1 Samuel 17
1 The Philistine armies gathered for battle at Socoh in Judah. They set up camp between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
Now the Philistines got their armies together for war, and came together at Socoh in the land of Judah, and took up their position between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
2 Saul and the Israelites gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah and took up their positions to engage in battle with the Philistines.
And Saul and the men of Israel came together and took up their position in the valley of Elah, and put their forces in order against the Philistines.
3 The Philistines were on one hill and the Israelites on another with the valley between them.
The Philistines were stationed on the mountain on one side and Israel on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
4 Then a champion came out of the Philistine camp. His name was Goliath from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span tall.
And a fighter came out from the tents of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath; he was more than six cubits tall.
5 He had on his head a bronze helmet and he wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels.
And he had a head-dress of brass on his head, and he was dressed in a coat of metal, the weight of which was five thousand shekels of brass.
6 On his legs he wore bronze armor, and he carried a javelin slung between his shoulders.
His legs were covered with plates of brass and hanging on his back was a javelin of brass.
7 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.
The stem of his spear was as long as a cloth-worker's rod, and its head was made of six hundred shekels' weight of iron: and one went before him with his body-cover.
8 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.
He took up his position and in a loud voice said to the armies of Israel, Why have you come out to make war? Am I not a Philistine and you servants of Saul? Send out a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.
9 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.”
If he is able to have a fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants: but if I am able to overcome him, then you will be our servants and do work for us.
10 Then the Philistine said, “I mock the battle lines of Israel today! Give me a man so we can fight each other!”
And the Philistine said, I have put to shame the armies of Israel this day; give me a man so that we may have a fight together.
11 Saul and all the Israelite soldiers were shattered and absolutely terrified when they heard what the Philistine said.
And Saul and all Israel, hearing those words of the Philistine, were troubled and full of fear.
12 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.
Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah named Jesse, who had eight sons; and he was an old man in Saul's day, and far on in years.
13 Jesse's three oldest sons had joined Saul's army war. These were Eliab (the firstborn), Abinadab (second), and Shammah (third).
And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone with Saul to the fight: the names of the three who went to the fight were Eliab, the oldest, and Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third.
14 David was the youngest. The three oldest were with Saul,
And David was the youngest: and the three oldest were with Saul's army.
15 while David went to Saul and then back again to look after his father's sheep.
Now David went to and from Saul, looking after his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.
16 Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came out to take his stand.
And the Philistine came near every morning and evening for forty days.
17 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.
And Jesse said to his son David, Take now for your brothers an ephah of this dry grain and these ten cakes of bread, and go quickly with them to the tents to your brothers;
18 Take these ten cheese pieces to their commander. Check carefully to see how your brothers are doing and bring back their news.”
And take these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your brothers are and come back with a sign to say how they are.
19 They were with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.
Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20 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.
And David got up early in the morning, and, giving the sheep into the care of a keeper, took the things and went as Jesse had said; and he came to the lines where the carts were, when the army was going out to the fight giving their war-cry.
21 The Israelites took up their battle line and the Philistines took up their battle line on the opposite side.
And Israel and the Philistines had put their forces in position, army against army.
22 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.
And David gave his parcels into the hands of the keeper of the army stores, and went running to the army and came to his brothers to get knowledge about them.
23 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.
And while he was talking to them, the fighter, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came out from the Philistines' lines and said the same words, in David's hearing.
24 All the Israelite soldiers ran away when they saw him because they were terribly afraid.
And all the men of Israel, when they saw him, went in flight, overcome with fear.
25 “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.”
And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man? Clearly he has come out to put shame on Israel: and it is certain that if any man overcomes him, the king will give that man great wealth, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's family free in Israel.
26 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?”
And David said to the men near him, What will be done to the man who overcomes this Philistine and takes away the shame from Israel? for who is this Philistine, a man without circumcision, that he has put shame on the armies of the living God?
27 The soldiers repeated what they had said, telling him, “This is what the man who kills him will receive.”
And the people gave him this answer, So it will be done to the man who overcomes him.
28 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!”
And Eliab, his oldest brother, hearing what David said to the men, was moved to wrath against David, and said, Why have you come here? Into whose care have you given that little flock of sheep in the waste land? I have knowledge of your pride and the evil of your heart, you have come down to see the fight.
29 “What have I done now?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?”
And David said, What have I done now? was it not only a word?
30 He went over to some others and asked the same question, and they gave the same answer as before.
And turning away from him to one of the other men, he said the same words: and the people gave him the same answer.
31 Someone overheard what David said and reported it to Saul who sent for him.
And, hearing what David said, they gave Saul word of it: and he sent for him.
32 David told Saul, “No one should lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him!”
And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart become feeble because of him; I, your servant, will go out and have a fight with this Philistine.
33 “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.”
And Saul said to David, You are not able to go out against this Philistine and have a fight with him: for you are only a boy, and he has been a man of war from his earliest days.
34 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,
And David said to Saul, Your servant has been keeper of his father's sheep; and if a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,
35 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.
I went out after him, and overcame him, and took it out of his mouth: and if, turning on me, he came at me, I took him by the hair and overcame him and put him to death.
36 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.”
Your servant has overcome lion and bear: and the fate of this Philistine, who is without circumcision, will be like theirs, seeing that he has put shame on the armies of the living God.
37 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.
And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you.
38 Saul gave David his own battle clothes to wear, placed a bronze helmet on his head, and put armor on him.
Then Saul gave David his clothing of war, and put a head-dress of brass on his head and had him clothed with a coat of metal.
39 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.
And David took Saul's sword and put the band round him over the metal coat, and was unable to go forward; for he was not used to them. Then David said to Saul, It is not possible for me to go out with these, for I am not used to them. So David took them off.
40 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.
Then he took his stick in his hand, and got five smooth stones from the bed of the stream and put them in a bag such as is used by sheep-keepers; and in his hand was a leather band used for sending stones: and so he went in the direction of the Philistine.
41 The Philistine came towards David, closer and closer, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
And the Philistine came nearer to David; and the man who had his body-cover went before him.
42 When the Philistine looked closely he could see that David was just a red-faced handsome youth, and so he treated David with contempt.
And when the Philistine, taking note, saw David, he had a poor opinion of him: for he was only a boy, red-haired and good-looking.
43 “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.
And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come out to me with sticks? And the Philistine put curses on David by all his gods.
44 Then the Philistine shouted at David, “Come over here, and I'll feed your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.”
And the Philistine said to David, Come here to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.
45 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.
Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with a sword and a spear and a javelin: but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel on which you have put shame.
46 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.
This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God;
47 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.”
And all these people who are here today may see that the Lord does not give salvation by sword and spear: for the fight is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hands.
48 As the Philistine moved forward to attack him, David raced toward the battle line to confront him.
Now when the Philistine made a move and came near to David, David quickly went at a run in the direction of the army, meeting the Philistine face to face.
49 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.
And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and sent it from his leather band straight at the Philistine, and the stone went deep into his brow, and he went down to the earth, falling on his face.
50 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.
So David overcame the Philistine with his leather band and a stone, wounding the Philistine and causing his death: but David had no sword in his hand.
51 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.
So running up to the Philistine and putting his foot on him, David took his sword out of its cover, and put him to death, cutting off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their fighter was dead, they went in flight.
52 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.
And the men of Israel and of Judah got up, and gave a cry, and went after the Philistines as far as Gath and the town doors of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines were falling down by the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron.
53 When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
Then the children of Israel came back from going after the Philistines, and took their goods from the tents.
54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
And David took the head of the Philistine to Jerusalem, but the metal war-dress and the arms he put in his tent.
55 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.
And when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this young man? And Abner said, On your life, O king, I have no idea.
56 “Find out whose son this young man is,” the king ordered.
And the king said, Make search and see whose son this young man is.
57 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.
And when David was coming back after the destruction of the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.
And Saul said to him, Young man, whose son are you? And David in answer said, I am the son of your servant Jesse of Beth-lehem.
