1 Samuel 17

₁The soldiers of the Philistines came together at the town of Sokoh in the land_of_Judah to go to war. They put up their tents at the town of Ephes-Dammim between Sokoh and Azekah. ₂Saul and the men of Israel also came together and they put up their tents in the Elah Valley where the big tree was. They stood in rows and were ready to go to war_against the Philistines. ₃The Philistines were on one hill and the Israelites were on another hill. The valley was between them. ₄A big soldier of the Philistines came. He was a champion and his name was Goliath. He was from the town of Gath. He was 6 cubits_and_a_span tall. ₅On his head was a bronze helmet and he had a breastplate of bronze. His breastplate weighed 5 000 shekels. ₆Around his legs was bronze armour and he had a bronze spear that hung between his shoulders. ₇The wooden part of his spear was as thick as a weaver's-pole and the iron point of his spear weighed 600 shekels. There was a man walking in front of him who carried his shield. ₈Goliath stood and he shouted to all the Israelites and said: ‘Why are you standing in rows to go to war? I am a Philistine, and you are the people who work for Saul. Choose a man and let him come to me. ₉If he can fight against me and win, then we will be your slaves and work for you. But if I am better and I win and kill him, then you will be our slaves and you will work for us.’

₁₀The Philistine said: ‘I am telling you, you Israelites can't do anything. You must send me a man who can fight against me.’ ₁₁Saul and all the men of Israel heard what the Philistine said and they were afraid.

₁₂David was the son of a man from Ephrath near the town of Bethlehem in the land_of_Judah. The man's name was Jesse, and he had 8 sons. Jesse was old when Saul was king. ₁₃His 3 oldest sons went with Saul to go to war. They were Eliab, the oldest son, and Abinadab and Shammah. ₁₄David was the youngest son. His 3 older brothers went with Saul ₁₅but David sometimes went to Saul and sometimes to Bethlehem to look after his father's sheep and goats.

₁₆For 40 days the Philistine Goliath came to Saul and his men every morning and evening, and he stood ready to fight.

₁₇Jesse said to his son, David: ‘Take this ephah of roasted grain and these 10 loaves of bread and run to your brothers in the camp. ₁₈And give these 10 pieces of cheese to their officer. See how they are and bring back a letter from them to show that they got the food.’ ₁₉His brothers were with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Elah Valley. They were making war_against the Philistines.

₂₀David was up early the next morning and he took the sheep and goats to a shepherd. He went and did what his father, Jesse, had told him and he went to the camp. The men were standing in rows and they shouted a war_shout. ₂₁The Israelite men stood in rows, and the Philistine men stood on the other side in rows. ₂₂David took the food that he had brought and he gave it to the man who had to look after it, and he ran to the men who were standing in rows. When he got there, he asked his brothers how they were. ₂₃While he was talking to them, the champion, Goliath, came forward. He was the Philistine from the town of Gath. He came to boast again as before, and David heard it.

₂₄The men of Israel ran away when they saw the man because they were afraid. ₂₅They said: ‘Do you see this man who comes forward? He comes to tell the Israelites that they are worthless. The king will reward the man who defeats him. He will make him very rich and he will also let this man marry his daughter and his family will no longer have to work for the king like the other Israelites.’

₂₆David asked the men who were standing next to him: ‘What will the king do for the man who defeats this Philistine and stops him from mocking the Israelites? Who is this Philistine? He is a Gentile and he is uncircumcised. What makes him think that he can say such bad things as that against the soldiers of the living God?’

₂₇The men told David what the king would do for the man who defeated the Philistine.

₂₈David's oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men and he was angry with David and he said: ‘Why did you come here? Who is looking after the sheep and goats. Have you left them in the field? You are a bad boy. You have just come here to see how we fight.’

₂₉David said: ‘What have I done wrong? I only asked.’ ₃₀David turned away from Eliab and he asked the other men and they gave him the same answer.

₃₁Some men heard what David said and they told King Saul. Saul called David. ₃₂David said to Saul: ‘No one must be afraid of this Philistine. I, your servant, will fight against him.’

₃₃Saul said to David: ‘You can not fight against him. You are a child and he is a soldier who has been making war from when he was young.’

₃₄David said to Saul: ‘I looked after my father's sheep and goats, and when a lion or a bear came to take one of the sheep, ₃₅I chased it and beat it and grabbed the sheep from its mouth. And if it wanted to attack me, I grabbed it by its hair and killed it. ₃₆I have killed lions and bears, and this Philistine, this uncircumcised man, will be like one of them, because he said the men of the living God are worthless.’ ₃₇David said: ‘The Lord who has saved me from lions and bears, He is the One who will save me from this Philistine.’

Saul said to David: ‘Go then. I pray that God will help you.’

₃₈Then Saul took his clothes and he gave them to David to put on. Saul put his bronze helmet on David's head and he said David must wear his breastplate. ₃₉David tied the king's sword over the clothes with a belt and he tried to walk, because he had never worn armour. Then he said to Saul: ‘I can not walk with these heavy clothes. I have never done it before.’

David took off Saul's clothes. ₄₀He took his staff and looked for 5 round stones in the stream and put them in his shepherd's bag. With his sling in his hand, he went to the Philistine. ₄₁The Philistine came to David, and the man who carried his shield was in front of him. ₄₂When the Philistine saw David, he thought David could do nothing, because David was only a young boy who was healthy and good-looking. ₄₃The Philistine said to David: ‘Do you think I am a dog? Why do you come to me with a stick? I curse you. My god will cause you to die.’ ₄₄He said to David: ‘Come here. I will give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.’

₄₅David said to the Philistine: ‘You come to me with a sword and with spears, but I come to you because the Lord who rules over all has sent me. He is the God of the men of Israel, and you said they can do nothing. ₄₆Today the Lord will help me to kill you. I will kill you and cut off your head. I will give the dead bodies of the Philistines to the birds and wild animals. Everyone in the land will know that there is a God in the land_of_Israel. ₄₇Everyone here will know that it is the Lord who saves people. He does not use swords and spears when He saves them. He is the One who decides what will happen in a war and He will help us defeat you.’

₄₈When the Philistine came forward to fight against David, David quickly ran towards him. ₄₉He took a stone from his bag and he threw it with his sling. He threw the stone so hard against the Philistine's forehead that it went into his head. The Philistine fell on his face onto the ground. ₅₀David had used his sling and only one stone, but he was stronger than the Philistine. He killed the Philistine and he did not even have a sword in his hand. ₅₁David ran and he stood over the Philistine. He took out the Philistine's sword and he killed him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they ran away. ₅₂The men of Israel shouted and they chased the Philistines to the end of the towns of Gath and to the gates of the town of Ekron. They killed a lot of Philistines and their bodies lay on the road to the town of Shaaraim and to the towns of Gath and Ekron. ₅₃The Israelites then stopped chasing the Philistines, and came back to take the plunder from the Philistines' camp. ₅₄David took the Philistine's head to Jerusalem but he put the Philistine's weapons in his tent.

₅₅When Saul saw David going to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the chief of his army: ‘Abner, who is the father of this young man?’ Abner answered: ‘Your_Majesty, I do not know.’ ₅₆The king said: ‘You must find out whose son he is.’

₅₇After David had killed the Philistine, he came back and Abner took him to the king. David still had the Philistine's head in his hand. ₅₈Saul asked him: ‘Young man, who is your father?’ And David said: ‘My father is your servant, Jesse, from Bethlehem.’