New Living Translation

New American Standard Bible 1995

1The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim.

1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle; and they were gathered at Socoh which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.

2Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah.

2Saul and the men of Israel were gathered and camped in the valley of Elah, and drew up in battle array to encounter the Philistines.

3So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.

3The Philistines stood on the mountain on one side while Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

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!

4Then a champion came out from the armies of the Philistines named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.

5He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was clothed with scale-armor which weighed five thousand shekels of bronze.

6He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder.

6He also had bronze greaves on his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.

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.

7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred shekels of iron; his shield-carrier also walked before him.

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!

8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why do you come out to draw up in battle array? Am I not the Philistine and you servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves and let him come down to me.

9If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!

9"If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall become our servants and serve us."

10I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!”

10Again the Philistine said, "I defy the ranks of Israel this day; give me a man that we may fight together."

11When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. Jesse Sends David to Saul’s Camp

11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

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.

12Now David was the son of the Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and he had eight sons. And Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

13Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea —had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines.

13The three older 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 the second to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army,

14David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul,

15but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.

15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's flock at Bethlehem.

16For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.

16The Philistine came forward morning and evening for forty days and took his stand.

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.

17Then Jesse said to David his son, "Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves and run to the camp to your brothers.

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. ”

18"Bring also these ten cuts of cheese to the commander of their thousand, and look into the welfare of your brothers, and bring back news of them.

19David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.

19"For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines."

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.

20So David arose early in the morning and left the flock with a keeper and took the supplies and went as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the circle of the camp while the army was going out in battle array shouting the war cry.

21Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army.

21Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.

22David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers.

22Then David left his baggage in the care of the baggage keeper, and ran to the battle line and entered in order to greet his brothers.

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.

23As he was talking with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine from Gath named Goliath, was coming up from the army of the Philistines, and he spoke these same words; and David heard them.

24As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright.

24When all the men of Israel saw the man, they fled from him and were greatly afraid.

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!”

25The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who is coming up? Surely he is coming up to defy Israel. And it will be that the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel."

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?”

26Then David spoke to the men who were standing by him, saying, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should taunt the armies of the living God?"

27And these men gave David the same reply. They said, “Yes, that is the reward for killing him.”

27The people answered him in accord with this word, saying, "Thus it will be done for the man who kills him."

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!”

28Now Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger burned against David and he said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart; for you have come down in order to see the battle."

29“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!”

29But David said, "What have I done now? Was it not just a question?"

30He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer.

30Then he turned away from him to another and said the same thing; and the people answered the same thing as before.

31Then David’s question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him. David Kills Goliath

31When the words which David spoke were heard, they told them to Saul, and he sent for him.

32“Don’t worry about this Philistine,” David told Saul. “I’ll go fight him!”

32David said to Saul, "Let no man's heart fail on account of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine."

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.”

33Then Saul said to David, "You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth."

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,

34But David said to Saul, "Your servant was tending his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

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.

35I went out after him and attacked him, and rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and struck him and killed him.

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!

36"Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God."

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!”

37And David said, "The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."

38Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail.

38Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor.

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.

39David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David took them off.

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.

40He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, even in his pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

41Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him,

41Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him.

42sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.

42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, with a handsome appearance.

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.

43The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44“Come over here, and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!” Goliath yelled.

44The Philistine also said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field."

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.

45Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted.

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!

46"This day the LORD will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,

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!”

47and that all this assembly may know that the LORD does not deliver by sword or by spear; for the battle is the LORD'S and He will give you into our hands."

48As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.

48Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

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.

49And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

50So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.

50Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David's hand.

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.

51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

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.

52The men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the slain Philistines lay along the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron.

53Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp.

53The sons of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines and plundered their camps.

54(David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man’s armor in his own tent.)

54Then David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

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.

55Now when Saul saw David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" And Abner said, "By your life, O king, I do not know."

56“Well, find out who he is!” the king told him.

56The king said, "You inquire whose son the youth is."

57As soon as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine’s head still in his hand.

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

58“Tell me about your father, young man,” Saul said. And David replied, “His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem.”

58Saul said to him, "Whose son are you, young man?" And David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite."

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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