1Sa 17, 1Sa 26 | 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 26

David Spares Saul Again

1 ^bqThen the Ziphites came to Saul at Gibeah, saying, “Is not David hiding himself on the hill of Hachilah, which is on the east of Jeshimon?” 2 So Saul arose and went down to ^brthe wilderness of Ziph with ^bsthree thousand chosen men of Israel to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph. 3 And Saul encamped on the hill of Hachilah, which is beside the road on the east of Jeshimon. But David remained in the wilderness. When he saw that Saul came after him into the wilderness, 4 David sent out spies and learned that Saul had indeed come. 5 Then David rose and came to the place where Saul had encamped. And David saw the place where Saul lay, with ^btAbner the son of Ner, the commander of his army. Saul was lying within ^buthe encampment, while the army was encamped around him.

6 Then David said to Ahimelech the Hittite, and to Joab’s brother ^bvAbishai the son of Zeruiah, ^bw“Who will go down with me into the camp to Saul?” And Abishai said, “I will go down with you.” 7 So David and Abishai went to the army by night. And there lay Saul sleeping within ^bxthe encampment, with his spear stuck in the ground ^byat his head, and Abner and the army lay around him. 8 Then Abishai said to David, ^bz“God has given your enemy into your hand this day. Now please let me pin him to the earth with one stroke of the spear, and I will not strike him twice.” 9 But David said to Abishai, “Do not destroy him, for who can put out his hand ^caagainst the Lord’s anointed and be guiltless?” 10 And David said, ^cb“As the Lord lives, ^ccthe Lord will strike him, or ^cdhis day will come to die, ^ceor he will go down into battle and perish. 11 ^cfThe Lord forbid that I should put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But take now the spear that is ^cgat his head and the jar of water, and let us go.” 12 So David took the spear and the jar of water from Saul’s head, and they went away. No man saw it or knew it, nor did any awake, for they were all asleep, because ^cha deep sleep from the Lord had fallen upon them.

13 Then David went over to the other side and stood far off on the top of the hill, with a great space between them. 14 And David called to the army, and to Abner the son of Ner, saying, “Will you not answer, Abner?” Then Abner answered, “Who are you who calls to the king?” 15 And David said to Abner, “Are you not a man? Who is like you in Israel? Why then have you not kept watch over your lord the king? For one of the people came in to destroy the king your lord. 16 This thing that you have done is not good. ^ciAs the Lord lives, you deserve to die, because you have not kept watch over your lord, the Lord’s anointed. And now see where the king’s spear is and the jar of water that was ^cjat his head.”

17 Saul recognized David’s voice and said, ^ck“Is this your voice, my son David?” And David said, “It is my voice, my lord, O king.” 18 And he said, ^cl“Why does my lord pursue after his servant? For what have I done? What evil is on my hands? 19 Now therefore let my lord the king hear the words of his servant. If it is the Lord who has stirred you up against me, may he accept an offering, but if it is men, may they be cursed before the Lord, ^cmfor they have driven me out this day that I should have no share in ^cnthe heritage of the Lord, saying, ‘Go, serve other gods.’ 20 Now therefore, let not my blood fall to the earth away from the presence of the Lord, for the king of Israel has come out to seek ^coa single flea like one who hunts a partridge in the mountains.”

21 Then Saul said, ^cp“I have sinned. Return, my son David, for I will no more do you harm, because my life was precious in your eyes this day. Behold, I have acted foolishly, and have made a great mistake.” 22 And David answered and said, “Here is the spear, O king! Let one of the young men come over and take it. 23 ^cqThe Lord rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness, for the Lord gave you into my hand today, and I would not put out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. 24 Behold, as your life was precious this day in my sight, so may my life be precious in the sight of the Lord, and may he deliver me out of all tribulation.” 25 Then Saul said to David, “Blessed be you, my son David! You will do many things and will ^crsucceed in them.” So David went his way, and Saul returned to his place.