1 Samuel 17:12–31

David in Saul’s Camp

¹²David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.^{a 13}His three eldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The eldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. ¹⁴David was the youngest son, and while the three eldest brothers stayed with Saul, ¹⁵David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father’s sheep.

¹⁶Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for 40 days.

¹⁷One day Jesse said to David, “Take ten kilogrammes of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp. ¹⁸And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting on and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. ¹⁹King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in the Valley of Elah fighting the Philistines.”

²⁰David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry. ²¹The Philistine and the Israelite armies took up positions for battle, facing each other. ²²David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting on. ²³As he was talking to them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him. ²⁴When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror. ²⁵“Look at him!” they said to each other. “Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father’s family to pay taxes.”^b

²⁶David asked the men who were near him, “What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?” ²⁷They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.

²⁸Eliab, David’s eldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He was angry with David and said, “What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You cheeky brat, you! You just came to watch the fighting!”

²⁹“Now what have I done?” David asked. “Can’t I even ask a question?” ³⁰He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.

³¹Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him.