1 Samuel Chapter 17 of 31 about 8 min read

1 Samuel 17

What happens in this chapter

Chapter summary coming soon.

Verse 1. Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

Verse 2. Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines.

Verse 3. The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.

Verse 4. Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,

Verse 5. and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,

Verse 6. and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.

Verse 7. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.

Verse 8. And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

Verse 9. If he is able to fight 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 and work for us.”

Verse 10. Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

Verse 11. On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Verse 12. Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul, Jesse was old and well along in years.

Verse 13. The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

Verse 14. And David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul,

Verse 15. but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.

Verse 16. For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.

Verse 17. One day 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.

Verse 18. Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them.

Verse 19. They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

Verse 20. So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry.

Verse 21. And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.

Verse 22. Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing.

Verse 23. And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.

Verse 24. When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear.

Verse 25. Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”

Verse 26. David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

Verse 27. The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

Verse 28. Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”

Verse 29. “What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”

Verse 30. Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered.

Verse 31. Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, who sent for him.

Verse 32. And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!”

Verse 33. But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

Verse 34. David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,

Verse 35. I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

Verse 36. Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

Verse 37. David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”

Verse 38. Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor.

Verse 39. David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. “I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off.

Verse 40. And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.

Verse 41. Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him.

Verse 42. When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome.

Verse 43. “Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

Verse 44. “Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

Verse 45. But David 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 of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

Verse 46. This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

Verse 47. And all those assembled 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.”

Verse 48. As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

Verse 49. Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

Verse 50. Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

Verse 51. David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him, and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

Verse 52. Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

Verse 53. When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

Verse 54. David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.

Verse 55. As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”

Verse 56. “Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king.

Verse 57. So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul.

Verse 58. “Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.