1Samuel 17
17The Philistines now mustered their army for battle and camped between Socoh in Judah and Azekah at Ephes-dammim.H6430H622H4264H4421H622H7755H3063H2583H7755H5825H6582Saul countered by gathering his Israelite troops near the valley of Elah.H7586H376H3478H622H2583H6010H425H4421H6186H7125H64303So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them.H6430H5975H2022H3478H5975H2022H15164Then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall!H3318H376H1143H4264H6430H8034H1555H1661H1363H8337H520H22395He wore a bronze helmet, and his bronze coat of mail weighed 125 pounds.H3553H5178H7218H3847H8302H7193H4948H8302H2568H505H8255H51786He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder.H4697H5178H7272H3591H5178H38027The 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.H6086H2671H2595H707H4500H2595H3852H8337H3967H8255H1270H5375H6793H1980H64408Goliath 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!H5975H7121H4634H3478H559H3318H4421H6186H6430H5650H7586H1262H376H33819If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves!H3201H3898H5221H5650H3201H5221H5650H564710I defy the armies of Israel today! Send me a man who will fight me!"H6430H559H2778H4634H3478H3117H5414H376H3898H316211When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken.H7586H3478H8085H1697H6430H2865H3966H337212Now 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.H1732H1121H376H673H1035H3063H8034H3448H8083H1121H376H935H582H2204H3117H758613Jesse's three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea—had already joined Saul's army to fight the Philistines.H7969H1419H1121H3448H3212H310H7586H4421H8034H7969H1121H1980H4421H446H1060H4932H41H7992H804814David was the youngest son. David's three oldest brothers stayed with Saul's army,H1732H6996H7969H1419H1980H310H758615but David went back and forth so he could help his father with the sheep in Bethlehem.H1732H1980H7725H7586H7462H1H6629H103516For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine champion strutted in front of the Israelite army.H6430H5066H7925H6150H3320H705H311717One day Jesse said to David, "Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers.H3448H559H1732H1121H3947H251H374H2088H7039H6235H3899H7323H4264H25118And 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."H935H6235H2461H2757H8269H505H6485H251H7965H3947H616119David's brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.H7586H376H3478H6010H425H3898H643020So 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.H1732H7925H1242H5203H6629H8104H5375H3212H3448H6680H935H4570H2428H3318H4634H7321H442121Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army.H3478H6430H6186H4634H7125H463422David left his things with the keeper of supplies and hurried out to the ranks to greet his brothers.H1732H5203H3627H3027H8104H3627H7323H4634H935H7592H7965H25123As 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.H1696H5927H376H1143H6430H1661H1555H8034H4634H4630H6430H1696H428H1697H1732H808524As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in fright.H376H3478H7200H376H5127H6440H3966H337225"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!"H376H3478H559H7200H376H5927H2778H3478H5927H376H5221H4428H6238H1419H6239H5414H1323H6213H1H1004H2670H347826David 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?"H1732H559H582H5975H559H6213H376H5221H1975H6430H5493H2781H3478H6189H6430H2778H4634H2416H43027And these men gave David the same reply. They said, "Yes, that is the reward for killing him."H5971H559H1697H559H6213H376H522128But 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!"H446H1419H251H8085H1696H582H446H639H2734H1732H559H3381H5203H2007H4592H6629H4057H3045H2087H7455H3824H3381H7200H442129"What have I done now?" David replied. "I was only asking a question!"H1732H559H6213H169730He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and received the same answer.H5437H681H4136H312H559H1697H5971H1697H7725H7223H169731Then David's question was reported to King Saul, and the king sent for him.H1697H8085H1732H1696H5046H6440H7586H394732"Don't worry about this Philistine," David told Saul. "I'll go fight him!"H1732H559H7586H120H3820H5307H5650H3212H3898H643033"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."H7586H559H1732H3201H3212H6430H3898H5288H376H4421H527134But 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,H1732H559H7586H5650H7462H1H6629H935H738H1677H5375H7716H2089H573935I 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.H3318H310H5221H5337H6310H6965H2388H2206H5221H419136I 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!H5650H5221H738H1677H6189H6430H259H2778H4634H2416H43037The 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!"H1732H559H3068H5337H3027H738H3027H1677H5337H3027H6430H7586H559H1732H3212H306838Then Saul gave David his own armor—a bronze helmet and a coat of mail.H7586H3847H1732H4055H5414H6959H5178H7218H3847H830239David 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.H1732H2296H2719H4055H2974H3212H5254H1732H559H7586H3201H3212H5254H1732H549340He 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.H3947H4731H3027H977H2568H2512H68H5158H7760H7462H3627H3219H7050H3027H5066H643041Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him,H6430H3212H1980H7131H1732H376H5375H6793H644042sneering in contempt at this ruddy-faced boy.H6430H5027H7200H1732H959H5288H132H3303H475843"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.H6430H559H1732H3611H935H4731H6430H7043H1732H43044"Come over here, and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals!" Goliath yelled.H6430H559H1732H3212H5414H1320H5775H8064H929H770445David 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.H559H1732H6430H935H2719H2595H3591H935H8034H3068H6635H430H4634H3478H277846Today 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!H3117H3068H5462H3027H5221H5493H7218H5414H6297H4264H6430H3117H5775H8064H2416H776H776H3045H3426H430H347847And 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!"H6951H3045H3068H3467H2719H2595H4421H3068H5414H302748As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him.H6430H6965H3212H7126H7125H1732H1732H4116H7323H4634H7125H643049Reaching 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.H1732H7971H3027H3627H3947H68H7049H5221H6430H4696H68H2883H4696H5307H6440H77650So David triumphed over the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, for he had no sword.H1732H2388H4480H6430H7050H68H5221H6430H4191H2719H3027H173251Then David ran over and pulled Goliath's sword from its sheath. David used it to kill him and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.H1732H7323H5975H6430H3947H2719H8025H8593H4191H3772H7218H6430H7200H1368H4191H512752Then 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.H582H3478H3063H6965H7321H7291H6430H935H1516H8179H6138H2491H6430H5307H1870H8189H1661H613853Then the Israelite army returned and plundered the deserted Philistine camp.H1121H3478H7725H1814H310H6430H8155H426454(David took the Philistine's head to Jerusalem, but he stored the man's armor in his own tent.)H1732H3947H7218H6430H935H3389H7760H3627H16855As 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.H7586H7200H1732H3318H7125H6430H559H74H8269H6635H74H1121H5288H74H559H5315H2416H4428H518H304556"Well, find out who he is!" the king told him.H4428H559H7592H1121H595857As soon as David returned from killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul with the Philistine's head still in his hand.H1732H7725H5221H6430H74H3947H935H6440H7586H7218H6430H302758"Tell me about your father, young man," Saul said. And David replied, "His name is Jesse, and we live in Bethlehem."H7586H559H1121H5288H1732H559H1121H5650H3448H1022
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