1 Samuel 17
17
David and Goliath
1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle, and were gathered at Sokoh, # Jos 15:35; 1Sa 13:5 which belongs to Judah. And they camped between Sokoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. # 1Ch 11:13 2Saul and Israel’s fighting men were gathered, and they camped in the Valley of Elah. # 1Sa 17:19; 21:9 And they drew up in battle order to meet the Philistines. 3Now the Philistines were standing at the base of the mountain on the one side, and Israel was standing at the base of the mountain on the other side, and the valley was between them.
4There went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, Goliath was his name, from Gath, # Jos 11:22 whose height was six cubits and one span. # 17:4 About 9 feet 9 inches, or 3 meters. 5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail. Now the weight of the bronze coat was five thousand shekels. # 17:5 About 125 pounds, or 58 kilograms. 6He had greaves of bronze on his legs and a bronze javelin # 1Sa 17:45 between his shoulders. 7The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam. # 2Sa 21:19 His iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels. # 17:7 About 15 pounds, or 6.9 kilograms. And a shield-bearer was walking before him. # 1Sa 17:41
8He stood and called out to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am not I the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? # 1Sa 8:17 Choose for yourselves a man and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight with me and to strike me down, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will be our servants and will serve us.” # 1Sa 11:1 10The Philistine said, “I defy the battle lines of Israel this day. # 1Sa 17:45; 2Sa 21:21 Give me a man, and let us fight together.” 11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were filled with terror and were greatly afraid.
12Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem # Ge 35:19 in Judah whose name was Jesse, # 1Sa 16:18 who had eight sons. And the man was old in the days of Saul and advanced in years. 13The 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 Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. # 1Ch 2:13 14As for David, he was the youngest. # 1Sa 16:11 The three eldest followed Saul, 15but David would go back and forth from Saul to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.
16The Philistine stepped forward morning and evening and took his stand daily for forty days.
17Then Jesse said to David his son, “Take now for your brothers an ephah # 17:17 Likely about 36 pounds, or 16 kilograms. of this parched grain and these ten loaves # 1Sa 25:18 and run to the camp to your brothers. 18Carry these ten cheeses # 1Sa 16:20 to the captain of their thousand, and look into your brothers’ health, # Ge 37:14 and bring back news of them.” 19Now Saul, and they, and all Israel’s fighting men were in the Valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.
20So David rose up early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper. And he carried away the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. And when he came to the encampment, # 1Sa 26:5 the army was going out to the battle line, and they shouted a war cry. 21And Israel and the Philistines ordered themselves in battle lines, army against army. 22David left his things with the keeper of the equipment, and he ran to the battle line. And he went and greeted his brothers. 23As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath, Goliath by name, was going up from the battle line of the Philistines. And he spoke these same words and David heard them. 24When all Israel’s fighting men saw the man, they fled from him, and were very afraid.
25The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel, and it will be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, # Jos 15:16 and will make his father’s house exempt from taxes in Israel.”
26David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, “What will be done for the man that kills this Philistine and takes away this reproach from Israel? # 1Sa 11:2 For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?” # Dt 5:26
27And the people answered him in the same way, saying, “So will it be done to the man who kills him.”
28Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, # Ge 37:4, 8 and he said, “Why have you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart, for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
29David said, “What have I done now? Was it not only a word?” 30And he turned from him toward another and spoke in the same way. And the people answered him again as at the first. # 1Sa 17:26–27 31When the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them to Saul and he sent for him.
32David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” # Dt 20:1–3; 1Sa 16:18
33Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. # Nu 13:31 For you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
34David said to Saul, “Your servant was a shepherd for my father’s flock, and the lion came and the bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. 35And I went out after him, and struck him, and delivered it out of his mouth. # Am 3:12 And when he arose against me, I took hold of his beard, struck him, and killed him. 36Your servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine will be as one of them, because he has reviled the armies of the living God.” # 1Sa 17:10, 26 37David said, “The Lord who 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 to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you.” # 1Sa 20:13; 1Ch 22:11
38Saul clothed David with his armor. And he put a helmet of bronze on his head. He also clothed him with a coat of mail. 39David secured his sword to his armor and tried to walk, but he was not used to it, for he had not tested them.
And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off. 40He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook. And he put them in his shepherd’s bag, even in a pouch. And his sling was in his hand. # Jdg 20:16 Then he drew near to the Philistine.
41The Philistine came walking and drew near to David, and the man bearing the shield went before him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him. # Ps 123:3–4 For he was a youth and ruddy with a handsome appearance. # 1Sa 16:12 43The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, # 1Sa 24:14; 2Sa 3:8 that you come to me with sticks?” Then 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 heavens and to the beasts of the field.”
45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, # 2Ch 32:8 the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have reviled. # 1Sa 17:10 46This day will the Lord deliver you into my hand. And I will strike you down and cut off your head. Then I will give the corpses of the Philistine camp this day to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth # Dt 28:26 so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. # Jos 4:24 47And then all this assembly will know that it is not by sword and spear that the Lord saves. # Hos 1:7; Zec 4:6 For the battle belongs to the Lord, and He will give you into our hands.”
48When the Philistine arose and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49David put his hand in his bag and took from there a stone. And he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead. Therefore the stone sunk into his forehead and he fell upon his face to the ground.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone. And he struck down the Philistine and slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine. Then he took his sword and drew it from out of its sheath, and he finished him off and he cut off his head with it. # 1Sa 21:9
When the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled. # Heb 11:34 52And the fighting men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted. And they pursued the Philistines from the entrance of the Valley of Elah as far as the gates of Ekron. So the Philistine dead lay slain on the road to Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. # Jos 15:11 53Then the Israelites returned from chasing after the Philistines and they plundered their tents.
54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” # 1Sa 16:21–22
And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”
56The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is.”
57So when David returned from slaying the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand.
58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?”
And David answered, “I am the son of your servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite.” # 1Sa 17:12
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1 Samuel 17: MEV
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The Holy Bible, Modern English Version
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