17:1 Now the Philistines collected their armies to battle, and
were assembled at Shochoh, which [belongeth] to Judah, and
encamped between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
17:2 And Saul and the men of Israel were assembled and encamped
by the valley of Elah, and [they] set the battle in array
against the Philistines.
17:3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side,
and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and [there
was] a valley between them.
17:4 And there went out a champion from the camp of the
Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose hight [was] six
cubits and a span.
17:5 And [he had] a helmet of brass upon his head, and he [was]
armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat [was]
five thousand shekels of brass.
17:6 And [he had] greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target
of brass between his shoulders.
17:7 And the staff of his spear [was] like a weaver's beam; and
his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and one
bearing a shield went before him.
17:8 And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to
them, Why have ye come out to set [your] battle in array? [am]
not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man
for you, and let him come down to me.
17:9 If he shall be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then
will we be your servants: but if I shall prevail against him,
and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
17:10 And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this
day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
17:11 When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12 Now David [was] the son of that Ephrathite of
Beth-lehem-judah, whose name [was] Jesse; and he had eight
sons: and the man went among men [for] an old man in the days
of Saul.
17:13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse went [and] followed
Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went
to the battle [were] Eliab the first-born, and next to him
Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
17:14 And David [was] the youngest: and the three eldest
followed Saul.
17:15 But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's
sheep at Beth-lehem.
17:16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and
presented himself forty days.
17:17 And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for thy brethren
an ephah of this parched [corn], and these ten loaves, and run
to the camp to thy brethren;
17:18 And carry these ten cheeses to the captain of [their]
thousand, and see how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
17:19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, [were] in
the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
17:20 And David rose early in the morning, and left the sheep
with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him;
and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the
fight, and shouted for the battle.
17:21 For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in
array, army against army.
17:22 And David left his furniture in the hand of the keeper of
the vessels, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his
brethren.
17:23 And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the
champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, from the
armies of the Philistines, and spoke according to the same
words: and David heard [them].
17:24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled
from him, and were exceedingly afraid.
17:25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that
hath come up? surely to defy Israel hath he come: and it shall
be, [that] the man who shall kill him, the king will enrich him
with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his
father's house free in Israel.
17:26 And David spoke to the men that stood by him, saying, What
shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and
taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who [is] this
uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the
living God?
17:27 And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So
shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
17:28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the
men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said,
Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those
few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the
naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou
mayest see the battle.
17:29 And David said, What have I now done? [Is there] not a
cause?
17:30 And he turned from him towards another, and spoke after
the same manner: and the people answered him again after the
former manner.
17:31 And when the words were heard which David spoke, they
rehearsed [them] before Saul: and he sent for him.
17:32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of
him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine.
17:33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go against
this Philistine to fight with him: for thou [art but] a youth,
and he a man of war from his youth.
17:34 And David said to Saul, Thy servant kept his father's
sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out
of the flock:
17:35 And I went after him, and smote him, and delivered [it]
out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught [him]
by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.
17:36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this
uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he
hath defied the armies of the living God.
17:37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the
paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will
deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to
David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
17:38 And Saul armed David with his armor, and he put a helmet
of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
17:39 And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he essayed
to go; for he had not proved [it]. And David said to Saul, I
cannot go with these, for I have not proved [them]. And David
put them off from him.
17:40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five
smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's
bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling [was] in his
hand; and he drew near to the Philistine.
17:41 And the Philistine advanced and drew near to David; and
the man that bore the shield [went] before him.
17:42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he
disdained him: for he was a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair
countenance.
17:43 And the Philistine said to David, [Am] I a dog, that thou
comest to me with staffs? and the Philistine cursed David by
his gods.
17:44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will
give thy flesh to the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of
the field.
17:45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with
a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to
thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of
Israel, whom thou hast defied.
17:46 This day will the LORD deliver thee into my hand; and I
will smite thee, and take thy head from thee; and I will give
the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the
fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all
the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
17:47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not
with sword and spear: for the battle [is] the LORD'S, and he
will give you into our hands.
17:48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came
and drew nigh to meet David, that David hasted, and ran towards
the army to meet the Philistine.
17:49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a
stone, and hurled it with his sling, and smote the Philistine
in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he
fell upon his face to the earth.
17:50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and
with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but
[there was] no sword in the hand of David.
17:51 Therefore David ran and stood upon the Philistine, and
took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him,
and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw
their champion was dead, they fled.
17:52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and
pursued the Philistines to the entrance of the valley, and to
the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell
down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron.
17:53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing the
Philistines, and they plundered their tents.
17:54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it
to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.
17:55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine,
he said to Abner the captain of the host, Abner, whose son [is]
this youth? And Abner said, [As] thy soul liveth, O king, I
cannot tell.
17:56 And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling
[is].
17:57 And 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.
17:58 And Saul said to him, Whose son [art] thou, [thou] young
man? And David answered, I [am] the son of thy servant Jesse
the Beth-lehemite.
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