1 Samuel 17
1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephesdammim.
The Philistine armies gathered for battle at Socoh in Judah. They set up camp between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
2 Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
Saul and the Israelites gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah and took up their positions to engage in battle with the Philistines.
3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
The Philistines were on one hill and the Israelites on another with the valley between them.
4 A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out.
Then a champion came out of the Philistine camp. His name was Goliath from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span tall.
5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
He had on his head a bronze helmet and he wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels.
6 He had bronze shin armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
On his legs he wore bronze armor, and he carried a javelin slung between his shoulders.
7 The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him.
The shaft of his spear was as thick as weaver's beam, with an iron tip that weighed six hundred shekels. His shield-bearer walked ahead of him carrying his shield.
8 He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
Goliath stood and shouted at the lines of Israelite soldiers, “Why have you come and lined for battle? I am the Philistine, and you're Saul's servants. Pick one of your men and have him come down and fight me.
9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”
If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I beat him and kill him, then you'll be our slaves and work for us.”
10 The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
Then the Philistine said, “I mock the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so we can fight each other!”
11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
Saul and all the Israelite soldiers were shattered and absolutely terrified when they heard what the Philistine said.
12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul.
David was the son of a man named Jesse. He was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. At the time Saul was king, Jesse was very old.
13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
Jesse's three oldest sons had joined Saul's army war. These were Eliab (the firstborn), Abinadab (second), and Shammah (third).
14 David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul.
David was the youngest. The three oldest were with Saul,
15 Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
while David went to Saul and then back again to look after his father's sheep.
16 The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came out to take his stand.
17 Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
Jesse told his son David, “Please take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers. Take them quickly to your brothers' camp.
18 and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.”
Take these ten cheese pieces to their commander. Check carefully to see how your brothers are doing and bring back their news.”
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
They were with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.
20 David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle.
David got up early in the morning and left the flock with a shepherd. He took the supplies and set out as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the army was marching out to its battle line, shouting the war cry.
21 Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
The Israelites took up their battle line and the Philistines took up their battle line on the opposite side.
22 David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
David left his supplies with the one responsible and ran to the battle line. When he got there he asked his brothers how they were.
23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them.
While he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came up out of his lines and shouted his challenge as he had before, and David heard what he said.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified.
All the Israelite soldiers ran away when they saw him because they were terribly afraid.
25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house tax-free in Israel.”
“Have you seen this man who keeps on coming out to mock Israel?” they asked. “The king will make the man who kills him really rich. He will also give him his daughter in marriage, and his family will live tax-free in Israel.”
26 David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to 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?”
David asked the men who were standing beside him, “What will the man receive who kills this Philistine and removes this shame from Israel? Who does this heathen Philistine think he is, mocking the armies of the living God?”
27 The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
The soldiers repeated what they had said, telling him, “This is what the man who kills him will receive.”
28 Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
When David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the men, he got angry with him. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “Who have you left those few sheep with in the wilderness? I know how proud and wicked you are! You've just come to watch the battle!”
29 David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?”
“What have I done now?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?”
30 He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way.
He went over to some others and asked the same question, and they gave the same answer as before.
31 When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.
Someone overheard what David said and reported it to Saul who sent for him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
David told Saul, “No one should lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him!”
33 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 a man of war from his youth.”
“You can't go out and fight this Philistine,” Saul replied. “You're just a boy, and he's a warrior trained from his youth.”
34 David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
David replied, “Your servant has been looking after his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
35 I went out after him, struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, struck him, and killed him.
I would chase after it, knock it down, and save the lamb from its mouth. If it turned to attack me, I would grab its hair, hit it, and kill it.
36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”
I have killed lions and bears, and this heathen Philistine will be just like one of them, for he has mocked the armies of the living God.”
37 David said, “The LORD, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! The LORD will be with you.”
David concluded, “The Lord who saved me from the claws of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine.” “Go, and may the Lord be with you,” Saul responded.
38 Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
Saul gave David his own battle clothes to wear, placed a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him.
39 David strapped his sword on his clothing and he tried to move, for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off.
David strapped his sword on over the armor but he couldn't walk because he wasn't used to it. “I can't walk in all this,” David told Saul. “I ‘m not used to it.” So David took all the armor off.
40 He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine.
He picked up his stick, chose five smooth stones from the stream, and put them in his shepherd's bag. Carrying his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41 The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him.
The Philistine came towards David, closer and closer, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
42 When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face.
When the Philistine looked closely he could see that David was just a red-faced handsome youth, and so he treated David with contempt.
43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
“Do you think I'm a dog, coming to fight me with a stick?” the Philistine asked David, and he cursed David by his gods.
44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the field.”
Then the Philistine shouted at David, “Come over here, and I'll feed your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.”
45 Then 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 Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
David replied to the Philistine, “You come to attack me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin. But I come to attack you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel—the one you have mocked.
46 Today, the LORD will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
Today the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the dead bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and the wild animals. Then all the world will know that there is a God who acts for Israel.
47 and that all this assembly may 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 hand.”
Everyone gathered here will realize that the Lord saves, but not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord's, and he will hand all of you over to us.”
48 When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
As the Philistine moved forward to attack him, David raced toward the battle line to confront him.
49 David put his hand in his bag, took a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and fired it from his sling, hitting the Philistine on the forehead. The stone went into his forehead, and he collapsed facedown on the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.
This is how David defeated the Philistine with just a sling and a stone; with no sword in his hand David knocked the Philistine down and killed him.
51 Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
David ran and stood over the Philistine. He took the Philistine's sword and pulled it out of its sheath. He killed him and then he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran away.
52 The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron.
Then the men of Israel and Judah rushed forward shouting the war-cry and chased the Philistines all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their bodies were scattered along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.
53 The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.
David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
55 When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I cannot tell.”
When Saul had watched David going out to fight the Philistine, he'd asked Abner the army commander, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” “On your life, Your Majesty, I do not know,” Abner replied.
56 The king said, “Inquire whose son the young man is!”
“Find out whose son this young man is,” the king ordered.
57 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.
As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul. David was still clutching the Philistine's head in his hand.
58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
“Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.
