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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "//www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="//www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"><title>1 Samuel 17 GNT</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/1_samuel/17.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/1_samuel/17-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="//biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">GNT</a> > 1 Samuel 17</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../1_samuel/16.htm" title="1 Samuel 16">◄</a> 1 Samuel 17 <a href="../1_samuel/18.htm" title="1 Samuel 18">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading">Good News Translation</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s">Goliath Challenges the Israelites</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.1" class="v9_17_1">1</span>The Philistines gathered for battle in Socoh, a town in Judah; they camped at a place called Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. </span><span class="v9_17_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.2" class="v9_17_2">2</span>Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in Elah Valley, where they got ready to fight the Philistines. </span><span class="v9_17_3"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.3" class="v9_17_3">3</span>The Philistines lined up on one hill and the Israelites on another, with a valley between them.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.4" class="v9_17_4">4</span>A man named Goliath, from the city of Gath, came out from the Philistine camp to challenge the Israelites. He was over nine feet<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.4!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> tall </span><span class="v9_17_5"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.5" class="v9_17_5">5</span>and wore bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds and a bronze helmet. </span><span class="v9_17_6"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.6" class="v9_17_6">6</span>His legs were also protected by bronze armor, and he carried a bronze javelin slung over his shoulder. </span><span class="v9_17_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.7" class="v9_17_7">7</span>His spear was as thick as the bar on a weaver's loom, and its iron head weighed about fifteen pounds. A soldier walked in front of him carrying his shield. </span><span class="v9_17_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.8" class="v9_17_8">8</span>Goliath stood and shouted at the Israelites, “What are you doing there, lined up for battle? I am a Philistine, you slaves of Saul! Choose one of your men to fight me. </span><span class="v9_17_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.9" class="v9_17_9">9</span>If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves; but if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. </span><span class="v9_17_10"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.10" class="v9_17_10">10</span>Here and now I challenge the Israelite army. I dare you to pick someone to fight me!” </span><span class="v9_17_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.11" class="v9_17_11">11</span>When Saul and his men heard this, they were terrified.</span></p><h3 class="s">David in Saul's Camp</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.12" class="v9_17_12">12</span>David was the son of Jesse, who was an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and at the time Saul was king, he was already a very old man.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.12!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v9_17_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.13" class="v9_17_13">13</span>His three oldest sons had gone with Saul to war. The oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah. </span><span class="v9_17_14"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.14" class="v9_17_14">14</span>David was the youngest son, and while the three oldest brothers stayed with Saul, </span><span class="v9_17_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.15" class="v9_17_15">15</span>David would go back to Bethlehem from time to time, to take care of his father's sheep.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.16" class="v9_17_16">16</span>Goliath challenged the Israelites every morning and evening for forty days.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_17"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.17" class="v9_17_17">17</span>One day Jesse said to David, “Take a half-bushel of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and hurry with them to your brothers in the camp. </span><span class="v9_17_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.18" class="v9_17_18">18</span>And take these ten cheeses to the commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are getting along and bring back something to show that you saw them and that they are well. </span><span class="v9_17_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.19" class="v9_17_19">19</span>King Saul, your brothers, and all the other Israelites are in Elah Valley fighting the Philistines.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.20" class="v9_17_20">20</span>David got up early the next morning, left someone else in charge of the sheep, took the food, and went as Jesse had told him to. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelites were going out to their battle line, shouting the war cry. </span><span class="v9_17_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.21" class="v9_17_21">21</span>The Philistine and the Israelite armies took positions for battle, facing each other. </span><span class="v9_17_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.22" class="v9_17_22">22</span>David left the food with the officer in charge of the supplies, ran to the battle line, went to his brothers, and asked how they were getting along. </span><span class="v9_17_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.23" class="v9_17_23">23</span>As he was talking with them, Goliath came forward and challenged the Israelites as he had done before. And David heard him. </span><span class="v9_17_24"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.24" class="v9_17_24">24</span>When the Israelites saw Goliath, they ran away in terror. </span><span class="v9_17_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.25" class="v9_17_25">25</span>“Look at him!” they said to each other. “Listen to his challenge! King Saul has promised to give a big reward to the man who kills him; the king will also give him his daughter to marry and will not require his father's family to pay taxes.”<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.25!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_26"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.26" class="v9_17_26">26</span>David asked the men who were near him, “What will the man get who kills this Philistine and frees Israel from this disgrace? After all, who is this heathen Philistine to defy the army of the living God?” </span><span class="v9_17_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.27" class="v9_17_27">27</span>They told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_28"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.28" class="v9_17_28">28</span>Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. He became angry with David and said, “What are you doing here? Who is taking care of those sheep of yours out there in the wilderness? You smart aleck, you! You just came to watch the fighting!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_29"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.29" class="v9_17_29">29</span>“Now what have I done?” David asked. “Can't I even ask a question?” </span><span class="v9_17_30"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.30" class="v9_17_30">30</span>He turned to another man and asked him the same question, and every time he asked, he got the same answer.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_31"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.31" class="v9_17_31">31</span>Some men heard what David had said, and they told Saul, who sent for him. </span><span class="v9_17_32"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.32" class="v9_17_32">32</span>David said to Saul, “Your Majesty, no one should be afraid of this Philistine! I will go and fight him.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_33"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.33" class="v9_17_33">33</span>“No,” answered Saul. “How could you fight him? You're just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_34"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.34" class="v9_17_34">34</span>“Your Majesty,” David said, “I take care of my father's sheep. Any time a lion or a bear carries off a lamb, </span><span class="v9_17_35"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.35" class="v9_17_35">35</span>I go after it, attack it, and rescue the lamb. And if the lion or bear turns on me, I grab it by the throat and beat it to death. </span><span class="v9_17_36"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.36" class="v9_17_36">36</span>I have killed lions and bears, and I will do the same to this heathen Philistine, who has defied the army of the living God. </span><span class="v9_17_37"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.37" class="v9_17_37">37</span>The <span class="nd">Lord</span> has saved me from lions and bears; he will save me from this Philistine.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_37">“All right,” Saul answered. “Go, and the <span class="nd">Lord</span> be with you.” </span><span class="v9_17_38"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.38" class="v9_17_38">38</span>He gave his own armor to David for him to wear: a bronze helmet, which he put on David's head, and a coat of armor. </span><span class="v9_17_39"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.39" class="v9_17_39">39</span>David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk, but he couldn't, because he wasn't used to wearing them. “I can't fight with all this,” he said to Saul. “I'm not used to it.” So he took it all off. </span><span class="v9_17_40"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.40" class="v9_17_40">40</span>He took his shepherd's stick and then picked up five smooth stones from the stream and put them in his bag. With his sling ready, he went out to meet Goliath.</span></p><h3 class="s">David Defeats Goliath</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_41"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.41" class="v9_17_41">41</span>The Philistine started walking toward David, with his shield bearer walking in front of him. He kept coming closer, </span><span class="v9_17_42"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.42" class="v9_17_42">42</span>and when he got a good look at David, he was filled with scorn for him because he was just a nice, good-looking boy. </span><span class="v9_17_43"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.43" class="v9_17_43">43</span>He said to David, “What's that stick for? Do you think I'm a dog?” And he called down curses from his god on David. </span><span class="v9_17_44"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.44" class="v9_17_44">44</span>“Come on,” he challenged David, “and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_45"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.45" class="v9_17_45">45</span>David answered, “You are coming against me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> Almighty, the God of the Israelite armies, which you have defied. </span><span class="v9_17_46"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.46" class="v9_17_46">46</span>This very day the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will put you in my power; I will defeat you and cut off your head. And I will give the bodies of the Philistine soldiers to the birds and animals to eat. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a God, </span><span class="v9_17_47"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.47" class="v9_17_47">47</span>and everyone here will see that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> does not need swords or spears to save his people. He is victorious in battle, and he will put all of you in our power.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_48"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.48" class="v9_17_48">48</span>Goliath started walking toward David again, and David ran quickly toward the Philistine battle line to fight him. </span><span class="v9_17_49"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.49" class="v9_17_49">49</span>He reached into his bag and took out a stone, which he slung at Goliath. It hit him on the forehead and broke his skull, and Goliath fell face downward on the ground. </span><span class="v9_17_50"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.50" class="v9_17_50">50</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.50!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span>-</span></a> And so, without a sword, David defeated and killed Goliath with a sling and a stone! </span><span class="v9_17_51"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.51" class="v9_17_51">51</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.51!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span>-</span></a> He ran to him, stood over him, took Goliath's sword out of its sheath, and cut off his head and killed him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_51">When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran away. </span><span class="v9_17_52"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.52" class="v9_17_52">52</span>The men of Israel and Judah shouted and ran after them, pursuing them all the way to Gath<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.52!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and to the gates of Ekron. The Philistines fell wounded all along the road that leads to Shaaraim, as far as Gath and Ekron. </span><span class="v9_17_53"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.53" class="v9_17_53">53</span>When the Israelites came back from pursuing the Philistines, they looted their camp. </span><span class="v9_17_54"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.54" class="v9_17_54">54</span>David got Goliath's head and took it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.</span></p><h3 class="s">David Is Presented to Saul</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_55"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.55" class="v9_17_55">55</span>When Saul saw David going out to fight Goliath, he asked Abner, the commander of his army, “Abner, whose son is he?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_55">“I have no idea, Your Majesty,” Abner answered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_56"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.56" class="v9_17_56">56</span>“Then go and find out,” Saul ordered.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_57"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.57" class="v9_17_57">57</span>So when David returned to camp after killing Goliath, Abner took him to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head. </span><span class="v9_17_58"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.58" class="v9_17_58">58</span>Saul asked him, “Young man, whose son are you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_58">“I am the son of your servant Jesse from Bethlehem,” David answered.</span></p><a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.4: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">nine feet; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">one ancient Hebrew manuscript and one ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">seven feet.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.12: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Some ancient translations </char><char style="fq" closed="false">a very old man; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew unclear.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.25: </char><char style="fq" closed="false">to pay taxes; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">or </char><char style="fq" closed="false">either to pay taxes or serve him.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.52: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Gath; </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Hebrew </char><char style="fq" closed="false">a valley.</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Good News Translation® (Today’s English Version, Second Edition)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 1992 American Bible Society. 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