1 Samuel 16–17

Chapter 16

¹And Jehovah said to Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons. ²And Samuel said, How shall I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah. ³And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will tell thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. ⁴And Samuel did what Jehovah said, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him, and said, Dost thou come peaceably? ⁵And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah. Hallow yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he hallowed Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶And it came to pass when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before him. ⁷But Jehovah said to Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for it is not as man seeth; for man looketh upon the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh upon the heart. ⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has Jehovah chosen this one. ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, Neither has Jehovah chosen this one. ¹⁰And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, Jehovah has not chosen these. ¹¹And Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men? And he said, There is yet the youngest remaining, and behold, he is feeding the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit at table till he come hither. ¹²And he sent and brought him in. And he was ruddy, and besides of a lovely countenance and beautiful appearance. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. ¹³And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren. And the Spirit of Jehovah came upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

¹⁴And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubles thee. ¹⁶Let our lord now speak; thy servants are before thee: they shall seek out a man, a skilful player on a harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. ¹⁸And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him. ¹⁹Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. ²⁰And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he has found favour in my sight. ²³And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Chapter 17

¹And the Philistines assembled their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Sochoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Sochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. ²And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of terebinths, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. ³And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side; and the ravine was between them. ⁴And there went out a champion from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵And he had a helmet of bronze upon his head, and he was clothed with a corselet of scales; and the weight of the corselet was five thousand shekels of bronze. ⁶And he had greaves of bronze upon his legs, and a javelin of bronze between his shoulders. ⁷And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and the shield-bearer went before him. ⁸And he stood and cried to the ranks of Israel, and said to them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I the Philistine, and ye servants of Saul? choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me. ⁹If he be able to fight with me, and to smite me, then will we be your servants; but if I overcome and smite him, then shall ye be our servants and serve us. ¹⁰And the Philistine said, I have defied the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. ¹¹And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, and they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem-Judah whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons; and the man was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. ¹³And the three eldest of the sons of Jesse had gone and followed Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴And David was the youngest; and the three eldest had followed Saul. ¹⁵But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. ¹⁷And Jesse said to David his son, Take, I pray, for thy brethren, this ephah of parched corn and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren; ¹⁸and carry these ten cheeses to the captain of the thousand, and visit thy brethren to see how they are, and take a pledge of them. ¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of terebinths, fighting against the Philistines. ²⁰And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took his charge and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the wagon-defence; and the host which was going forth to the battle-array shouted for the fight. ²¹And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, rank against rank. ²²And David left the things he was carrying in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the ranks, 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 ranks of the Philistines, and spoke 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 greatly afraid. ²⁵And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that comes up? for to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who smites him, him will the king enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel. ²⁶And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that smites 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 told him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that smites him. ²⁸And Eliab, his eldest brother, heard while he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. ²⁹And David said, What have I now done? Was it not laid upon me? ³⁰And he turned from him to another, and spoke after the same manner; and the people answered him again after the former manner.

³¹And the words were heard which David spoke, and 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 to Saul, Thy servant fed his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and also a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock. ³⁵And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and when he arose against me, I seized him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. ³⁶Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷And David said, Jehovah who 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 to David, Go, and Jehovah be with thee. ³⁸And Saul clothed David with his dress, and put a helmet of bronze upon his head, and clothed him with a corselet. ³⁹And David girded his sword upon his dress, and endeavoured to go; for he had not yet tried it. And David said to Saul, I cannot go in these; for I have never tried 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 the shepherd’s bag that he had, into the pocket; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine. ⁴¹And the Philistine came on and approached David; and the man that bore the shield was before him. ⁴²And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was a youth, and ruddy, and besides of a beautiful countenance. ⁴³And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that thou comest…