1 Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1Now the Philistines #ch. 13:5 gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at #Josh. 15:35 Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and #Josh. 10:10; Neh. 11:30 Azekah, in #[1 Chr. 11:13]Ephes-dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in #ver. 19; ch. 21:9the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named #[2 Sam. 21:19; 1 Chr. 20:4] Goliath of #ch. 21:10; Josh. 11:22; 13:3Gath, whose height was six#17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four cubits#17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters and a span. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels#17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams of bronze. 6And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a #ver. 45javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. #ver. 41And his shield-bearer went before him. 8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and #ch. 8:17are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants #[ch. 11:1]and serve us.” 10And the Philistine said, #ver. 25, 26, 36, 45; [2 Sam. 21:21]“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12Now David was #ver. 58; ch. 16:1, 18; Ruth 4:22 the son of an #Gen. 35:19 Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, #ver. 58; ch. 16:1, 18 named Jesse, #ch. 16:10, 11; [1 Chr. 2:13-15]who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.#17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men 13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And #ch. 16:6, 8, 9; [1 Chr. 2:13]the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14#ch. 16:11David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul #ch. 16:19to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah#17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18#[ch. 16:20] Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. #[Gen. 37:14]See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to #ch. 26:5, 7the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22And David left the #[Isa. 10:28; Acts 21:15]things in charge of the keeper of the #[Isa. 10:28; Acts 21:15]baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, behold, #ver. 4 the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke #ver. 8the same words as before. And David heard him.
24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to #ver. 10, 36, 45 defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches #[Josh. 15:16]and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away #ch. 11:2 the reproach from Israel? For who is this #See Judg. 14:3 uncircumcised Philistine, that he should #[See ver. 25 above] defy the armies of #Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10the living God?” 27And the people answered him in the same way, #ver. 25“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
28Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke #ver. 26, 27in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.
31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32And David said to Saul, #[Deut. 20:3] “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. #[ch. 16:18]Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, #ver. 10, 26for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37And David said, #[2 Tim. 4:17] “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, #[ch. 20:13; 1 Chr. 22:11, 16]and the Lord be with you!”
38Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.
41And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, #ver. 7with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, #ch. 16:12ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43And the Philistine said to David, “Am I #ch. 24:14; 2 Sam. 3:8; 9:8; 16:9; 2 Kgs. 8:13a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh #ver. 46to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with #ver. 6 a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, #[See ver. 36 above]whom you have defied. 46This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. #Deut. 28:26 And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day #ver. 44 to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, #1 Kgs. 18:36; [Josh. 4:24]that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that #Hos. 1:7; [Ps. 44:6, 7; Zech. 4:6] the Lord saves not with sword and spear. #2 Chr. 20:15For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
48When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine #ch. 21:9; [2 Sam. 23:21] and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, #[Heb. 11:34]they fled. 52And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath#17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai and the gates of #Josh. 15:11 Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from #Josh. 15:36 Shaaraim as far as #See ver. 4Gath and Ekron. 53And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54And David took #ver. 57 the head of the Philistine #[2 Sam. 5:6, 7]and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, #2 Sam. 2:8 the commander of the army, “Abner, #[ch. 16:21, 22] whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, #See ch. 1:26“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul #ver. 54with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, #ver. 12“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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1 Samuel 17: ESV
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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