The First Book of Samuel, starting at chapter 16
{16:1} The LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul,
since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn
with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I
have provided a king for myself among his sons."
{16:2} Samuel said, "How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill
me."
The LORD said, "Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to
sacrifice to the LORD. {16:3} Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will
show you what you shall do. You shall anoint to me him whom I name to
you."
{16:4} Samuel did that which the LORD spoke, and came to Bethlehem.
The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, "Do you
come peaceably?"
{16:5} He said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.
Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." He sanctified
Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. {16:6} It
happened, when they had come, that he looked at Eliab, and said,
"Surely the LORD's anointed is before him."
{16:7} But the LORD said to Samuel, "Don't look on his face, or on
the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for [the LORD
sees] not as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but
the LORD looks at the heart." {16:8} Then Jesse called Abinadab, and
made him pass before Samuel. He said, "Neither has the LORD chosen
this one." {16:9} Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said,
"Neither has the LORD chosen this one." {16:10} Jesse made seven of
his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, "The LORD has
not chosen these." {16:11} Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your
children here?"
He said, "There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is keeping
the sheep."
Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and get him; for we will not sit down
until he comes here."
{16:12} He sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal of
a beautiful face, and goodly to look on. The LORD said, "Arise, anoint
him; for this is he."
{16:13} Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the
midst of his brothers: and the Spirit of the LORD came mightily on
David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
{16:14} Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil
spirit from the LORD troubled him. {16:15} Saul's servants said to
him, "See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. {16:16} Let our
lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man
who is a skillful player on the harp. It shall happen, when the evil
spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you
shall be well."
{16:17} Saul said to his servants, "Provide me now a man who can
play well, and bring him to me."
{16:18} Then one of the young men answered, and said, "Behold, I
have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing,
a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a comely
person; and the LORD is with him."
{16:19} Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, "Send me
David your son, who is with the sheep."
{16:20} Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a bottle of wine,
and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul. {16:21}
David came to Saul, and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he
became his armor bearer. {16:22} Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Please
let David stand before me; for he has found favor in my sight."
{16:23} It happened, when the [evil] spirit from God was on Saul, that
David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed,
and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
{17:1} Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle;
and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and
encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim. {17:2} Saul and the
men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of
Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. {17:3} The
Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on
the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
{17:4} There went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines,
named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. {17:5}
He had a helmet of brass on his head, and he was clad with a coat of
mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
{17:6} He had brass shin armor on his legs, and a javelin of brass
between his shoulders. {17:7} The staff of his spear was like a
weaver's beam; and his spear's head [weighed] six hundred shekels of
iron: and his shield bearer went before him. {17:8} He stood and cried
to the armies of Israel, and said to them, "Why have you come out to
set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you servants to
Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. {17:9}
If he be able to fight with me, and kill me, then will we be your
servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then you will be
our servants, and serve us." {17:10} The Philistine said, "I defy the
armies of Israel this day! Give me a man, that we may fight together!"
{17:11} When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the
Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid. {17:12} Now David
was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was
Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days
of Saul, stricken [in years] among men. {17:13} The three eldest sons
of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three
sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him
Abinadab, and the third Shammah. {17:14} David was the youngest; and
the three eldest followed Saul. {17:15} Now David went back and forth
from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. {17:16} The
Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty
days. {17:17} Jesse said to David his son, "Now take for your brothers
an [1>]efah[<1] of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry
[them] quickly to the camp to your brothers; {17:18} and bring these
ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand, and see how your
brothers are doing, and bring back news." {17:19} Now Saul, and they,
and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with
the Philistines. {17:20} David rose up early in the morning, and left
the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded
him; and he came to the place of the wagons, as the army which was
going forth to the fight shouted for the battle. {17:21} Israel and
the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. {17:22}
David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and
ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. {17:23} As he
talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine
of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and
spoke according to the same words: and David heard them. {17:24} All
the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were
terrified. {17:25} The men of Israel said, "Have you seen this man who
is come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. It shall be, that
the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and
will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in
Israel."
{17:26} David spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, "What shall
be done to the man who kills this Philistine, and takes away the
reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that
he should defy the armies of the living God?"
{17:27} The people answered him in this way, saying, "So shall it be
done to the man who kills him."
{17:28} 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? With whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness?
I know your pride, and the naughtiness of your heart; for you have
come down that you might see the battle."
{17:29} David said, "What have I now done? Is there not a cause?"
{17:30} He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that
again; and the people answered him again the same way. {17:31} When
the words were heard which David spoke, they rehearsed them before
Saul; and he sent for him. {17:32} David said to Saul, "Let no man's
heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this
Philistine."
{17:33} 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 a man of
war from his youth."
{17:34} David said to Saul, "Your servant was keeping his father's
sheep; and when a lion or a bear came, and took a lamb out of the
flock, {17:35} I went out after him, and struck him, and rescued it
out of his mouth. When he arose against me, I caught him by his beard,
and struck him, and killed him. {17:36} Your servant struck both the
lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of
them, since he has defied the armies of the living God." {17:37} David
said, "The LORD who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out
of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this
Philistine."
Saul said to David, "Go; and the LORD shall be with you." {17:38}
Saul dressed David with his clothing. He put a helmet of brass on his
head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. {17:39} David strapped his
sword on his clothing, and he tried to move; for he had not tested it.
David said to Saul, "I can't go with these; for I have not tested
them." David took them off.
{17:40} He took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five
smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's bag
which he had, even in his wallet. His sling was in his hand; and he
drew near to the Philistine. {17:41} The Philistine came on and drew
near to David; and the man who bore the shield went before him.
{17:42} When the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained
him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair face.
{17:43} The Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come to me
with sticks?" The Philistine cursed David by his gods. {17:44} The
Philistine said to David, "Come to me, and I will give your flesh to
the birds of the sky, and to the animals of the field."
{17:45} Then David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a
sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to you in the
name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you
have defied. {17:46} Today, the LORD will deliver you into my hand. I
will strike you, and take your head from off you. I will give the dead
bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the
sky, and to the wild animals of the earth; that all the earth may know
that there is a God in Israel, {17:47} and that all this assembly may
know that the LORD doesn't save with sword and spear: for the battle
is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hand."
{17:48} It happened, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew
near to meet David, that David hurried, and ran toward the army to
meet the Philistine. {17:49} David put his hand in his bag, took a
stone, and slung it, and struck the Philistine in his forehead; and
the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the
earth. {17:50} So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and
with a stone, and struck the Philistine, and killed him; but there was
no sword in the hand of David. {17:51} Then David ran, and stood over
the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and
killed him, and cut off his head therewith. When the Philistines saw
that their champion was dead, they fled. {17:52} The men of Israel and
of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until you
come to Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. The wounded of the Philistines
fell down by the way to Shaaraim, even to Gath, and to Ekron. {17:53}
The children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines,
and they plundered their camp. {17:54} David took the head of the
Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his
tent. {17:55} When Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he
said to Abner, the captain of the army, "Abner, whose son is this
youth?"
Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I can't tell."
{17:56} The king said, "Inquire whose son the young man is!"
{17:57} As David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine,
Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the
Philistine in his hand. {17:58} Saul said to him, "Whose son are you,
you young man?"
David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse the
Bethlehemite."
{18:1} It happened, when he had made an end of speaking to Saul,
that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul. {18:2} Saul took him that day, and
would let him go no more home to his father's house. {18:3} Then
Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own
soul. {18:4} Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him,
and gave it to David, and his clothing, even to his sword, and to his
bow, and to his sash. {18:5} David went out wherever Saul sent him,
[and] behaved himself wisely: and Saul set him over the men of war,
and it was good in the sight of all the people, and also in the sight
of Saul's servants. {18:6} It happened as they came, when David
returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women came out
of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet king Saul,
with tambourines, with joy, and with instruments of music. {18:7} The
women sang one to another as they played, and said,
"Saul has slain his thousands,
David his ten thousands."
{18:8} Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him; and he
said, "They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have
ascribed but thousands. What can he have more but the kingdom?" {18:9}
Saul eyed David from that day and forward. {18:10} It happened on the
next day, that an evil spirit from God came mightily on Saul, and he
prophesied in the midst of the house. David played with his hand, as
he did day by day. Saul had his spear in his hand; {18:11} and Saul
threw the spear; for he said, "I will pin David even to the wall!"
David escaped from his presence twice. {18:12} Saul was afraid of
David, because the LORD was with him, and was departed from Saul.
{18:13} Therefore Saul removed him from him, and made him his captain
over a thousand; and he went out and came in before the people.
{18:14} David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the LORD
was with him. {18:15} When Saul saw that he behaved himself very
wisely, he stood in awe of him. {18:16} But all Israel and Judah loved
David; for he went out and came in before them. {18:17} Saul said to
David, "Behold, my elder daughter Merab, I will give her to you as
wife. Only be valiant for me, and fight the LORD's battles." For Saul
said, "Don't let my hand be on him, but let the hand of the
Philistines be on him." {18:18} David said to Saul, "Who am I, and
what is my life, or my father's family in Israel, that I should be
son-in-law to the king?"
{18:19} But it happened at the time when Merab, Saul's daughter,
should have been given to David, that she was given to Adriel the
Meholathite as wife. {18:20} Michal, Saul's daughter, loved David; and
they told Saul, and the thing pleased him. {18:21} Saul said, I will
give her to him, that she may be a snare to him, and that the hand of
the Philistines may be against him. Therefore Saul said to David, "You
shall this day be my son-in-law a second time." {18:22} Saul commanded
his servants, "Talk with David secretly, and say, 'Behold, the king
has delight in you, and all his servants love you: now therefore be
the king's son-in-law.'"
{18:23} Saul's servants spoke those words in the ears of David.
David said, "Does it seems to you a light thing to be the king's
son-in-law, since I am a poor man, and lightly esteemed?"
{18:24} The servants of Saul told him, saying, "David spoke like
this."
{18:25} Saul said, "You shall tell David, 'The king desires no dowry
except one hundred foreskins of the Philistines, to be avenged of the
king's enemies.'" Now Saul thought to make David fall by the hand of
the Philistines. {18:26} When his servants told David these words, it
pleased David well to be the king's son-in-law. The days were not
expired; {18:27} and David arose and went, he and his men, and killed
of the Philistines two hundred men; and David brought their foreskins,
and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might be the
king's son-in-law. Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife. {18:28}
Saul saw and knew that the LORD was with David; and Michal, Saul's
daughter, loved him. {18:29} Saul was yet the more afraid of David;
and Saul was David's enemy continually. {18:30} Then the princes of
the Philistines went forth: and it happened, as often as they went
forth, that David behaved himself more wisely than all the servants of
Saul; so that his name was highly esteemed.
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Footnotes:
[1] {17:17} 1 efah is about 22 litres or about 2/3 of a bushel
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