1 Samuel 17
1 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephesdammim.
The Philistines gathered their army [to fight the Israeli army]. They gathered together near Socoh, in the area where the descendants of Judah lived. They set up their tents at Ephes-Dammim, which is between Socoh and Azekah.
2 Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
Saul gathered the Israeli army near Elah Valley, and they set up their tents. Then they all took their places, ready to fight the Philistines.
3 The Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
So the Philistine and Israeli armies faced each other. They were on two hills, with a valley between them.
4 A champion out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span went out.
Then Goliath, from Gath [city], came out from the Philistine camp. He was a champion warrior/soldier. He was (over 9 feet/3 meters) tall.
5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he wore a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
He wore a helmet made of bronze [to protect his head], and he wore a coat made of metal plates [to protect his body]. The coat weighed (125 pounds/56 kg.).
6 He had bronze shin armour on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders.
He wore bronze guards/protectors on his legs. He had a long bronze dagger fastened on his back.
7 The staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. His shield bearer went before him.
He also had a big spear. It had a cord on it to enable him to throw it better (OR, which was as thick as a weaver’s beam). The tip of the spear was made of iron and weighed (15 pounds/almost 7 kg.). A soldier carrying a huge shield walked in front of him.
8 He stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.
Goliath stood there and shouted to the Israeli army, “Why are you all lined up for battle? I am the great Philistine [soldier], and I think [RHQ] you are [merely] Saul’s slaves. Choose one man to fight for all of you, and send him down here to me!
9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then will we be your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you will be our servants and serve us.”
If he fights with me and kills me, then my fellow Philistines will all be your slaves. But if I defeat him and kill him, then you Israelis will all be our slaves.
10 The Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel today! Give me a man, that we may fight together!”
I defy/challenge you men of the Israeli army. Send me a man who will fight with me!”
11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.
When Saul and all the Israeli soldiers heard that, they were extremely terrified [DOU].
12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul.
David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was from the clan of Ephrath. He lived in Bethlehem, in the area where the descendants of Judah lived. Jesse had eight sons. When Saul [was king], Jesse had already become a very old man [DOU].
13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle; and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
Jesse’s three oldest sons, Eliab and Abinadab and Shammah, had gone with Saul to fight [the Philistines].
14 David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul.
David was Jesse’s youngest son. While his three oldest brothers were with Saul,
15 Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
David went back and forth: Sometimes he went to Saul’s camp, and sometimes he stayed in Bethlehem to take care of his father’s sheep.
16 The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
For 40 days Goliath came out from the Philistine camp and stood there [taunting the Israeli army/telling the Israelis to choose one man to fight with him]. He did it twice each day, once in the morning and once in the evening.
17 Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers;
[One day], Jesse said to David, “Here is a sack of roasted grain and ten loaves of bread. Take these quickly to your [older] brothers.
18 and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.”
And here are ten large chunks of cheese. Take them to their commander. And see how things are going with your [older] brothers. Then [if they are okay, ] bring back something to show they are all right.”
19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
His brothers were with Saul and all the other Israeli soldiers, camped alongside Elah Valley, [preparing to] fight the Philistines.
20 David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle.
So David arranged for another shepherd to take care of the sheep. Early the next morning he took the food and went to the Israeli camp, as Jesse told him to do. He arrived there just as the Israeli soldiers were forming their ranks and going out to the battlefield. As they went, they were shouting a war cry.
21 Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army.
The Philistine army and the Israeli army stood [on the hillsides], facing each other, ready for the battle.
22 David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.
David gave the food to the man who was taking care of the war equipment. [He told him to take care of the food that he brought], and then he went and greeted his older brothers.
23 As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them.
While he was talking with them, he saw Goliath coming out from among the Philistine soldiers, shouting [to the Israelis], challenging them [to send a man to fight him]. David heard what Goliath was saying.
24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified.
When all the Israeli soldiers saw Goliath, they were terrified and started to ran away.
25 The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house tax-free in Israel.”
They were saying to each other, “Look at him coming up toward us! And listen to him as he defies us Israelis! The king says that he will give a big reward to whoever kills this man. He also says that he will give his daughter to that man for him to marry her, and that he will no longer require that man’s family to pay taxes.”
26 David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done to the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
David talked to some of the men who were standing near him. He said, “What will be given to whoever kills this Philistine and frees us Israelis from this shame/disgrace? And who [does] this heathen Philistine [think he] is, defying/ridiculing the army that serves the all-powerful God?”
27 The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”
They told him the same thing that the other men had said, about what the king would do for anyone who killed Goliath.
28 Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burnt against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.”
But when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard David talking to the men, he was angry. He said to David, “Why have you come down here? Is someone taking care of those few sheep that you left in the desert? I know you are just a (smart-aleck/brat)! You just want to watch the battle!”
29 David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?”
David replied, “Have I done something wrong? I was merely asking a question!”
30 He turned away from him towards another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way.
Then he walked over to another man and asked him the same question, but the man gave him the same answer. Each time he asked someone, he received the same answer.
31 When the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him.
Finally, someone told king Saul what David had asked, and Saul sent someone to bring David to him.
32 David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
David told king Saul, “No one should (worry/become a coward) because of that Philistine man. I will go and fight with him!”
33 Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth.”
Saul said to David, “You are only a young man, and he has been a very capable soldier all his life. So you are not able to go and fight with him!”
34 David said to Saul, “Your servant was keeping his father’s sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,
David replied, “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep [for many years]. Whenever a lion or a bear came and carried away a lamb,
35 I went out after him, struck him, and rescued it out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, struck him, and killed him.
I went after the lion or the bear and attacked it and rescued the lamb from the wild animal’s mouth. Then I grabbed the animal by its jaw/throat and struck it and killed it.
36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.”
I have killed both lions and bears. And [I will do] the same to this heathen Philistine, because he has defied/ridiculed the army of the all-powerful God!
37 David said, “The LORD, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go! The LORD will be with you.”
Yahweh has rescued me from paws of lions and bears, and he will rescue me from this Philistine!” Then Saul said to David, “All right, go [and fight him], and [I hope/desire] that Yahweh will help you!”
38 Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of bronze on his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail.
Then Saul gave to David his own clothes that he always wore in battles, and he gave him a bronze helmet and a coat made of metal plates.
39 David strapped his sword on his clothing and he tried to move, for he had not tested it. David said to Saul, “I can’t go with these, for I have not tested them.” Then David took them off.
David [put these things on. Then he] fastened his sword over them, and tried to walk. But he could not walk, because he was not accustomed to wearing those things. So David said to Saul, “I cannot fight wearing all these things, because I am not accustomed to [wearing] them!” So he took them off.
40 He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag which he had. His sling was in his hand; and he came near to the Philistine.
Then he took his walking/shepherd’s stick, and he picked up five smooth stones from the brook/stream. He put them in the pouch of his shoulder-bag. Then he put his sling in his hand and started walking toward Goliath.
41 The Philistine walked and came near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him.
Goliath walked toward David, with the soldier who was carrying his shield walking in front of him. When he got near David,
42 When the Philistine looked around and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and had a good looking face.
he looked at David closely. He saw that David had a handsome face and healthy body, but that he was only a young man. So he sneered at David.
43 The Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods.
He said to David, “Are you coming to me with a stick because [you think that] I am a dog?” Then he called out to his gods to harm David.
44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the animals of the field.”
He said to David, “Come here to me, and I will [kill you and] give your dead body to the birds and wild animals to eat!”
45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.
David replied, “You are coming to me with a sword and a dagger and a spear. But I am coming to you (in the name/with the authority) of almighty Yahweh. He is the God whom the army of Israel [worships], and he is the God whom you have defied/ridiculed.
46 Today, the LORD will deliver you into my hand. I will strike you and take your head from off you. I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines today to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,
Today Yahweh will enable me to defeat you. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And [we Israelis will kill] many Philistine [soldiers and] give their bodies to the birds and wild animals to eat. And everyone in the world will [hear about it and] know that we Israeli people worship an [all-powerful] God.
47 and that all this assembly may know that the LORD doesn’t save with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD’s, and he will give you into our hand.”
And everyone here will know that Yahweh can rescue people without a sword or a spear. Yahweh always wins his battles, and he will enable us to defeat all of you [Philistines].”
48 When the Philistine arose, and walked and came near to meet David, David hurried and ran towards the army to meet the Philistine.
As Goliath came closer to attack David, David ran quickly toward him.
49 David put his hand in his bag, took a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth.
He put his hand into his shoulder-bag and took out one stone. He [put it in his sling and] hurled it toward Goliath. The stone hit Goliath on the forehead and penetrated his skull, and he fell face down onto the ground.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.
Then David ran and stood over Goliath. He pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath and killed him with it, and then cut off his head. In that way David defeated the Philistine without having his own sword. He used [only] a sling and a stone! When the other Philistines saw that their great warrior was dead, they ran away.
51 Then David ran, stood over the Philistine, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.
52 The men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and to Ekron.
The Israeli men shouted and ran after them. They pursued them all the way to Gath and to the gates of Ekron [city]. They struck them as they went, with the result that dead/wounded Philistines were lying on the road all the way from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron [towns].
53 The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.
When the Israelis returned from chasing the Philistines, they (plundered/took everything from) the Philistine camp.
54 David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armour in his tent.
David later took the head of Goliath to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
55 When Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I can’t tell.”
As Saul watched David going toward Goliath, he said to Abner, the commanded of his army, “Abner, whose son is that young man?” Abner replied, “(As sure as you are alive/Truly) [IDM], I do not know.”
56 The king said, “Enquire whose son the young man is!”
Then the king said, “Find out whose son he is!”
57 As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
[Later, ] as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was carrying Goliath’s head.
58 Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, you young man?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
Saul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?” David replied, “[Sir, perhaps you have forgotten that] I am the son of your servant Jesse, who has served you faithfully, who lives in Bethlehem.”
