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1 Samuel 17:12-27
New International Version
1 Samuel 17:12-27
New International Version
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite(A) named Jesse,(B) who was from Bethlehem(C) in Judah. Jesse had eight(D) sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab;(E) the second, Abinadab;(F) and the third, Shammah.(G) 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend(H) his father’s sheep(I) at Bethlehem.
16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[a](J) of roasted grain(K) and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers(L) are and bring back some assurance[b] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies,(M) ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual(N) defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter(O) in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes(P) in Israel.”
26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace(Q) from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised(R) Philistine that he should defy(S) the armies of the living(T) God?”
27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”
Footnotes
- 1 Samuel 17:17 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
- 1 Samuel 17:18 Or some token; or some pledge of spoils
1 Samuel 17:12-27
New Living Translation
1 Samuel 17:12-27
New Living Translation
Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp
12 Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea[a]—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. 14 David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, 15 but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.
16 For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.
17 One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket[b] of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. 18 And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.[c]” 19 David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.
20 So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. 21 Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel.
24 As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. 25 “Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!”
26 David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?”
27 And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 17:13 Hebrew Shammah, a variant spelling of Shimea; compare 1 Chr 2:13; 20:7.
- 17:17 Hebrew ephah [20 quarts or 22 liters].
- 17:18 Hebrew and take their pledge.
1 Samuel 17:12-27
English Standard Version
1 Samuel 17:12-27
English Standard Version
12 Now David was (A)the son of an (B)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, (C)named Jesse, (D)who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[a] 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And (E)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 (F)David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul (G)to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.
17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah[b] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 (H)Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. (I)See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”
19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And 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 (J)the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the (K)things in charge of the keeper of the (L)baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, (M)the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke (N)the same words as before. And David heard him.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to (O)defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches (P)and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away (Q)the reproach from Israel? For who is this (R)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should (S)defy the armies of (T)the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, (U)“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men
- 1 Samuel 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
1 Samuel 17:12-27
Contemporary English Version
1 Samuel 17:12-27
Contemporary English Version
David Decides To Challenge Goliath
12 David's father Jesse was an old man, who belonged to the Ephrath clan and lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons: 13-14 the 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 (A) He took care of his father's sheep, and he went back and forth between Bethlehem and Saul's camp.
16 Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for 40 days.
17 One 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. 18 And 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. 19 They're with Saul's army, fighting the Philistines in Elah Valley.”
20 David 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. 21 The army of Israel and the Philistine army stood there facing each other.
22 David 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. 23 While David was talking with them, Goliath came out from the line of Philistines and started boasting as usual. David heard him.
24 When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they were scared and ran off. 25 They 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.”
26 David 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!”
27 The soldiers told David what the king would give the man who killed Goliath.
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New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
New Living Translation (NLT)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society For more information about CEV, visit www.bibles.com and www.cev.bible.