| New International Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. | 1The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim. |
| 2Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. | 2Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah. |
| 3The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them. | 3So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them. |
| 4A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. | 4Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall! |
| 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels; | 5He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds. |
| 6on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. | 6He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. |
| 7His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer went ahead of him. | 7The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed 15 pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. |
| 8Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me. | 8Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me! |
| 9If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us." | 9If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! |
| 10Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other." | 10I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!” |
| 11On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified. | 11When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp |
| 12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old. | 12Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. |
| 13Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. | 13Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea —had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. |
| 14David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, | 14David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, |
| 15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. | 15but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem. |
| 16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. | 16For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army. |
| 17Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. | 17One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. |
| 18Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance from them. | 18And give these ten cuts of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing. ” |
| 19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines." | 19David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. |
| 20Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. | 20So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the gifts, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with shouts and battle cries. |
| 21Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. | 21Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. |
| 22David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. | 22David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers. |
| 23As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. | 23As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, came out from the Philistine ranks. Then David heard him shout his usual taunt to the army of Israel. |
| 24Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear. | 24As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright. |
| 25Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel." | 25“Have you seen the giant?” the men asked. “He comes out each day to defy Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give that man one of his daughters for a wife, and the man’s entire family will be exempted from paying taxes!” |
| 26David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" | 26David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and ending his defiance of Israel? Who is this pagan Philistine anyway, that he is allowed to defy the armies of the living God?” |
| 27They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him." | 27And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.” |
| 28When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle." | 28But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to the men, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about those few sheep you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and deceit. You just want to see the battle!” |
| 29"Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?" | 29“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” |
| 30He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. | 30He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer. |
| 31What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him. | 31Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. David Kills Goliath |
| 32David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." | 32“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!” |
| 33Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth." | 33“Don’t be ridiculous!” Saul replied. “There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a man of war since his youth.” |
| 34But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, | 34But David persisted. “I have been taking care of my father’s sheep and goats,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, |
| 35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. | 35I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. |
| 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. | 36I have done this to both lions and bears, and I’ll do it to this pagan Philistine, too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! |
| 37The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." | 37The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!” Saul finally consented. “All right, go ahead,” he said. “And may the LORD be with you!” |
| 38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. | 38Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. |
| 39David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off. | 39David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before. “I can’t go in these,” he protested to Saul. “I’m not used to them.” So David took them off again. |
| 40Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine. | 40He picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his shepherd’s bag. Then, armed only with his shepherd’s staff and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. |
| 41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. | 41Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, |
| 42He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. | 42sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy. |
| 43He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. | 43“Am I a dog,” he roared at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by the names of his gods. |
| 44"Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!" | 44“Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled. |
| 45David 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 Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. | 45David replied to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of Heaven’s Armies—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. |
| 46This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. | 46Today the LORD will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! |
| 47All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands." | 47And everyone assembled here will know that the LORD rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the LORD’s battle, and he will give you to us!” |
| 48As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. | 48As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. |
| 49Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground. | 49Reaching into his shepherd’s bag and taking out a stone, he hurled it with his sling and hit the Philistine in the forehead. The stone sank in, and Goliath stumbled and fell face down on the ground. |
| 50So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him. | 50So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword. |
| 51David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. | 51Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head. Israel Routs the Philistines When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran. |
| 52Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. | 52Then the men of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and rushed after the Philistines, chasing them as far as Gath and the gates of Ekron. The bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were strewn all along the road from Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. |
| 53When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp. | 53Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp. |
| 54David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent. | 54(David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man’s armor in his own tent.) |
| 55As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know." | 55As Saul watched David go out to fight the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “I really don’t know,” Abner declared. |
| 56The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is." | 56“Well, find out who he is!” the king told him. |
| 57As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head. | 57As soon as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand. |
| 58"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem." | 58“Tell me about your father, young man,” Saul said. And David replied, “His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem.” |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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