defeats Goliath
48When#Literally “And it happened that when” the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly#Literally “made quickly and he ran” to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him, but there was no sword in David’s hand.
51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52The men of Israel and Judah got up, raised the war cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as#Literally “up to your coming to” the valley#So the Masoretic Hebrew text; LXX reads “Gath” and up to the gates of Ekron. So the slain of the Philistines fell on the way#Or “road” to Shaaraim up to Gath and as far as Ekron. 53Then the Israelites#Literally “sons/children of Israel” returned from pursuing the Philistines and plundered their camp. 54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed his weapons in his tent.
55Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56Then the king said, “You inquire whose son this young man is.” 57So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine was in his hand. 58Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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