1 Samuel 17

¹ The Philistines mustered their troops for war; they assembled at Socoh in Judah and pitched campbetween Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim.

² Saul and the Israelites also mustered, pitching camp in the Val ey of the Terebinth, and drew up theirbattle-line opposite the Philistines.

³ The Philistines occupied the high ground on one side and the Israelites occupied the high ground onthe other side, with the valley between them.

⁴ A champion stepped out from the Philistine ranks; his name was Goliath, from Gath; he was six cubitsand one span tal .

⁵ On his head was a bronze helmet and he wore a breastplate of scale-armour; the breastplate weighedfive thousand shekels of bronze.

⁶ He had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze scimitar slung across his shoulders.

⁷ The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundredshekels of iron. A shield-bearer walked in front of him.

⁸ Taking position in front of the Israelite lines, he shouted, 'Why have you come out to range yourselvesfor battle? Am I not a Philistine and are you not Saul's lackeys? Choose a man and let him come down to me.

⁹ If he can fight it out with me and kil me, we wil be your servants; but if I can beat him and kill him, youbecome our servants and serve us.'

¹⁰ The Philistine then said, 'I challenge the ranks of Israel today. Give me a man and we will fight it out!'

¹¹ When Saul and all Israel heard what the Philistine said, they were dismayed and terrified.

¹² David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah whose name was Jesse; Jesse hadeight sons and, by Saul's time, he was old and wel on in years.

¹³ Jesse's eldest three sons fol owed Saul to the war. The names of the three sons who went to the warwere: the eldest Eliab, the second Abinadab and the third Shammah.

¹⁴ David was the youngest; the eldest three followed Saul.

¹⁵ David alternated between serving Saul and looking after his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

¹⁶ Morning and evening, the Philistine advanced, presenting himself thus for forty days.

¹⁷ Jesse said to his son David, 'Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves,and hurry to the camp, to your brothers.

¹⁸ And take these ten cheeses to their commanding officer; find out how your brothers are and bringsome token back from them;

¹⁹ they are with Saul and al the men of Israel in the Val ey of the Terebinth, fighting the Philistines.'

²⁰ David got up early in the morning and, leaving the sheep with someone to guard them, took up hisload and went off as Jesse had ordered; he reached the encampment just as the troops were leaving to take upbattle stations and shouting the war cry.

²¹ Israel and the Philistines drew up their lines facing one another.

²² David left his bundle in charge of the baggage guard and, running to the battle-line, went and askedhis brothers how they were.

²³ While he was talking to them, the champion (Goliath, the Philistine from Gath) came up from thePhilistine ranks and made his usual speech, which David heard.

²⁴ As soon as the Israelites saw this man, they all ran away from him and were terrified.

²⁵ The Israelites said, 'You saw that man who just came up? He comes to challenge Israel. The king willavish riches on the man who kills him, he wil give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father's familyfrom al taxes in Israel.'

²⁶ David asked the men who were standing near him, 'What would be the reward for kil ing thisPhilistine and saving Israel from disgrace? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, to chal enge the armies of theliving God?'

²⁷ The people told him what they had been saying, 'That would be the reward for killing him,' they said.

²⁸ His eldest brother Eliab heard David talking to the men and grew angry with him. 'Why have youcome down here?' he said. 'Whom have you left in charge of those few sheep in the desert? I know howimpudent and artful you are; you have come to watch the battle!'

²⁹ David retorted, 'What have I done? May I not even speak?'

³⁰ And he turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, to which the peoplereplied as before.

³¹ David's words were noted, however, and reported to Saul, who sent for him.

³² David said to Saul, 'Let no one be discouraged on his account; your servant wil go and fight thisPhilistine.'

³³ Saul said to David, 'You cannot go and fight the Philistine; you are only a boy and he has been awarrior since his youth.'

³⁴ David said to Saul, 'Your servant used to look after the sheep for his father and whenever a lion or abear came and took a sheep from the flock,

³⁵ I used to fol ow it up, lay into it and snatch the sheep out of its jaws. If it turned on me, I would seize itby the beard and batter it to death.

³⁶ Your servant has kil ed both lion and bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will end up like one ofthem for having chal enged the armies of the living God.'

³⁷ 'Yahweh,' David went on, 'who delivered me from the claws of lion and bear, wil deliver me from theclutches of this Philistine.' Then Saul said to David, 'Go, and Yahweh be with you!'

³⁸ Saul dressed David in his own armour; he put a bronze helmet on his head, dressed him in abreastplate

³⁹ and buckled his own sword over David's armour. David tried to walk but, not being used to them, saidto Saul, 'I cannot walk in these; I am not used to them.' So they took them off again.

⁴⁰ He took his stick in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the river bed and put them in hisshepherd's bag, in his pouch; then, sling in hand, he walked towards the Philistine.

⁴¹ The Philistine, preceded by his shield-bearer, came nearer and nearer to David.

⁴² When the Philistine looked David up and down, what he saw fil ed him with scorn, because Davidwas only a lad, with ruddy cheeks and an attractive appearance.

⁴³ The Philistine said to David, 'Am I a dog for you to come after me with sticks?' And the Philistinecursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, 'Come over here and I wil give your flesh to the birds of the air and thewild beasts!'

⁴⁵ David retorted to the Philistine, 'You come to me with sword, spear and scimitar, but I come to you inthe name of Yahweh Sabaoth, God of the armies of Israel, whom you have chal enged.

⁴⁶ Today, Yahweh will deliver you into my hand; I shall kil you, I shall cut off your head; today, I shallgive your corpse and the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the wild beasts, so that thewhole world may know that there is a God in Israel,

⁴⁷ and this whole assembly know that Yahweh does not give victory by means of sword and spear -- forYahweh is lord of the battle and he wil deliver you into our power.'

⁴⁸ No sooner had the Philistine started forward to confront David than David darted out of the lines andran to meet the Philistine.

⁴⁹ Putting his hand in his bag, he took out a stone, slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead; thestone penetrated his forehead and he fel face downwards on the ground.

⁵⁰ Thus David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; he hit the Philistine and kil ed him,though he had no sword in his hand.

⁵¹ David ran and stood over the Philistine, seized his sword, pul ed it from the scabbard, despatchedhim and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

⁵² The men of Israel and of Judah started forward, shouting their war cry, and pursued the Philistines asfar as the approaches of Gath and the gates of Ekron. The Philistine dead lay al along the road from Shaaraimas far as Gath and Ekron.

⁵³ Turning back from their ferocious pursuit of the Philistines, the Israelites plundered their camp.

⁵⁴ And David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; his weapons, however, he put in hisown tent.

⁵⁵ When Saul saw David going to engage the Philistine he said to Abner, the army commander, 'Abner,whose son is that boy?' 'On your life, O king,' Abner replied, 'I do not know.'

⁵⁶ The king said, 'Find out whose son the lad is.'

⁵⁷ When David came back after kil ing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul withthe Philistine's head in his hand.

⁵⁸ Saul asked him, 'Whose son are you, young man?' David replied, 'The son of your servant Jesse ofBethlehem.'