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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1 Samuel 17: LEB
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1 Samuel 17
17
1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the 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 Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits 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 of bronze. 6And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and 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 are 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 and serve us.” 10And the Philistine said, “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 the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.#17.12 Gk Syr: Heb among men 13The three eldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to 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 of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; 18also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See how your brothers fare, 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 the encampment as the host was going forth to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the ranks, and went and greeted his brothers. 23As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spoke the 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 defy Israel; and the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches, 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 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 in the same way, “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 in the same way; and the people answered him again as before.
31When the words which David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul; and he sent for him. 32And David said to Saul, “Let no man's heart fail because of him; 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 smote him and delivered it out of his mouth; and if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him and killed him. 36Your servant has killed both lions and bears; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37And David said, “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, 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 girded his sword over his armor, and he tried in vain to go, for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these; for I am not used to them.” And 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 bag or wallet; his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
41And the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42And when the Philistine looked, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, ruddy and comely in appearance. 43And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a 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 to 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 a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, 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; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds 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 that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear; for 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, 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, they fled. 52And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath#17.52 Gk: Heb Gai and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Sha-araim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53And the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
55When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell.” 56And the king said, “Inquire 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 are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America