1 Samuel 16–17

16TH CHAPTER

David Chosen to Be King

¹The Lord asked Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul now that I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill a flask with olive oil and go. I’m sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem because I’ve selected one of his sons to be king.” 

²“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “When Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me.” 

The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I will reveal to you what you should do, and you will anoint for me the one I point out to you.” 

⁴Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he came to Bethlehem, the leaders of the city, trembling with fear, greeted him and said, “May peace be with you.” 

⁵“Greetings,” he replied, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He performed the ceremonies for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. ⁶When they came, he saw Eliab and thought, “Certainly, here in the Lord’s presence is his anointed king.” 

⁷But the Lord told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see.^aHumans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.” 

⁸Then Jesse called Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.” 

⁹Then Jesse had Shammah come to Samuel. “The Lord has not chosen this one either,” Samuel said. ¹⁰So Jesse brought seven ⸤more⸥ of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen ⸤any of⸥ these. ¹¹Are these all the sons you have?” 

“There’s still the youngest one,” Jesse answered. “He’s tending the sheep.” 

Samuel told Jesse, “Send someone to get him. We won’t continue until he gets here.” 

¹²So Jesse sent for him. He had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go ahead, anoint him. He is the one.” ¹³Samuel took the flask of olive oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers. The Lord’s Spirit came over David and stayed with him from that day on. Then Samuel left for Ramah. 

David Plays the Lyre for Saul

¹⁴Now, the Lord’s Spirit had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵Saul’s officials told him, “An evil spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶Your Majesty, why don’t you command us to look for a man who can play the lyre well? When the evil spirit from God comes to you, he’ll strum a tune, and you’ll feel better.” 

¹⁷Saul told his officials, “Please find me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 

¹⁸One of the officials said, “I know one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem who can play well. He’s a courageous man and a warrior. He has a way with words, he is handsome, and the Lord is with him.” 

¹⁹Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 

²⁰Jesse took six bushels of bread, a full wineskin, and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. ²¹David came to Saul and served him. Saul loved him very much and made David his armorbearer. ²²Saul sent ⸤this message⸥ to Jesse, “Please let David stay with me because I have grown fond of him.” 

²³Whenever God’s spirit came to Saul, David took the lyre and strummed a tune. Saul got relief ⸤from his terror⸥ and felt better, and the evil spirit left him. 

17TH CHAPTER

David and Goliath

¹The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. ²So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines. ³The Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them. 

⁴The Philistine army’s champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.^a5He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds. ⁶On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him. 

⁸Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, “Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to ⸤fight⸥ me. ⁹If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.” ¹⁰The Philistine added, “I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other.” ¹¹When Saul and all the Israelites heard what this Philistine said, they were gripped with fear. 

¹²David was a son of a man named Jesse from the region of Ephrath and the city of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s day he was an old man.^b13Jesse’s three oldest sons joined Saul’s army for the battle. The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, the third was Shammah, ¹⁴and David was the youngest. The three oldest joined Saul’s army. ¹⁵David went back and forth from Saul’s camp to Bethlehem, where he tended his father’s flock. 

¹⁶Each morning and evening for 40 days, the Philistine came forward and made his challenge. 

¹⁷Jesse told his son David, “Take this half-bushel of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers. Take them to your brothers in the camp right away. ¹⁸And take these ten cheeses to the captain of the regiment. See how your brothers are doing, and bring back some news about them. ¹⁹They, along with Saul and all the soldiers of Israel, are in the Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.” 

²⁰David got up early in the morning and had someone else watch ⸤the sheep⸥. He took ⸤the food⸥ and went, as Jesse ordered him. He went to the camp as the army was going out to the battle line shouting their war cry. ²¹Israel and the Philistines formed their battle lines facing each other. ²²David left the supplies behind in the hands of the quartermaster, ran to the battle line, and greeted his brothers. ²³While he was talking to them, the Philistine champion, Goliath from Gath, came from the battle lines of the Philistines. He repeated his words, and David heard them. ²⁴When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him because they were terrified. ²⁵The men of Israel said, “Did you see that man coming ⸤from the Philistine lines⸥? He keeps coming to challenge Israel. The king will make the man who kills this Philistine very rich. He will give his daughter to that man to marry and elevate the social status of his family.” 

²⁶David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and gets rid of Israel’s disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should challenge the army of the living God?” 

²⁷The soldiers repeated ⸤to David⸥ how the man who kills Goliath would be treated. 

²⁸Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. “Why did you come here,” he asked him, “and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle.” 

²⁹“What have I done now?” David snapped at him. “Didn’t I ⸤merely⸥ ask a question?” ³⁰He turned to face another man and asked the same question, and the other soldiers gave him the same answer. 

³¹What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, who then sent for him. ³²David told Saul, “No one should be discouraged because of this. I will go and fight this Philistine.” 

³³Saul responded to David, “You can’t fight this Philistine. You’re just a boy, but he’s been a warrior since he was your age.” 

³⁴David replied to Saul, “I am a shepherd for my father’s sheep. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, ³⁵I went after it, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. If it attacked me, I took hold of its mane, struck it, and killed it. ³⁶I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of the living God.” ³⁷David added, “The Lord, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine.” 

“Go,” Saul told David, “and may the Lord be with you.” 

³⁸Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David’s head and dressed him in armor. ³⁹David fastened Saul’s sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. “I can’t walk in these things,” David told Saul. “I’ve never had any practice doing this.” So David took all those things off. 

⁴⁰He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine. ⁴¹The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David. ⁴²When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks. 

⁴³The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to ⸤attack⸥ me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David. ⁴⁴“Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.” 

⁴⁵David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted. ⁴⁶Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God. ⁴⁷Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of…