Beginning
Saul Disobeys the Lord
15 Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people, Israel. Now listen to the words[a] of the Lord. 2 This is what the Lord of the Heavenly Armies says: ‘I’ll punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, when he set himself against Israel[b] in the way, as they were going up from Egypt. 3 Now, go and attack Amalek. Completely destroy[c] all that they have. Don’t spare them, but put to death both man and woman, child and infant, both ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
4 Saul summoned the people and mustered them in Telaim, 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. 5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the valley. 6 Saul told the Kenites, “Withdraw from the Amalekites so that I don’t destroy you with them, for you showed kindness to all the Israelis when they departed from Egypt.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites. 7 Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 He captured alive Agag king of Amalek, but he completely destroyed all the people, executing them with swords. 9 Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and cattle—the fattened animals and lambs—along with all that was good. They were not willing to completely destroy them, but they did completely destroy everything that was worthless and inferior.
The Lord Rejects Saul
10 This message from the Lord came to Samuel: 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, because he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my commands.” Samuel was angry, and he cried out to the Lord all night.
12 Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, but Samuel was told, “Saul went up to Carmel to set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and traveled on to Gilgal.”
13 Samuel approached Saul. “May the Lord bless you,” Saul said. “I’ve carried out the Lord’s command.”
14 Samuel said, “Then what is this bleating of sheep in my ears and the lowing of cattle that I hear?”
15 Saul replied, “They brought them from the Amalekites. The people spared the best of the sheep and cattle to offer sacrifices to the Lord your God, and the rest they completely destroyed.”
16 “Be quiet!” Samuel said. “I’ll tell you what the Lord told me last night.”
Saul told him, “Speak.”
17 So Samuel replied, “Is it not true that though you were small in your own eyes you became head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed you king over Israel? 18 The Lord sent you on a mission: ‘Go and completely destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they’re destroyed.’ 19 Why didn’t you obey the Lord, but grabbed the spoil and did evil in the Lord’s sight?”
20 Saul told Samuel, “I did obey the Lord. I went on the mission on which the Lord sent me, I brought Agag king of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21 The people took some of the spoil—sheep, cattle, and the best of what was to be completely destroyed—to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22 Samuel said,
“Does the Lord delight as much in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as in obeying the Lord?
Surely, to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better[d] than the fat of rams.
23 Indeed, rebellion is the sin of divination,
and arrogance is iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected this message from the Lord,
he has rejected you from being king.”
24 “I’ve sinned,” Saul replied to Samuel. “I’ve broken the Lord’s command and your word, because I was afraid of the people and listened to them. 25 Now, please forgive my sin and return with me so I may worship the Lord.”
26 Samuel told Saul, “I won’t return with you because you have rejected the message from the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27 As Samuel turned to go Saul[e] seized him by the corner of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel told him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today, and he has given it to your neighbor who is better than you. 29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he’s not a man that he should change his mind.”
30 “I’ve sinned,” Saul[f] said. “But please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so I may worship the Lord your God.” 31 Samuel returned, following Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord.
Samuel Executes King Agag
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag king of Amalek to me.”
Agag came to him in fetters, saying to himself,[g] “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33 Samuel said, “Just as your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” Then Samuel cut Agag into pieces in the Lord’s presence in Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul, and the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
David Anointed to Succeed Saul
16 The Lord told Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I’ve rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I’m sending you to Jesse from Bethlehem because I’ve chosen for myself one of his sons as king.”
2 Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear about this[h] and kill me!”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer[i] with you and say, ‘I’ve come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 You are to invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I’ll show you what you are to do. You are to anoint for me the one I tell you.”
4 Samuel did what the Lord said and went to Bethlehem. The elders of the town came out to meet him trembling, and said, “May your coming be in peace.”
5 He said, “Peace, I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Samuel[j] consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel[k] saw Eliab, and said, “Surely he’s the Lord’s[l] anointed.”[m]
7 The Lord told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or his height,[n] for I’ve rejected him. Truly, God does not see[o] what man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord sees the heart.”
8 Then Jesse summoned Abinadab and brought him before Samuel, and he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9 Then Jesse brought Shammah, and he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10 Jesse brought seven of his sons before Samuel, and Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”
11 Then Samuel told Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” He said, “There yet remains the youngest one, and right now he’s tending the sheep.” Samuel told Jesse, “Send someone to get him,[p] for we won’t do anything else[q] until he arrives here.” 12 So he sent and brought him. He had a dark, healthy complexion, with beautiful eyes, and he was handsome. The Lord said, “Get up and anoint him, for this is the one.”
God’s Spirit Comes on David and Departs from Saul
13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed David[r] in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came on David from that day forward. Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15 Saul’s servants told him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our lord order his servants who attend you[s] to look for a man who is skilled in playing the lyre. And then when an evil spirit from God comes on you, he will play[t] and you will be better.”
17 Saul told his servants, “Find[u] a man for me who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the young men answered: “Look, I’ve seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilled in playing. The man is a valiant soldier, gifted in speech, and handsome. And the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a container of wine, and one kid, and sent them to Saul along with his son David. 21 David went to Saul and began to serve him.[v] Saul loved him very much, and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent a messenger[w] to Jesse to tell him, “Allow David to serve me, because I’m pleased with him.”[x] 23 Whenever an evil[y] spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the lyre and play it.[z] Relief would come to Saul and he would be better, because the evil spirit would leave him.
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[aa] tall, 5 wore a bronze helmet on his head, and wore bronze scale armor that weighed about 5,000 shekels.[ab] 6 He had bronze armor on his legs[ac] and carried a bronze javelin slung[ad] 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.[ae] 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[af] 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[ag] 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,[ah] check on the well-being of your brothers, and bring something back from them. 19 Saul, your brothers,[ai] 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,[aj] and went as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the encampment[ak] 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,[al] 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[am] 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[an] 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[ao] the armies of the living God?”
27 The people also told him the same thing,[ap] 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.[aq] You came down just to see the battle!”
29 “What have I done now?” David asked. “It was just a question,[ar] 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[as] 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[at] from its mouth. Then when it rose up against me, I would grab it by its fur,[au] 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[av] the armies of the living God.” 37 David continued, “The Lord who delivered me from the power of[aw] the lion and the power of[ax] the bear will also deliver me from the power of[ay] 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[az] sword over his garments and tried to walk, but[ba] he was not used to the armor.[bb] David told Saul, “I can’t walk in these because I’m not used to them,”[bc] 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.[bd] 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[be] 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[bf] 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[bg] 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.”
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