I Samuel 17

¹Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes–dammim.

²And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.

³And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.

⁴And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

⁵And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.

⁶And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.

⁷And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.

⁸And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.

⁹If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye 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 those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth–lehem–judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.

¹³And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

¹⁴And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.

¹⁵But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Beth–lehem.

¹⁶And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

¹⁸And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.

¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.

²¹For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.

²²And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.

²³And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.

²⁴And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.

²⁵And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.

²⁶And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh 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 after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

²⁸And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.

²⁹And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?

³⁰And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

³¹And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul: and he sent for him.

³²And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

³³And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.

³⁴And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:

³⁵And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.

³⁶Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.

³⁷David said moreover, The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee.

³⁸And Saul armed David with his armour, and he put an helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹And David girded his sword upon his armour, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him.

⁴⁰And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd’s bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him.

⁴²And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

⁴³And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field.

⁴⁵Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.

⁴⁶This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.

⁴⁸And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

⁵¹Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵²And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.

⁵³And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.

⁵⁴And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent.

⁵⁵And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell.

⁵⁶And the king said, Enquire thou whose son the stripling is.

⁵⁷And 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 art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth–lehemite.

I Samuel 17

¹And 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;

²and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines.

³And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this side, and the Israelites are standing on the mountain on that side, and the valley is between them.

⁴And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath is his name, from Gath; his height is six cubits and a span,

⁵and a helmet of brass is on his head, and with a scaled coat of mail he is clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail is five thousand shekels of brass,

⁶and a frontlet of brass is on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,

⁷and the wood of his spear is like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear is six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him.

⁸And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? am not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me;

⁹if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.'

¹⁰And the Philistine saith, `I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.'

¹¹And Saul hearethand all Israelthese words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid.

¹²And David is son of this Ephrathite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name is Jesse, and he hath eight sons, and the man in the days of Saul hath become aged among men;

¹³and 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 first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

¹⁴And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul,

¹⁵and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem.

¹⁶And the Philistine draweth nigh, morning and evening, and stationeth himself forty days.

¹⁷And Jesse saith to David his son, `Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted corn , and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

¹⁸and these ten cuttings of the cheese thou dost take in to the head of the thousand, and thy brethren thou dost inspect for welfare, and their pledge dost receive.'

¹⁹And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

²⁰And David riseth early in the morning, and leaveth the flock to a keeper, and lifteth up, and goeth, as Jesse commanded him, and he cometh in to the path, and to the force which is going out unto the rank, and they have shouted for battle;

²¹and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank.

²²And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare.

²³And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine is his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth;

²⁴and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.

²⁵And the men of Israel say, `Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath beenthe man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.'

²⁶And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, `What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?'

²⁷And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, `Thus it is done to the man who smiteth him.'

²⁸And Eliab, his eldest brother, heareth when he speaketh unto the men, and the anger of Eliab burneth against David, and he saith, `Why is thisthou hast come down! and to whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known thy pride, and the evil of thy heartfor, to see the battle thou hast come down.'

²⁹And David saith, `What have I done now? is it not a word?'

³⁰And he turneth round from him unto another, and saith according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word.

³¹And the words which David hath spoken are heard, and they declare before Saul, and he receiveth him;

³²and David saith unto Saul, `Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.'

³³And Saul saith unto David, `Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou art , and he a man of war from his youth.'

³⁴And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath comeand the bearand hath taken away a sheep out of the drove,

³⁵and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death.

³⁶Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.'

³⁷And David saith, `Jehovah, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He doth deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul saith unto David, `Go, and Jehovah is with thee.'

³⁸And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.

³⁹And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried it ; and David saith unto Saul, `I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him.

⁴⁰And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling is in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.

⁴¹And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler is before him,

⁴²and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance.

⁴³And the Philistine saith unto David, `Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?' and the Philistine revileth David by his gods,

⁴⁴and the Philistine saith unto David, `Come unto me, and I give thy flesh to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the field.'

⁴⁵And David saith unto the Philistine, `Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached.

⁴⁶This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my handand I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel.

⁴⁷and all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle is Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.'

⁴⁸And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine,

⁴⁹and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth.

⁵⁰And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David,

⁵¹and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero is dead, and flee.

⁵²And the men of Israel risealso Judahand shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron,

⁵³and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.

⁵⁴And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent.

⁵⁵And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, `Whose son is thisthe youth, Abner?' and Abner saith, `Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.'

⁵⁶And the king saith, `Ask thou whose son this is the young man.'

⁵⁷And when David turneth back from smiting the Philistine, then Abner taketh him and bringeth him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine in his hand;

⁵⁸and Saul saith unto him, `Whose son art thou, O youth?' and David saith, `Son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.'