1 Samuel, Chapter 17:

Verses from 1 Samuel, Chapter 17 of the book of 1 Samuel in the Bible.

David and Goliath

• 1. At that time, the Philistines gathered their forces for war and camped in Soco, a city in Judah. They positioned themselves in Ephes-Damim, between Soco and Azekah.
• 2. Meanwhile, Saul and the Israelites gathered and camped in the Valley of Elah, ready to face the Philistines.
• 3. The Philistines occupied one hill, and the Israelites occupied another hill, with the valley between them.
• 4. Then a warrior named Goliath, a native of Gath, left the Philistine camp. He was a giant, almost three meters tall.
• 5. Goliath wore a bronze helmet and wore bronze scale armor that weighed sixty pounds.
• 6. His legs were protected by bronze greaves, and he carried a bronze spear with an iron tip, which weighed more than seven kilograms. His squire accompanied him.
• 7. Goliath stopped and shouted to the troops of Israel, “Why are you preparing for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are just Saul's servants. Choose a man to fight me.
• 8. If he manages to defeat me in combat, we will be your slaves; but if I overcome and kill you, you will be our slaves and serve us.”
• 9. Goliath continued: “I challenge the troops of Israel today! Send a man to fight with me.”
• 10. When Saul and all the Israelites heard the words of the Philistine, they were terrified.
• 11. David was the son of Jesse, a man of Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at that time he was old and advanced in years.
• 12. Jesse's three oldest sons followed Saul to war. They were called Eliab, the oldest; Abinadab, the second; and Shamá, the third.
• 13. David was the youngest son. While his three older brothers were in Saul's army, David tended his father's sheep in Bethlehem.
• 14. For forty days the Philistine Goliath approached and challenged the Israelites, both morning and evening.
• 15. David was sent by his father to bring supplies to his brothers in Saul's camp.
• 16. Once David left early in the morning and arrived at the camp while the troops were preparing for battle. The Israelites shouted war and advanced in formation.
• 17. David left his load with the supply man and ran to the front line to greet his brothers.
• 18. While he was talking to them, Goliath, the Philistine warrior from Gath, approached and issued his customary challenge. David could hear his words.
• 19. Upon hearing of Goliath's challenge, Jesse said to David, “Take some parched wheat and ten loaves of bread and take them quickly to your brothers in the camp.
• 20. Also take these ten cheeses to their unit commander. Check on your siblings and bring some sign that they are okay.
• 21. They are with Saul and the entire army of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”
• 22. Then David got up early in the morning, left the flock in the care of another shepherd, took the load and left as his father had ordered. He arrived at the camp as the army was preparing for battle, shouting war.
• 23. When David arrived, he sought out his brothers and talked to them. Meanwhile, Goliath the Philistine advanced and challenged the Israelites, as he had done every day. And David heard his words.
• 24. When they saw Goliath, all the Israelites fled in fear.
• 25. The Israelite soldiers said to one another, “Have you seen this man? He came to challenge Israel. The king will enrich the man who kills him. He will also give his daughter in marriage and exempt this man’s family from taxes in Israel.”
• 26. David asked the soldiers next to him, “What will the man who kills this Philistine and saves the honor of Israel get? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine to defy the armies of the living God?”
• 27. The people repeated to David what they had said, and he received the same answer.
• 28. When Eliab, David's older brother, heard David talking to the soldiers, he became angry with him. He asked, “Why are you here? Who did you leave those few sheep with in the desert? I know you and your proud heart; you only came to watch the battle.”
• 29. David replied, “What have I done? I was just asking a question.”
• 30. And he went away from Eliab and went to ask another soldier the same thing. The people gave the same response to David.
• 31. The words that David had spoken were heard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.
• 32. David said to Saul, “No one need lose heart because of this Philistine. I will fight him.”
• 33. Saul replied to David, “You cannot fight this Philistine. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior since his youth.”
• 34. But David insisted, “I have taken care of my father's sheep, and when a lion or a bear comes and takes a sheep from the flock,
• 35. I will go after him, fight with him and take the sheep out of his mouth. If he attacks me, I grab him by the throat and beat him to death.
• 36. I did this with the lion and the bear, and I will do the same with this Philistine. He defied the armies of the living God!
• 37. The Lord, who rescued me from the paws of the lion and the bear, will rescue me from the hands of this Philistine.” Then Saul said to David, “Go, and may the Lord be with you.”
• 38. Saul dressed David in his own armor and placed a bronze helmet on his head.
• 39. David tried to wear that armor, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to it. So he took it all off.
• 40. David took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his shepherd's bag, in his saddlebag. With his slingshot in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
• 41. Meanwhile, Goliath the Philistine advanced toward David, with his armor-bearer in front.
• 42. Goliath looked at David and despised him, because David was just a boy, red-haired and good-looking. Goliath mocked him.
• 43. Goliath said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David, calling on his gods.
• 44. Goliath said to David, “Come here so I can give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field.”
• 45. But David answered the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelins, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
• 46. Today the Lord will deliver him into my hands, and I will kill him and cut off his head. This very day I will give the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals, and the whole earth will know that there is a God in Israel.
• 47. Everyone here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord grants victory; for the battle belongs to the Lord, and he will deliver you all into our hands.”
• 48. When the Philistine advanced to attack David, David ran toward him.
• 49. He took a stone from his bag, put it in the sling and threw it. The stone hit Goliath in the forehead, and he fell face down on the ground.
• 50. So David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. He struck him and killed him, without even having a sword in his hand.
• 51. Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his own sword and killed him, cutting off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
• 52. Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up, raised a war cry, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath and as far as the gates of Ekron. The mortally wounded Philistines fell on the way from Saharaim to Gath and Ekron.
• 53. When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
• 54. David took Goliath's head and carried it to Jerusalem, and he placed the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.
• 55. When Saul saw David advancing to meet the Philistine, he asked Abner, the army commander, “Abner, whose son is this boy?” Abner replied, “For the life of the king, I do not know.”
• 56. The king said, “Find out whose son he is.”
• 57. When David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him to Saul, carrying Goliath's head in his hand.
• 58. Saul asked David, “Whose son are you, young man?” David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

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