1 Samuel 17
1 And the Philistines gather their camps to battle, and are gathered to Shochoh, which [is] to Judah, and encamp between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim;
The Philistine armies gathered for battle at Socoh in Judah. They set up camp between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.
2 and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the Valley of Elah, and set in array [for] battle to meet 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 And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this [side], and Israel is standing on the mountain on that [side], and the valley [is] between them.
The Philistines were on one hill and the Israelites on another with the valley between them.
4 And a man goes out, the champion from the camps of the Philistines, his name [is] Goliath, from Gath; his height [is] six cubits and a span [[or four cubits and a span]],
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 and a helmet of bronze [is] on his head, and he is clothed [with] a scaled coat of mail, and the weight of the coat of mail [is] 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 and a frontlet of bronze [is] on his feet, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders,
On his legs he wore bronze armor, and he carried a javelin slung between his shoulders.
7 and the wood of his spear [is] like a weavers’ beam, and the flame of his spear [is] six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going 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 And he stands and calls to the ranks of Israel, and says to them, “Why do you come out to set in array for battle? [Am] I not the Philistine, and you the servants of 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 has struck me, then we have been for servants to you; and if I prevail against him, and have struck him, then you have been for servants to us, and have served 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 And the Philistine says, “I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give a man to me and we 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 And Saul hears—and all Israel—these words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid.
Saul and all the Israelite soldiers were shattered and absolutely terrified when they heard what the Philistine said.
12 And David [is] son of this Ephraimite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name [is] Jesse, and he has eight sons, and the man has become aged among men 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 and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle [are] Eliab the firstborn, and his second 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 And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul,
David was the youngest. The three oldest were with Saul,
15 and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem.
while David went to Saul and then back again to look after his father's sheep.
16 And the Philistine draws near, morning and evening, and stations himself [for] forty days.
Every morning and evening for forty days the Philistine came out to take his stand.
17 And Jesse says to his son David, “Now take an ephah of this roasted [grain] and these ten loaves for your brothers, and run 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 take these ten cuttings of the cheese to the head of the one thousand, and inspect your brothers for welfare, and receive their pledge.”
Take these ten cheese pieces to their commander. Check carefully to see how your brothers are doing and bring back their news.”
19 And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, [are] 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 And David rises early in the morning, and leaves the flock to a keeper, and lifts up, and goes, as Jesse commanded him, and he comes to the path, and to the force which is going out to the rank, and they have shouted for 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 and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank.
The Israelites took up their battle line and the Philistines took up their battle line on the opposite side.
22 And David lets down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runs into the rank, and comes and asks of his brothers of [their] welfare.
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 And he is speaking with them, and behold, a man, the champion, is coming up, his name [is] Goliath the Philistine, from Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaks according to those words, and David hears;
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 and all the men of Israel, when they see the man, flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.
All the Israelite soldiers ran away when they saw him because they were terribly afraid.
25 And the men of Israel say, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? For he is coming up to reproach Israel, and it has been—the man who strikes him, the king enriches him with great riches, and he gives his daughter to him, and makes his father’s house 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 And David speaks to the men who are standing by him, saying, “What is done to the man who strikes this Philistine, and has turned aside reproach from Israel? For who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he has reproached the ranks 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 And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, “Thus it is done to the man who strikes him.”
The soldiers repeated what they had said, telling him, “This is what the man who kills him will receive.”
28 And Eliab, his eldest brother, hears when he speaks to the men, and the anger of Eliab burns against David, and he says, “Why [is] this—[that] you have come down? And to whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known your pride, and the evil of your heart—for you have come down to 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 And David says, “What have I done now? Is it not a word?”
“What have I done now?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?”
30 And he turns around from him to another, and says according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word.
He went over to some others and asked the same question, and they gave the same answer as before.
31 And the words which David has spoken are heard, and they declare [them] before Saul, and he receives him;
Someone overheard what David said and reported it to Saul who sent for him.
32 and David says to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fall because of him, your servant goes, and has fought with this Philistine.”
David told Saul, “No one should lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him!”
33 And Saul says to David, “You are not able to go to this Philistine, to fight with him, for you [are] a youth, and he [has been] 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 And David says to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd among the sheep for his father, and the lion has come—and the bear—and has taken away a sheep out of the drove,
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 and I have gone out after him, and struck him, and delivered [it] out of his mouth, and he rises against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and struck him, and put him to death.
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 has struck both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine has been as one of them, for he has reproached the ranks 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 And David says, “YHWH, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He delivers me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul says to David, “Go, and YHWH is 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 And Saul clothes David with his long robe, and has put a helmet of bronze on his head, and clothes 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 And David girded his sword above his long robe, and begins to go, for he has not tried [it]; and David says to Saul, “I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried”; and David turns them aside from off him.
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 And he takes his staff in his hand, and chooses five smooth stones for himself from the brook, and puts them in the shepherds’ vessel that he has, even in the leather pouch, and his sling [is] in his hand, and he draws 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 And the Philistine goes on, going and drawing near to David, and the man carrying the buckler [is] before him,
The Philistine came towards David, closer and closer, with his shield-bearer in front of him.
42 and the Philistine looks attentively, and sees David, and despises him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.
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 And the Philistine says to David, “Am I a dog that you are coming to me with sticks?” And the Philistine reviles 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 and the Philistine says to David, “Come to me, and I give your flesh to the bird of the heavens, and to the beast 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 And David says to the Philistine, “You are coming to me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming to you in the Name of YHWH of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which you have reproached!
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 This day YHWH shuts you up into my hand—and I have struck you, and turned aside your head from off you, and given the carcass of the camp of the Philistines this day to the bird of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth knows that God is for 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 all this assembly knows that YHWH does not save by sword and by spear, for the battle [is] YHWH’s, and He has given 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 And it has come to pass, that the Philistine has risen, and goes, and draws near to meet David, and David hurries and runs to the rank to meet the Philistine,
As the Philistine moved forward to attack him, David raced toward the battle line to confront him.
49 and David puts forth his hand into the vessel, and takes a stone from there, and slings, and strikes the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinks into his forehead, and he falls 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 And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and strikes the Philistine, and puts him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David,
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 and David runs and stands over the Philistine, and takes his sword, and draws it out of its sheath, and puts him to death, and cuts off his head with it; and the Philistines see that their hero [is] dead, and flee.
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 And the men of Israel rise—also Judah—and shout, and pursue the Philistines until you enter the valley, and to the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of 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 and the sons of Israel return from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.
When the Israelites returned from their hot pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.
54 And David takes the head of the Philistine, and brings it to Jerusalem, and he has put his weapons in his own tent.
David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
55 And when Saul sees David going out to meet the Philistine, he has said to Abner, head of the host, “Whose son [is] this—the youth, Abner?” And Abner says, “Your soul lives, O king, I have not known.”
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 And the king says, “Ask whose son this [is]—the young man.”
“Find out whose son this young man is,” the king ordered.
57 And when David turns back from striking the Philistine, then Abner takes him and brings him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine [is] 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 and Saul says to him, “Whose son [are] you, O youth?” And David says, “Son of your servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.”
“Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.
