1 Samuel 16–17

Chapter 16

And the Lord said to Samuel: How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai, the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

²And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord.

³And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to thee.

⁴Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable?

⁵And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord, be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord’s anointed before him?

⁷And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart.

⁸And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this,

⁹And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the Lord chosen this.

¹⁰Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these.

¹¹And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons? He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send, and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

¹²He sent therefore and brought him. Now he was ruddy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he.

¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel rose up, and went to Ramatha.

¹⁴But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him.

¹⁵And the servants of Saul said to him: Behold now an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

¹⁶Let our lord give orders, and thy servants who are before thee, will seek out a man skilful in playing on the harp, that when the evil spirit from the Lord is upon thee, he may play with his hand, and thou mayst bear it more easily.

¹⁷And Saul said to his servants: Provide me then some man that can play well, and bring him to me.

¹⁸And one of the servants answering, said: Behold I have seen a son of Isai, the Bethlehemite, a skilful player, and one of great strength, and a man fit for war, and prudent in his words, and a comely person: and the Lord is with him.

¹⁹Then Saul sent messengers to Isai, saying: Send me David, thy son, who is in the pastures.

²⁰And Isai took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid of the flock, and sent them by the hand of David, his son, to Saul.

²¹And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him exceedingly, and made him his armourbearer.

²²And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let David stand before me: for he hath found favour in my sight.

²³So whensoever the evil spirit from the Lord was upon Saul, David took his harp, and played with his hand, and Saul was refreshed, and was better, for the evil spirit departed from him.

Chapter 17

Now the Philistines gathering together their troops to battle, assembled at Socho of Juda: and camped between Socho and Azeca, in the borders of Dommim.

²And Saul and the children of Israel being gathered together, came to the valley of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to fight 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 man baseborn from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Geth, whose height was six cubits and a span:

⁵And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clothed with a coat of mail with scales, and the weight of his coat of mail was five thousand sicles of brass:

⁶And he had greaves of brass on his legs, and a buckler of brass covered his shoulders.

⁷And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred sicles of iron: and his armourbearer went before him.

⁸And standing, he cried out to the bands of Israel, and said to them: Why are you come out prepared to fight? am not I a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose out a man of you, and let him come down and fight hand to hand.

⁹If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, we will be servants to you: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, you shall be servants, and shall serve us.

¹⁰And the Philistine said: I have defied the bands of Israel this day: give me a man, and let him fight with me hand to hand.

¹¹And Saul and all the Israelites hearing these words of the Philistine, were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite, of Bethlehem Juda, before mentioned, whose name was Isai, who had eight sons, and was an old man in the days of Saul, and of great age among men.

¹³And his three eldest sons followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle, were Eliab, the firstborn, and the second, Abinadab, and the third Samma:

¹⁴But David was the youngest. So the three eldest having followed Saul,

¹⁵David went, and returned from Saul, to feed his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

¹⁶Now the Philistine came out morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷And Isai said to David, his son: Take for thy brethren an ephi of frumenty, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren,

¹⁸And carry these ten little cheeses to the tribune: and go see thy brethren, if they are well: and learn with whom they are placed.

¹⁹But Saul, and they, and all the children of Israel, were in the valley of Terebinth, fighting against the Philistines.

²⁰David, therefore, arose in the morning, and gave the charge of the flock to the keeper: and went away loaded, as Isai had commanded him. And he came to the place of Magala, and to the army, which was going out to fight, and shouted for the battle.

²¹For Israel had put themselves in array, and the Philistines who stood against them were prepared.

²²And David leaving the vessels which he had brought, under the care of the keeper of the baggage, ran to the place of the battle, and asked if all things went well with his brethren.

²³And as he talked with them, that baseborn man, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine, of Geth, shewed himself coming up from the camp of the Philistines: and he spoke according to the same words, and David heard them,

²⁴And all the Israelites, when they saw the man, fled from his face, fearing him exceedingly.

²⁵And some one of Israel said: Have you seen this man that is come up, for he is come up to defy Israel. And the man that shall slay him, the king will enrich with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house free from tribute in Israel.

²⁶And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying: What shall be given to the man that shall kill this Philistine, and shall take 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 the same words, saying: These things shall be given to the man that shall slay him.

²⁸Now when Eliab his eldest brother heard this, when he was speaking with others, he was angry with David, and said: Why camest thou hither? and why didst thou leave those few sheep in the desert? I know thy pride, and the wickedness of thy heart: that thou art come down to see the battle.

²⁹And David said: What have I done? is there not cause to speak?

³⁰And he turned a little aside from him to another: and said the same word. And the people answered him as before.

³¹And the words which David spoke were heard, and were rehearsed before Saul.

³²And when he was brought to Saul, he said to him. Let not any man’s heart be dismayed in him: I thy servant will go, and will fight against the Philistine.

³³And Saul said to David: Thou art not able to withstand this Philistine, nor to fight against him: for thou art but a boy, but he is a warrior from his youth.

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

³⁵And I pursued after them, and struck them, and delivered it out of their mouth: and they rose up against me, and I caught them by the throat, and I strangled, and killed them.

³⁶For I thy servant have killed both a lion and a bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be also as one of them. I will go now, and take away the reproach of the people: for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, who hath dared to curse the army of the living God?

³⁷And David said: The Lord 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 the Lord be with thee.

³⁸And Saul clothed David with his garments, and put a helmet of brass upon his head, and armed him with a coat of mail.

³⁹And David having girded his sword upon his armour, began to try if he could walk in armour: for he was not accustomed to it. And David said to Saul: I cannot go thus, for I am not used to it. And he laid them off,

⁴⁰And he took his staff, which he had always in his hands: and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them into the shepherd’s scrip, which he had with him, and he took a sling in his hand, and went forth against the Philistine.

⁴¹And…