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1 Samuel 17
Legacy Standard Bible

Goliath Challenges Israel

17 Now (A)the Philistines gathered their camps for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between (B)Socoh and (C)Azekah, in (D)Ephes-dammim. 2 But Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in (E)the valley of Elah and arranged themselves for battle to meet the Philistines. 3 Now the Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them. 4 Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines named (F)Goliath, from (G)Gath, whose height was [a]six cubits and a [b]span. 5 And he had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor, and the weight of that scale-armor was five thousand [c]shekels of bronze. 6 He also had bronze [d]greaves on his legs and a (H)bronze [e]javelin slung between his shoulders. 7 (I)And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; (J)his shield-carrier also walked before him. 8 And he stood and called out to the [f]battle lines of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to arrange yourselves for battle? Am I not the Philistine and you (K)slaves of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me. 9 (L)If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, then we will become your slaves; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you shall become our slaves and serve us.” 10 Again the Philistine said, “(M)I openly [g]reproach the battle lines 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 (N)the son of [h]the (O)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and (P)he had eight sons. And [i]Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. 13 And the three older sons of Jesse had gone. They had gone after Saul to the battle. And (Q)the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 (R)But David was the youngest. Now the three oldest had gone after Saul, 15 (S)but David went back and forth from Saul (T)to shepherd his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

16 Then the Philistine approached, morning and evening, for forty days and took his stand.

17 Then Jesse said to David his son, “(U)Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers. 18 (V)You shall also bring these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, (W)and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back [j]a token from them. 19 And Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

20 So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and carried the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the (X)circle of the camp while the military force was going out in battle lines shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines arranged themselves in battle lines, battle line [k]against battle line. 22 Then David left his (Y)baggage in the [l]care of the baggage keeper and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers. 23 As he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines, and he spoke (Z)these same words; and David heard them.

24 Now all the men of Israel saw the man, and they fled from him and were greatly afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to [m]reproach Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who strikes him down with great riches and (AA)will give him his daughter and make his father’s house [n]free in Israel.”

26 Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away (AB)the reproach from Israel? For who is this (AC)uncircumcised Philistine, that he should [o](AD)reproach the battle lines of (AE)the living God?” 27 And the people spoke to him in accord with this word, saying, “(AF)Thus it will be done for the man who strikes him down.”

28 Then Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and (AG)Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I myself know your arrogance and the wickedness of your heart, for you have come down in order to see the battle.” 29 But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a word?” 30 Then he turned [p]away from him to another and (AH)said the same word; and the people responded to him with the same word as [q]before.

David Puts Goliath to Death

31 Then the words which David spoke were heard. And they told them [r]to Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, “(AI)Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; (AJ)your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 Then Saul said to David, “(AK)You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was shepherding his father’s sheep. And a lion and a bear would come and take a lamb from the flock, 35 and I would go out after it and strike it and (AL)rescue the lamb from its mouth. Then it rose up against me, and I would seize it by its beard and strike it down and put it to death. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has [s]reproached the battle lines of the living God.” 37 And David said, “(AM)Yahweh, who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “(AN)Go, and may Yahweh be with you.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his robes and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. 39 And David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them [t]off. 40 Then he took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and (AO)his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

41 Then the Philistine came on and drew near to David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And the Philistine looked and saw David. And (AP)he despised him; for he was but a youth and (AQ)ruddy, with a handsome appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “(AR)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And (AS)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh (AT)to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, (AU)but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have [u]reproached. 46 This day Yahweh will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the (AV)dead bodies of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth, (AW)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that (AX)Yahweh does not save by sword or by spear; (AY)for the battle is Yahweh’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

48 Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that (AZ)David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David sent his hand down into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

50 Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and put him to death; but there was no sword in David’s hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and (BA)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and put him to death and cut off his head with it. (BB)Then the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, so they fled. 52 But the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines [v]as far as the valley and to the gates of (BC)Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay fallen along the way to (BD)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the sons of Israel returned from hotly pursuing the Philistines and plundered their camps. 54 And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

55 Now when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is (BE)this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.” 57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and (BF)brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “(BG)I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 Approx. 9 ft. or 2.7 m, a cubit was approx. 18 in. or 45 cm
  2. 1 Samuel 17:4 A span was approx. 9 in. or 23 cm
  3. 1 Samuel 17:5 A shekel was approx. 0.4 oz. or 11 gm
  4. 1 Samuel 17:6 Or shin guards
  5. 1 Samuel 17:6 Or scimitar
  6. 1 Samuel 17:8 Lit lines, so in ch
  7. 1 Samuel 17:10 Or defy
  8. 1 Samuel 17:12 Lit this
  9. 1 Samuel 17:12 Lit the man
  10. 1 Samuel 17:18 Lit their pledge
  11. 1 Samuel 17:21 Lit to meet
  12. 1 Samuel 17:22 Lit hand
  13. 1 Samuel 17:25 Or defy
  14. 1 Samuel 17:25 Free from taxes and public service
  15. 1 Samuel 17:26 Or defy
  16. 1 Samuel 17:30 Lit from beside him
  17. 1 Samuel 17:30 Lit the former word
  18. 1 Samuel 17:31 Lit before
  19. 1 Samuel 17:36 Or defied
  20. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit off from himself
  21. 1 Samuel 17:45 Or defied
  22. 1 Samuel 17:52 Lit until your coming to
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1 Samuel 17
Common English Bible

David defeats Goliath

17 The Philistines assembled their troops for war at Socoh of Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. 2 Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the Elah Valley, where they got organized to fight the Philistines. 3 The Philistines took positions on one hill while Israel took positions on the opposite hill. There was a valley between them.

4 A champion named Goliath from Gath came out from the Philistine camp. He was more than nine feet tall.[a] 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore bronze scale-armor weighing one hundred twenty-five pounds.[b] 6 He had bronze plates on his shins, and a bronze scimitar hung on his back. 7 His spear shaft[c] was as strong as the bar on a weaver’s loom, and its iron head weighed fifteen pounds.[d] His shield-bearer walked in front of him.

8 He stopped and shouted to the Israelite troops, “Why have you come and taken up battle formations? I am the Philistine champion,[e] and you are Saul’s servants. Isn’t that right? Select one of your men, and let him come down against me. 9 If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will become your slaves, but if I overcome him and kill him, then you will become our slaves and you will serve us. 10 I insult Israel’s troops today!” The Philistine continued, “Give me an opponent, and we’ll fight!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were distressed and terrified.[f]

12 Now David was Jesse’s son, an Ephraimite from Bethlehem in Judah who had eight sons. By Saul’s time, Jesse was already quite old and far along in age.[g] 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. Their names were Eliab the oldest, Abinadab the second oldest, and Shammah the third oldest. 14 (David was the youngest.) These three older sons followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul’s side to shepherd his father’s flock in Bethlehem.

16 For forty days straight the Philistine came out and took his stand, both morning and evening. 17 Jesse said to his son David, “Please take your brothers an ephah[h] of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread. Deliver them quickly to your brothers in the camp. 18 And here, take these ten wedges of cheese to their unit commander. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back some sign that they are okay. 19 They are with Saul and all the Israelite troops fighting the Philistines in the Elah Valley.”

20 So David got up early in the morning, left someone in charge of the flock, and loaded up and left, just as his father Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp right when the army was taking up their battle formations and shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines took up their battle formations opposite each other. 22 David left his things with an attendant and ran to the front line. When he arrived, he asked how his brothers were doing. 23 Right when David was speaking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came forward from the Philistine ranks and said the same things he had said before. David listened. 24 When the Israelites saw Goliath, every one of them ran away terrified of him. (25 Now the Israelite soldiers had been saying to each other: “Do you see this man who keeps coming out? How he comes to insult Israel? The king will reward with great riches whoever kills that man. The king will give his own daughter to him and make his household exempt from taxes[i] in Israel.”)

26 David asked the soldiers standing by him, “What will be done for the person who kills that Philistine over there and removes this insult from Israel? Who is that uncircumcised Philistine, anyway, that he can get away with insulting the army of the living God?”

27 Then the troops repeated to him what they had been saying. “So that’s what will be done for the man who kills him,” they said.

28 When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him talking to the soldiers, he got very mad at David. “Why did you come down here?” he said. “Who is watching those few sheep for you in the wilderness? I know how arrogant you are and your devious plan: you came down just to see the battle!”

29 “What did I do wrong this time?” David replied. “It was just a question!”

30 So David turned to someone else and asked the same thing, and the people said the same thing in reply. 31 The things David had said were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.

32 “Don’t let anyone[j] lose courage because of this Philistine!” David told Saul. “I, your servant, will go out and fight him!”

33 “You can’t go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul answered David. “You are still a boy. But he’s been a warrior since he was a boy!”

34 “Your servant has kept his father’s sheep,” David replied to Saul, “and if ever a lion or a bear came and carried off one of the flock, 35 I would go after it, strike it, and rescue the animal from its mouth. If it turned on me, I would grab it at its jaw, strike it, and kill it. 36 Your servant has fought both lions and bears. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them because he has insulted the army of the living God.

37 “The Lord,” David added, “who rescued me from the power of both lions and bears, will rescue me from the power of this Philistine.”

“Go!” Saul replied to David. “And may the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own gear, putting a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David strapped his sword on over the armor, but he couldn’t walk around well because he’d never tried it before. “I can’t walk in this,” David told Saul, “because I’ve never tried it before.” So he took them off. 40 He then grabbed his staff and chose five smooth stones from the streambed. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag and with sling in hand went out to the Philistine.

41 The Philistine got closer and closer to David, and his shield-bearer was in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked David over, he sneered at David because he was just a boy; reddish brown and good-looking.

43 The Philistine asked David, “Am I some sort of dog that you come at me with sticks?” And he cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said to David, “and I’ll feed your flesh to the wild birds and the wild animals!”

45 But David told the Philistine, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and scimitar, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of heavenly forces, the God of Israel’s army, the one you’ve insulted. 46 Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head! Today I will feed your dead body and the dead bodies of the entire Philistine camp[k] to the wild birds and the wild animals. Then the whole world will know that there is a God on Israel’s side. 47 And all those gathered here will know that the Lord doesn’t save by means of sword and spear. The Lord owns this war, and he will hand all of you over to us.”

48 The Philistine got up and moved closer to attack David, and David ran quickly to the front line to face him. 49 David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone. He slung it, and it hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. 50 And that’s how David triumphed over the Philistine with just a sling and a stone, striking the Philistine down and killing him—and David didn’t even have a sword! 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and finished him off. Then David cut off the Philistine’s head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52 The soldiers from Israel and Judah jumped up with a shout and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath[l] and the gates of Ekron. The dead Philistines were littered along the Shaarim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites came back from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. 54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

55 Now when Saul saw David go out to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner the army general, “Abner, whose son is that boy?”

“As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know,” Abner answered.

56 “Then find out whose son that young man is,” the king replied.

57 So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner sent for him and presented him to Saul. The Philistine’s head was still in David’s hand. 58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?”

“I’m the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 LXX over six feet tall
  2. 1 Samuel 17:5 Five thousand shekels
  3. 1 Samuel 17:7 Qere, LXX, Syr (cf 2 Sam 21:19); Kethib the point of his spear
  4. 1 Samuel 17:7 Six hundred shekels
  5. 1 Samuel 17:8 MT the Philistine lacks champion.
  6. 1 Samuel 17:11 The following verses are absent from LXXB: 17:12-31, 41, 48b, 50, 55-58.
  7. 1 Samuel 17:12 LXX, Syr
  8. 1 Samuel 17:17 One ephah is approximately twenty quarts.
  9. 1 Samuel 17:25 Heb uncertain
  10. 1 Samuel 17:32 LXX my master (the king)
  11. 1 Samuel 17:46 LXX; MT lacks your dead body.
  12. 1 Samuel 17:52 LXX; MT Gai or a valley
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