1Sa 7, 1Sa 17 | ESV | STEP | And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill . And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord .

1 And the men of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord and brought it to the house of ^aAbinadab on the hill. And they consecrated his son Eleazar to have charge of the ark of the Lord. 2 From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.

Samuel Judges Israel

3 And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, ^b“If you are returning to the Lord with all your heart, then ^cput away the foreign gods and the ^dAshtaroth from among you and ^edirect your heart to the Lord ^fand serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.” 4 So the people of Israel put away the Baals and the Ashtaroth, and they served the Lord only.

5 Then Samuel said, “Gather all Israel at ^gMizpah, and I will pray to the Lord for you.” 6 So they gathered at ^hMizpah ⁱand drew water and poured it out before the Lord ^jand fasted on that day and said there, ^k“We have sinned against the Lord.” And Samuel judged the people of Israel at Mizpah. 7 Now when the Philistines heard that the people of Israel had gathered at Mizpah, the lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the people of Israel heard of it, they were afraid of the Philistines. 8 And the people of Israel said to Samuel, “Do not cease to cry out to the Lord our God for us, that he may save us from the hand of the Philistines.” 9 So Samuel took a nursing lamb and offered it as a whole burnt offering to the Lord. And ^lSamuel cried out to the Lord for Israel, and the Lord answered him. 10 As Samuel was offering up the burnt offering, the Philistines drew near to attack Israel. ^mBut the Lord thundered with a mighty sound that day against the Philistines and threw them into confusion, and they were defeated before Israel. 11 And the men of Israel went out from Mizpah and pursued the Philistines and struck them, as far as below Beth-car.

12 Then Samuel ⁿtook a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen ^{▼▼Hebrew; Septuagint, Syriac Jeshanah} and called its name Ebenezer; ^{▼▼ Ebenezer means stone of help} for he said, “Till now the Lord has helped us.” 13 ^qSo the Philistines were subdued and did not again enter the territory of Israel. And the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. 14 The cities that the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron to Gath, and Israel delivered their territory from the hand of the Philistines. There was peace also between Israel and the Amorites.

15 ^rSamuel judged Israel all the days of his life. 16 And he went on a circuit year by year to Bethel, Gilgal, and Mizpah. And he judged Israel in all these places. 17 Then he would return to ^sRamah, for his home was there, and there also he judged Israel. ^tAnd he built there an altar to the Lord.

1 Samuel 17

David and Goliath

1 Now the Philistines ^ugathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at ^vSocoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and ^wAzekah, in ^xEphes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in ^ythe 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 ^zGoliath of ^aaGath, 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 ^aejavelin 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. ^afAnd 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 ^agare 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 ^ahand serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, ^ai“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 ^ajthe son of an ^akEphrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, ^alnamed Jesse, ^amwho 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 ^aothe names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 ^apDavid was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul ^aqto 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 ^asAlso take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. ^atSee 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 ^authe 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 ^avthings in charge of the keeper of the ^awbaggage and ran to the ranks and went and greeted his brothers. 23 As he talked with them, behold, ^axthe champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines and spoke ^aythe 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 ^azdefy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches ^baand 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 ^bbthe reproach from Israel? For who is this ^bcuncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^bddefy the armies of ^bethe living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, ^bf“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 ^bgin 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, ^bh“Let no man’s heart fail because of him. ^biYour 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, ^bjfor he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, ^bk“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, ^bland 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, ^bmwith 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, ^bnruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^boa 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 ^bpto 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 ^bqa javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^brwhom 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. ^bsAnd I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ^btto the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^buthat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that ^bvthe Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^bwFor 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 ^bxand 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, ^bythey 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 ^caEkron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from ^cbShaaraim as far as ^ccGath and Ekron. 53 And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. 54 And David took ^cdthe head of the Philistine ^ceand 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, ^cfthe commander of the army, “Abner, ^cgwhose son is this youth?” And Abner said, ^ch“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 ^ciwith the head of the Philistine in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, ^cj“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”