1Sa 17, 1Sa 23 | ESV | STEP | Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle . And they were gathered at Socoh , which belongs to Judah , and encamped between Socoh and Azekah , in Ephes-dammim .

1 Now the Philistines ^agathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at ^bSocoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and ^cAzekah, in ^dEphes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in ^ethe Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named ^fGoliath of ^gGath, whose height was six ^{▼▼Hebrew; Septuagint, Dead Sea Scroll and Josephus four} cubits ^{▼▼A cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters} and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels ^{▼▼A shekel was about 2/5 ounce or 11 grams} of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a ^kjavelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. ^lAnd his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and ^mare you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants ⁿand serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, ^o“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was ^pthe son of an ^qEphrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, ^rnamed Jesse, ^swho had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years. ^{▼▼Septuagint, Syriac; Hebrew advanced among men} 13 The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed Saul to the battle. And ^uthe names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 ^vDavid was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul ^wto feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. 16 For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.

17 And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah ^{▼▼An ephah was about 3/5 bushel or 22 liters} of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18 ^yAlso take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. ^zSee if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”

19 Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to ^aathe encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry. 21 And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army. 22 And David left the ^abthings in charge of the keeper of the ^acbaggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, ^adthe champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke ^aethe same words as before. And David heard him.

24 All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to ^afdefy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches ^agand will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.” 26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away ^ahthe reproach from Israel? For who is this ^aiuncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^ajdefy the armies of ^akthe living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, ^al“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

28 Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled 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 presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.” 29 And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?” 30 And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke ^amin the same way, and the people answered him again as before.

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, ^an“Let no man’s heart fail because of him. ^aoYour servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33 And 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 has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, ^apfor he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, ^aq“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, ^arand the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, ^aswith his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ^atruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^aua dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^avto the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with ^awa javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^axwhom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. ^ayAnd I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ^azto the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^bathat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that ^bbthe Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^bcFor the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine ^bdand 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, ^bethey fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath ^{▼▼Septuagint; Hebrew Gai} and the gates of ^bgEkron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from ^bhShaaraim as far as ^biGath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took ^bjthe head of the Philistine ^bkand brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

55 As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, ^blthe commander of the army, “Abner, ^bmwhose son is this youth?” And Abner said, ^bn“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” 57 And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul ^bowith the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, ^bp“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

1 Samuel 23

David Saves the City of Keilah

1 Now they told David, “Behold, the Philistines are fighting against ^bqKeilah and are robbing the threshing floors.” 2 Therefore David ^brinquired of the Lord, “Shall I go and attack these Philistines?” And the Lord said to David, “Go and attack the Philistines and save Keilah.” 3 But David’s men said to him, “Behold, we are afraid here in Judah; how much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?” 4 Then David ^bsinquired of the Lord again. And the Lord answered him, “Arise, go down to Keilah, ^btfor I will give the Philistines into your hand.” 5 And David and his men went to Keilah and fought with the Philistines and brought away their livestock and struck them with a great blow. So David saved the inhabitants of Keilah.

6 ^buWhen Abiathar the son of Ahimelech had fled to David to Keilah, he had come down with an ephod in his hand. 7 Now it was told Saul that David had come to Keilah. And Saul said, “God has given him into my hand, for he has shut himself in by entering a town that has gates and bars.” 8 And Saul summoned all the people to war, to go down to Keilah, to besiege David and his men. 9 David knew that Saul was plotting harm against him. And he said to Abiathar the priest, ^bv“Bring the ephod here.” 10 Then David said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, your servant has surely heard that Saul seeks to come to Keilah, to destroy the city on my account. 11 Will the men of Keilah surrender me into his hand? Will Saul come down, as your servant has heard? O Lord, the God of Israel, please tell your servant.” And the Lord said, “He will come down.” 12 Then David said, “Will the men of Keilah surrender me and my men into the hand of Saul?” And the Lord said, ^bw“They will surrender you.” 13 Then David and his men, ^bxwho were about six hundred, arose and departed from Keilah, and they went ^bywherever they could go. When Saul was told that David had escaped from Keilah, he gave up the expedition. 14 And David remained in the strongholds in the wilderness, in the hill country ^bzof the wilderness of ^caZiph. And Saul sought him every day, but God did not give him into his hand.

Saul Pursues David

15 David saw that Saul had come out to seek his life. David was in the wilderness of Ziph at Horesh. 16 And Jonathan, Saul’s son, rose and went to David at Horesh, and strengthened his hand in God. 17 And he said to him, “Do not fear, for the hand of Saul my father shall not find you. You shall be king over Israel, and I shall be next to you. ^cbSaul my father also knows this.” 18 ^ccAnd the two of them made a covenant before the Lord. David remained at Horesh, and Jonathan went home.

19 ^cdThen the Ziphites went up to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding among us in the strongholds at Horesh, on the hill of Hachilah, which is south of ^ceJeshimon? 20 Now come down, O king, according to all your heart’s desire to come down, ^cfand our part shall be to surrender him into the king’s hand.” 21 And Saul said, ^cg“May you be blessed by the Lord, ^chfor you have had compassion on me. 22 Go, make yet more sure. Know and see the place where his foot is, and who has seen him there, for it is told me that he is very cunning. 23 See therefore and take note of all the lurking places where he hides, and come back to me with sure information. Then I will go with you. And if he is in the land, I will search him out among all the thousands of Judah.” 24 And they arose and went to Ziph ahead of Saul.

Now David and his men were ^ciin the wilderness of Maon, ^cjin the Arabah to the south of ^ckJeshimon. 25 And Saul and his men went to seek him. And David was told, so he went down to the rock and lived in the wilderness of Maon. And when Saul heard that, he pursued after David in the wilderness of Maon. 26 Saul went on one side of the mountain, and David and his men on the other side of the mountain. And David was hurrying to get away from Saul. As Saul and his men were closing in on David and his men to capture them, 27 a messenger came to Saul, saying, “Hurry and come, for the Philistines have made a raid against the land.” 28 So Saul returned from pursuing after David and went against the Philistines. Therefore that place was called the Rock of Escape. ^{▼▼Or Rock of Divisions} 29 ^{▼▼Ch 24:1 in Hebrew} And David went up from there and lived in the strongholds of ^cnEngedi.