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1 Samuel 17
English Standard Version

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines (A)gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at (B)Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and (C)Azekah, in (D)Ephes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in (E)the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And 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. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named (F)Goliath of (G)Gath, whose height was six[a] cubits[b] and a span. 5 He 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[c] of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a (H)javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. (I)And his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and (J)are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If 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 (K)and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, (L)“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was (M)the son of an (N)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, (O)named Jesse, (P)who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.[d] 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And (Q)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 (R)David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul (S)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[e] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 (T)Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. (U)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 (V)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 (W)things in charge of the keeper of the (X)baggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, (Y)the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke (Z)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 (AA)defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches (AB)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 (AC)the reproach from Israel? For who is this (AD)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should (AE)defy the armies of (AF)the living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, (AG)“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

28 Now 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.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke (AH)in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, (AI)“Let no man's heart fail because of him. (AJ)Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And 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.” 34 But 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, 35 I 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. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, (AK)for he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, (AL)“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, (AM)and the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and 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. 40 Then 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.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, (AN)with his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, (AO)ruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I (AP)a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh (AQ)to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with (AR)a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, (AS)whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. (AT)And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day (AU)to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, (AV)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that (AW)the Lord saves not with sword and spear. (AX)For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And 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.

50 So 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. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine (AY)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, (AZ)they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath[f] and the gates of (BA)Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from (BB)Shaaraim as far as (BC)Gath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took (BD)the head of the Philistine (BE)and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, (BF)the commander of the army, “Abner, (BG)whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, (BH)“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul (BI)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, (BJ)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four
  2. 1 Samuel 17:4 A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters
  3. 1 Samuel 17:5 A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams
  4. 1 Samuel 17:12 Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men
  5. 1 Samuel 17:17 An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters
  6. 1 Samuel 17:52 Septuagint; Hebrew Gai
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1 Samuel 17
International Standard Version

Goliath Challenges the Israelis

17 The Philistines assembled their army for battle. They were assembled at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the Israelis assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they set up their forces to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were standing on the hill on one side while the Israelis were standing on the hill on the other side, with the valley between them.

4 A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was four cubits and a span[a] tall, 5 wore a bronze helmet on his head, and wore bronze scale armor that weighed about 5,000 shekels.[b] 6 He had bronze armor on his legs[c] and carried a bronze javelin slung[d] between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and the iron point of his spear weighed 600 shekels.[e] A man carrying his shield walked in front of him.

8 He stood still and called out to the ranks of Israel, “Why should you move into position for battle? Am I not a Philistine and you Saul’s servants? Choose a man for yourselves to come down against me. 9 If he’s able to fight me and strike me down, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will become our servants and serve us.” 10 The Philistine said, “I defy[f] the ranks of Israel today. Send me one man and let’s fight together.” 11 When Saul and all the Israelis heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very frightened.

David Comes to the Camp

12 David was the son of that Ephrathite man named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons; at the time when Saul was king he was old, having lived to an advanced age. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse followed Saul into battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were his firstborn Eliab, Abinadab, his second son, and Shammah, the third. 14 David was the youngest, while the three oldest had followed Saul. 15 And David would go back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem. 16 For 40 days the Philistine would come forward, morning and evening, to take his position.

17 Jesse told his son David, “Take this ephah[g] of roasted grain to your brothers, along with these ten loaves of bread, and quickly take them to your brothers in the camp. 18 Take these ten pieces of cheese to the commander of the unit,[h] check on the well-being of your brothers, and bring something back from them. 19 Saul, your brothers,[i] and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah fighting with the Philistines.” 20 David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took the supplies,[j] and went as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the encampment[k] as the army was going out to the battle line, shouting the battle cry.

David Hears Goliath’s Challenge

21 Israel and the Philistines moved into position for battle, battle line facing battle line. 22 David left the supplies he had with him in the care of the supply keeper and ran to the battle line. When he arrived there, he asked his brothers about their well-being. 23 As he was speaking with them, the Philistine champion named Goliath from Gath came up from the Philistine battle lines and spoke his usual words,[l] as David listened. 24 When all the Israelis saw the man, they fled from him and were very frightened.

25 “Did all of you see this man coming up?” one Israeli asked. “He comes up to defy[m] Israel, and the king will richly reward the man who kills him. He will give his daughter to him and will make his father’s house tax[n] free in Israel.”

26 David asked the men who were standing by him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? Indeed, who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy[o] the armies of the living God?”

27 The people also told him the same thing,[p] saying, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

28 Eliab his oldest brother heard him talking to the men. Eliab was angry with David and said, “Why did you come down here? And who did you leave those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know your insolence and wicked intentions.[q] You came down just to see the battle!”

29 “What have I done now?” David asked. “It was just a question,[r] wasn’t it?” 30 Then he turned from him toward another person and asked the same thing. The people replied to him the same way as the first one had.

David Accepts the Challenge

31 When the words that David had spoken were heard, they were reported to Saul, and he sent for him. 32 David told Saul, “Let no one’s courage[s] fail because of him; your servant will go fight this Philistine.”

33 Saul told David, “You can’t go against this Philistine and fight him. You are only a young man, but he has been a warrior since his youth.”

34 David told Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father. When a lion or bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the lamb[t] from its mouth. Then when it rose up against me, I would grab it by its fur,[u] strike it down, and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he defied[v] the armies of the living God.” 37 David continued, “The Lord who delivered me from the power of[w] the lion and the power of[x] the bear will also deliver me from the power of[y] this Philistine.”

Saul told David, “Go! And may the Lord be with you.”

38 Saul put his garments on David, set a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him. 39 David strapped Saul’s[z] sword over his garments and tried to walk, but[aa] he was not used to the armor.[ab] David told Saul, “I can’t walk in these because I’m not used to them,”[ac] and then took them off. 40 He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the pouch in his shepherd’s bag. He approached the Philistine with his sling in his hand.

David Defeats Goliath

41 With a man carrying his shield in front of him, the Philistine kept coming closer to David. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he had contempt for him, because he was only a young man. David had a dark, healthy complexion and was handsome. 43 The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come at me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his own gods and 44 told David, “Come to me! I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field.”

45 Then David told the Philistine, “You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies, the God of the armies of Israel whom you have defied.[ad] 46 This very day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I’ll strike you down and remove your head from you. And this very day I’ll give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and this whole congregation will know that the Lord does not deliver by sword or spear. Indeed, the battle is the Lord’s and he will give you into our hands.”

48 When the Philistine got up and came closer to meet David, David quickly ran to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 David reached his hand into the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sunk into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he struck down the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand. 51 David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the Philistine’s[ae] sword, pulled it from its sheath, killed him, and then he cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 The men of Israel and Judah got up with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance to[af] the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Wounded Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron. 53 The Israelis returned from pursuing the Philistines and plundered their camp. 54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s[ag] weapons in his tent.

55 When Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?”

Abner said, “As surely as you live, your majesty, I don’t know.”

56 The king replied, “Go find out whose son the young man is.”

57 When David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. 58 Saul told him, “Whose son are you, young man?”

David said, “The son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 I.e. about six and a half feet; so DSS 4QSama and LXX; MT reads six cubits and a span (i.e. nine and a half feet)
  2. 1 Samuel 17:5 I.e. about 125 pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  3. 1 Samuel 17:6 Or bronze greaves; i.e. leg armor worn below the knees
  4. 1 Samuel 17:6 The Heb. lacks slung
  5. 1 Samuel 17:7 I.e. about 15 pounds at 0.4 shekels per ounce
  6. 1 Samuel 17:10 Or challenge
  7. 1 Samuel 17:17 I.e. about a half-bushel; an ephah was a measure of dry capacity equal to about one half of a bushel
  8. 1 Samuel 17:18 Lit. thousand
  9. 1 Samuel 17:19 Lit. they
  10. 1 Samuel 17:20 The Heb. lacks the supplies
  11. 1 Samuel 17:20 Or entrenchment
  12. 1 Samuel 17:23 Lit. according to these words
  13. 1 Samuel 17:25 Or challenge
  14. 1 Samuel 17:25 The Heb. lacks tax
  15. 1 Samuel 17:26 Or challenge
  16. 1 Samuel 17:27 Lit. spoke to him according to this word
  17. 1 Samuel 17:28 Lit. wickedness of your heart
  18. 1 Samuel 17:29 Lit. a word
  19. 1 Samuel 17:32 Lit. heart
  20. 1 Samuel 17:35 The Heb. lacks the lamb
  21. 1 Samuel 17:35 Lit. beard
  22. 1 Samuel 17:36 Or challenged
  23. 1 Samuel 17:37 Or hand of
  24. 1 Samuel 17:37 Or hand of
  25. 1 Samuel 17:37 Or hand of
  26. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit. his
  27. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit. for
  28. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit. he had not tested
  29. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit. I have not tested
  30. 1 Samuel 17:45 Or challenged
  31. 1 Samuel 17:51 Lit. his
  32. 1 Samuel 17:52 Lit. until you enter
  33. 1 Samuel 17:54 Lit. his
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