1 Samuel
Chapter 17
New King James Version1Now the Philistines gathered their armies together to battle, and were gathered together at Sochoh, which [belongs] to Judah; they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephes Dammim.
2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and they encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array against the Philistines.
3The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.
4And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height [was] six cubits and a span.
5[He had] a bronze helmet on his head, and he [was] armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat [was] five thousand shekels of bronze.
6And [he had] bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
7Now the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver's beam, and his iron spearhead [weighed] six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him.
8Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why have you come out to line up for battle? [Am] I not a Philistine, and you the 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 and serve us."
10And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together."
11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
12Now David [was] the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name [was] Jesse, and who had eight sons. And the man was old, advanced [in years,] in the days of Saul.
13The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle [were] Eliab the firstborn, next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14David [was] the youngest. And the three oldest followed Saul.
15But David occasionally went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem.
16And the Philistine drew near and presented himself forty days, morning and evening.
17Then Jesse said to his son David, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dried [grain] and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.
18"And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of [their] thousand, and see how your brothers fare, and bring back news of them."
19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel [were] in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20So David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, and took [the things] and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight and shouting for the battle.
21For Israel and the Philistines had drawn up in battle array, army against army.
22And David left his supplies in the hand of the supply keeper, ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
23Then as he talked with them, there was the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines; and he spoke according to the same words. So David heard [them.]
24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were dreadfully afraid.
25So the men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel; and it shall be [that] the man who kills him the king will enrich with great riches, will give him his daughter, and give his father's house exemption [from taxes] in Israel."
26Then David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?"
27And the people answered him in this manner, saying, "So shall it be done for the man who kills him."
28Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was aroused against David, and he said, "Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the insolence of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle."
29And David said, "What have I done now? [Is there] not a cause?"
30Then he turned from him toward another and said the same thing; and these people answered him as the first ones [did.]
31Now when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported [them] to Saul; and he sent for him.
32Then David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
33And Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you [are] a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."
34But David said to Saul, "Your servant used to keep his father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
35I went out after it and struck it, and delivered [the lamb] from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught [it] by its beard, and struck and killed it.
36"Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God."
37Moreover David said, "The LORD, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you!"
38So Saul clothed David with his armor, and he put a bronze helmet on his head; he also clothed him with a coat of mail.
39David fastened his sword to his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested [them.] And David said to Saul, "I cannot walk with these, for I have not tested [them."] So David took them off.
40Then he took his staff in his hand; and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.
41So the Philistine came, and began drawing near to David, and the man who bore the shield [went] before him.
42And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was [only] a youth, ruddy and good-looking.
43So the Philistine said to David, "[Am] I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.
44And the Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!"
45Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
46"This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47"Then all this assembly shall know that the LORD does not save with sword and spear; for the battle [is] the LORD's, and He will give you into our hands."
48So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hastened and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung [it] and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But [there was] no sword in the hand of David.
51Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52Now the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the road to Shaaraim, even as far as Gath and Ekron.
53Then the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their tents.
54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
55When Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son [is] this youth?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know."
56So the king said, "Inquire whose son this young man [is."]
57Then, as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58And Saul said to him, "Whose son [are] you, young man?" So David answered, "[I am] the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."
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