1 Samuel 17

Goliathʼs Challengeⓘ

Goliath challenges Israel¹Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim. ²Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines.

³The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.

⁴Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,^{a 5}and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,^{b 6}and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaverʼs beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.^c In addition, his shield bearer went before him.

⁸And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me. ⁹If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and work for us.”

¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

¹¹On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.

David Accepts the Challengeⓘ

David goes back and forth between Saul and his flock¹²Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons in the days of Saul. And Jesse was old and well along in years.^{d 13}The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. ¹⁴And David was the youngest.

The three oldest had followed Saul, ¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his fatherʼs sheep in Bethlehem.

¹⁶For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.

David brings supplies and hears the challenge¹⁷One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain^e and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. ¹⁸Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them.^{f 19}They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

²⁰So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry. ²¹And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.

²²Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. ²³And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the ransk of the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.

²⁴When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear.

²⁵Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his fatherʼs house from taxation in Israel.”

²⁶David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

David volunteers and tells Saul of lions and bears²⁸Now when Davidʼs oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”

²⁹“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?” ³⁰Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered.

³¹Now Davidʼs words were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.

³²And David said to Saul, “Let no manʼs heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!”

³³But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴David replied, “Your servant has been tending his fatherʼs sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock, ³⁵I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it. ³⁶Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

³⁷David added, “The Lord, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

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

David Slays Goliathⓘ

David refuses armor and faces Goliath³⁸Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor. ³⁹David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them.

“I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherdʼs bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him. ⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome. ⁴³“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lordʼs, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

David kills Goliath⁴⁸As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

⁵⁰Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. ⁵¹David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistineʼs sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword.

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. ⁵²Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath^g and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps. ⁵⁴David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliathʼs weapons in his own tent.

Saul asks whose son David is⁵⁵As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?”

“As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”

⁵⁶“Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king.

⁵⁷So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul.

⁵⁸“Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul.

“I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.