1 Samuel 17–18

Chapter 17

Goliath’s Challenge

¹Now ^athe Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between ^bSocoh and ^cAzekah, in ^dEphes-dammim.

²Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in ^athe valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.

³The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

⁴Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named ^aGoliath, from ^bGath, whose height was six ¹cubits and a span.

⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor ¹which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.

⁶He also had bronze ¹greaves on his legs and a ^abronze javelin slung between his shoulders.

^7aThe shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; ^bhis shield-carrier also walked before him.

⁸He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you ^aservants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

⁹“^aIf he is able to fight with me and ¹kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us.”

¹⁰Again the Philistine said, “^aI defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together.”

¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was ^athe son of ¹the ^bEphrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and ^che had eight sons. And ²Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

¹³The three older sons of Jesse had ¹gone after Saul to the battle. And ^athe names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

^14aDavid was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,

^15abut David went back and forth from Saul ^bto tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem.

¹⁶The Philistine came ¹forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.

¹⁷Then Jesse said to David his son, “^aTake now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.

¹⁸“^aBring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, ^band look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back ¹news of them.

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

David Accepts the Challenge

²⁰So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the ^acircle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.

²¹Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.

²²Then David left his ^abaggage in the ¹care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.

²³As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke ^athese same words; and David heard them.

²⁴When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.

²⁵The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and ^awill give him his daughter and make his father’s house ¹free in Israel.”

²⁶Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away ^athe reproach from Israel? For who is this ^buncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^ctaunt the armies of ^dthe living God?”

²⁷The people ¹answered him in accord with this word, saying, “^aThus it will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and ^aEliab’s anger burned against David and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle.”

²⁹But David said, “What have I done now? Was it not just a ¹question?”

³⁰Then he turned ¹away from him to another and ^asaid the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as ²before.

David Kills Goliath

³¹When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them ¹to Saul, and he sent for him.

³²David said to Saul, “^aLet no man’s heart fail on account of him; ^byour servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”

³³Then Saul said to David, “^aYou are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

³⁵I went out after him and ¹attacked him, and ^arescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

³⁶“Your servant has ¹killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.”

³⁷And David said, “^aThe Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “^bGo, and may the Lord be with you.”

³⁸Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor.

³⁹David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them ¹off.

⁴⁰He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and ^ahis sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, ^ahe disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ^bruddy, with a handsome appearance.

⁴³The Philistine said to David, “^aAm I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And ^bthe Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^ato the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”

⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, ^abut I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

⁴⁶“This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the ^adead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, ^bthat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that ^athe Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; ^bfor the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”

⁴⁸Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that ^aDavid ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.

⁵¹Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and ^atook his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. ^bWhen the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵²The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines ¹as far as the valley, and to the gates of ^aEkron. And the slain Philistines ²lay along the way to ^bShaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.

⁵⁴Then David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

⁵⁵Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is ^athis young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.”

⁵⁶The king said, “You inquire whose son the youth is.”

⁵⁷So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and ^abrought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand.

⁵⁸Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “^aI am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Chapter 18

Jonathan and David

¹Now it came about when he had finished speaking to Saul, that ^athe soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and ^bJonathan loved him as himself.

²Saul took him that day and ^adid not let him return to his father’s house.

³Then ^aJonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

^4aJonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, including his sword and his bow and his belt.

⁵So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and ¹prospered; and Saul set him over the men of war. And it was pleasing in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants.

⁶It happened as they were coming, when David returned from killing the Philistine, that ^athe women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy and with ¹musical instruments.

⁷The women ^asang as they ¹played, and said,

“^bSaul has slain his thousands,

^cAnd David his ten thousands.”

⁸Then Saul became very angry, for this saying ¹displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to…