Beginning
Israel Defeats the Amalekites
15 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So then, listen to the words[a] of Yahweh! 2 Thus says Yahweh of hosts: ‘I have observed what Amalek did to Israel, how he opposed him[b] when he went up from Egypt. 3 So then, go and attack Amalek and utterly destroy all that is his! You must not spare him, but kill both man and woman, both child and nursing infant, both ox and sheep, both camel and donkey.’”
4 Saul summoned the army and mustered them at Telaim; two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 Then Saul came up to the city of Amalek and set an ambush in the wadi.[c] 6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, leave! Withdraw from among the Amalekites so that I do not destroy you with them. You have shown loyal love to all the Israelites[d] when they came up from Egypt.” So the Kenites left from among the Amalekites. 7 Then Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as one goes to Shur which is east of[e] Egypt. 8 He captured Agag the king of Amalek alive, but all the people he utterly destroyed with the edge[f] of the sword. 9 However, Saul and the army spared Agag and the best of the sheep and the cattle and the second best of the young fatlings and all that was valuable;[g] they were not willing to utterly destroy them. But all the possessions that were despised or worthless, they utterly destroyed.
Samuel Announces the Downfall of Saul
10 Then the word of Yahweh came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I regret that I made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and has not kept my word.” Samuel became angry,[h] and he cried out to Yahweh all night. 12 Then Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul. Samuel was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and look, he is setting up a monument for himself.” Then he turned around and crossed over and went down to Gilgal.
13 When Samuel came to Saul, Saul said to him, “May you be blessed by Yahweh! I have kept the word of Yahweh.” 14 But Samuel said, “Then what is this bleating of the sheep that I hear in my ears and the lowing of the cattle that I am hearing?” 15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; the troops spared the best of the sheep and the cattle in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God. But the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop and let me tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” So he said to him, “Speak.”
17 Samuel said, “Even though you are small in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? Yahweh has anointed you as king over Israel. 18 When Yahweh sent you on your way, he said to you: ‘Go! You must utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and you must fight against them until you[i] have destroyed them.’ 19 Why did you not listen to the voice of Yahweh and fall with shouting on the plunder? You have done evil in the sight of Yahweh!” 20 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have listened to the voice of Yahweh, and I have gone on the way that Yahweh sent me! I brought Agag the king of Amalek, and the Amalekites I have utterly destroyed. 21 The troops took from the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to Yahweh your God at Gilgal.”
22 Then Samuel said,
“Is there as much delight for Yahweh in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as there is in obeying[j] Yahweh?
Look! To obey[k] is better than sacrifice;
to give heed than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination;
arrogance is like iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of Yahweh,
he has rejected you from being king!”
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of Yahweh[l] and your words, for I feared the troops and I listened to their voice. 25 So then, please pardon my sin and return with me so that I can worship[m] Yahweh.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of Yahweh, and he has rejected you from being king over Israel!”
27 As Samuel turned around to go, he[n] caught hold of the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Then Samuel said to him, “Yahweh has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.[o] 29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel will not break faith and will not regret, for he is not a human that he should regret.” 30 Then he[p] said, “I have sinned! Now please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me so that I can worship[q] Yahweh your God.” 31 So Samuel returned after Saul, and Saul worshiped[r] Yahweh.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of Amalek out to me!” Agag came to him confidently,[s] for Agag thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is over.”[t]
33 Samuel said,
“Just as your sword bereaved women,
so will your mother be bereaved among women!”
Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces in the presence of Yahweh at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Samuel did not see Saul again[u] until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned over Saul, and Yahweh regretted that he made Saul king over Israel.
David Is Anointed
16 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “How long[v] will you mourn about Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel! Fill up your horn with oil and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have chosen a king for myself among his sons.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears, he will kill me.” Yahweh said, “You must take a heifer from the herd with you,[w] and you must say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ 3 You will invite Jesse to the sacrifice and I will make known to you what you must do. You will anoint for me the one whom I tell you.”
4 So Samuel did what Yahweh said. He came to Bethlehem, and the elders of the city came trembling to meet him. They said, “Have you come in peace?”[x] 5 He said, “I come in peace. I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they came,[y] he[z] saw Eliab and said, “Surely his anointed one is before Yahweh!” 7 But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For God does not see what man sees, for a man looks on the outward appearance,[aa] but Yahweh looks on the heart.”[ab] 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel, and he said, “This one also Yahweh has not chosen.” 9 So Jesse made Shammah pass before Samuel, but he said, “Yahweh also has not chosen this one.” 10 And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen any of these.”
11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?”[ac] And he said, “The youngest still remains, but look, he is shepherding the flock.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him, for we cannot sit down[ad] until he comes here.” 12 So he sent and brought him. Now he was ruddy with beautiful eyes and of handsome[ae] appearance. And Yahweh said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. Then the Spirit of Yahweh rushed upon David from that day on.[af] Then Samuel got up and went to Ramah.
Saul in Torment
14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him. 15 So the servants of Saul said to him, “Look please, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Please, let our lord command your servants who are before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. When[ag] the evil spirit from God is upon you, he can play on it[ah] and you will feel better.”[ai] 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Please select a man who plays a stringed instrument well[aj] and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome.[ak] And Yahweh is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a skin of wine and one young goat[al] and sent them to Saul by the hand of David his son. 21 So David came to Saul and entered his service.[am] He[an] loved him greatly and he became Saul’s armor bearer.[ao] 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.”[ap] 23 So whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then it would bring relief[aq] for Saul; he would feel better[ar] and the evil spirit would depart from him.
The Philistine Champion Taunts Israel
17 The Philistines gathered their camps[as] for battle and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah. They camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. 2 Then Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and encamped in the valley of Elah, and they formed ranks for the battle to meet the Philistines. 3 The Philistines were standing on the hill on one side and the army of Israel was standing on the hill on the other side with the valley between them. 4 Then a champion[at] went out from the camps of the Philistines, whose name was Goliath from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.[au] 5 A bronze helmet was on his head, and he was clothed with scale body armor; the weight of the body armor was five thousand bronze shekels. 6 Bronze greaves[av] were on his legs,[aw] and a bronze javelin was slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam and the point of his spear weighed six hundred iron shekels. His shield bearer[ax] was walking in front of him.
8 He stood and called to the battle lines of Israel and said to them, “Why have you come out to form ranks for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Commission for yourselves a man and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and he defeats me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail over him and defeat him, then you will be our servants and you will serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “I hereby defy the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so that we may fight each other!” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and very afraid.
David Enters the Scene of Battle
12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite. This man was from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse. He had[ay] eight sons; in the days of Saul this man was old, yet he still walked among[az] the men. 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone and followed[ba] Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, his second oldest was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. 14 Now David was the youngest. The three oldest followed[bb] Saul, 15 but David went back and forth[bc] from Saul to feed the sheep of his father in Bethlehem. 16 Now the Philistine came forward early and late, and he took his stand for forty days.
17 Then Jesse said to his son David, “Please take for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and bring them quickly to the camp for your brothers. 18 And these ten portions of cheese you will bring to the commander of the thousand; find out how your brothers are doing,[bd] and take their pledge.”[be] 19 Now Saul and they[bf] and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah fighting the Philistines.
20 David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took the provisions and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment while the troops were going to the battle line, and they raised the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle lines, one battle line against the other.[bg] 22 David left the baggage he had with him in the care[bh] of the baggage keeper, ran to the battle line, and came and asked how his brothers were doing.[bi] 23 While he was speaking to them, the champion,[bj] whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the caves[bk] of the Philistines. He spoke just as he had previously,[bl] and David heard his words. 24 When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from his presence and were very afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Did you see this man who has come up? For he is going up to defy Israel! It will be that the man who defeats him, the king will make him[bm] very rich with great wealth and will give him his daughter in marriage and will make his father’s house free in Israel.”[bn] 26 Now David had spoken to the men who were standing with him, saying, “What will be done for the man who defeats this Philistine and removes the disgrace from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he defies the battle lines of the living God?” 27 And the troops had spoken to him according to this word, saying, “So it will be done for the man who defeats[bo] him.”
28 His oldest brother Eliab heard while he was speaking to the men, and Eliab became very angry against David[bp] and said, “Why have you come down today, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumptuousness and the evil of your heart! For you have come down in order to see the battle!” 29 David replied, “What have I done now? I merely asked a question![bq] 30 He turned around from him to another opposite him and he spoke to him in the same way,[br] and the people[bs] answered him as before.[bt]
David Appears before Saul
31 Now the words which David had spoken were heard and they reported them to[bu] Saul, and he summoned him. 32 David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone’s heart fail concerning him! Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 But Saul said to David, “You will not be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, because you are only a boy, whereas he has been a man of war since his childhood!” 34 And David said to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd of the flock for his father. If the lion or the bear would come and carry off a sheep from the group, 35 I would go out after it and strike it down and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose against me, I would grab it by its beard and strike it down and kill it. 36 Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he defied the battle lines of the living God.”
37 And David said, “Yahweh, who rescued me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “Go and may Yahweh be with you!” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his own fighting attire and put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with body armor. 39 Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk around, for he was not trained to use them. So David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use them.” So David removed them. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi,[bv] and he put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41 Then the Philistine came on, getting nearer and nearer[bw] to David, with his shield bearer[bx] in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was only a boy and ruddy with a handsome appearance. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you are coming to me with sticks?” Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me so that I can give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the wild animals of the field!” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I am coming to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defied! 46 This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head![by] Then I will give the corpses of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God who is for Israel. 47 And all of this assembly will know that Yahweh does not rescue with sword or with spear, for the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hands!”
David Defeats Goliath
48 When[bz] the Philistine got up and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly[ca] to the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand into the bag and took a stone from it and slung it. He struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and he struck down the Philistine and killed him, but there was no sword in David’s hand.
51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and killed him and 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, raised the war cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as[cb] the valley[cc] and up to the gates of Ekron. So the slain of the Philistines fell on the way[cd] to Shaaraim up to Gath and as far as Ekron. 53 Then the Israelites[ce] returned from pursuing the Philistines and plundered their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem and placed 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, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 Then the king said, “You inquire whose son this young man is.” 57 So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. The head of the Philistine was in his hand. 58 Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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