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1 Samuel 17 CEV
<!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 CEV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /></head><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="../">CEV</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">Contemporary English Version</div><div class="chap"><h3 class="s1">Goliath Challenges Israel's Army</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_1"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.1" class="v9_17_1">1</span>The Philistines got ready for war and brought their troops together to attack the town of Socoh in Judah. They set up camp at Ephes-Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.1!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> </span><span class="v9_17_2"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.2-1Sam.17.3" class="v9_17_2">2-3</span>King Saul and the Israelite army set up camp on a hill overlooking Elah Valley, and they got ready to fight the Philistine army that was on a hill on the other side of the valley.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_4"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.4" class="v9_17_4">4</span>The Philistine army had a hero named Goliath who was from the town of Gath and was about three meters<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.17.5-1Sam.17.6" class="v9_17_5">5-6</span>He wore a bronze helmet and had bronze armor to protect his chest and legs. The chest armor alone weighed about 57 kilograms. He carried a bronze sword strapped on his back, </span><span class="v9_17_7"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.7" class="v9_17_7">7</span>and his spear was so big that the iron spearhead alone weighed about seven kilograms. A soldier always walked in front of Goliath to carry his shield.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_8"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.8" class="v9_17_8">8</span>Goliath went out and shouted to the army of Israel:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_17_8">Why are you lining up for battle? I'm the best soldier in our army, and all of you are in Saul's army. Choose your best soldier to come out and fight me! </span><span class="v9_17_9"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.9" class="v9_17_9">9</span>If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people 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 Israel's whole army! Choose someone to fight me!</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_11"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.11" class="v9_17_11">11</span>Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn't do a thing.</span></p><h3 class="s1">David Decides To Challenge Goliath</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_12"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.12" class="v9_17_12">12</span>David's father Jesse was an old man, who belonged to the Ephrath clan and lived in Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons: </span><span class="v9_17_13"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.13-1Sam.17.14" class="v9_17_13">13-14</span>the oldest was Eliab, the next was Abinadab, and Shammah was the third. The three of them had gone off to fight in Saul's army.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_13">David was Jesse's youngest son. </span><span class="v9_17_15"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.15" class="v9_17_15">15</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.15!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> He took care of his father's sheep, and he went back and forth between Bethlehem and Saul's camp.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_16"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.16" class="v9_17_16">16</span>Goliath came out and gave his challenge every morning and every evening for 40 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 told David, “Hurry and take this sack of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers at the army camp. </span><span class="v9_17_18"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.18" class="v9_17_18">18</span>And here are ten large chunks of cheese to take to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back something that shows that they're all right. </span><span class="v9_17_19"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.19" class="v9_17_19">19</span>They're with Saul's army, fighting the Philistines in Elah Valley.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_20"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.20" class="v9_17_20">20</span>David obeyed his father. He got up early the next morning and left someone else in charge of the sheep; then he loaded the supplies and started off. He reached the army camp just as the soldiers were taking their places and shouting the battle cry. </span><span class="v9_17_21"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.21" class="v9_17_21">21</span>The army of Israel and the Philistine army stood there facing each other.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_22"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.22" class="v9_17_22">22</span>David left his things with the man in charge of supplies and ran up to the battle line to ask his brothers if they were well. </span><span class="v9_17_23"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.23" class="v9_17_23">23</span>While David was talking with them, Goliath came out from the line of Philistines and started boasting as usual. David heard him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_24"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.24" class="v9_17_24">24</span>When the Israelite soldiers saw Goliath, they were scared and ran off. </span><span class="v9_17_25"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.25" class="v9_17_25">25</span>They said to each other, “Look how he keeps coming out to insult us. The king is offering a big reward to the man who kills Goliath. That man will even get to marry the king's daughter, and no one in his family will ever have to pay taxes again.”</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 some soldiers standing nearby, “What will a man get for killing this Philistine and stopping him from insulting our people? Who does that worthless Philistine think he is? He's making fun of the army of the living God!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_27"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.27" class="v9_17_27">27</span>The soldiers told David what the king would give 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>David's oldest brother Eliab heard him talking with the soldiers. Eliab was angry with him and said, “What are you doing here, anyway? Who's taking care of your little flock of sheep out in the desert? You spoiled brat! You came here just to watch the fighting, didn't you?”</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 answered. “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>Then he turned and asked another soldier the same thing he had asked the others, and 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 soldiers overheard David talking, so they told Saul what David had said. Saul sent for David, and David came. </span><span class="v9_17_32"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.32" class="v9_17_32">32</span>“Your Majesty,” he said, “this Philistine shouldn't turn us into cowards. I'll go out and fight him myself!”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_33"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.33" class="v9_17_33">33</span>“You don't have a chance against him,” Saul replied. “You're only a boy, and he's 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>But David told him:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_17_34">Your Majesty, I take care of my father's sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear, </span><span class="v9_17_35"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.35" class="v9_17_35">35</span>I go after it and beat the wild animal until it lets the sheep go. If the wild animal turns and attacks me, I grab it by the throat and kill it.</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_17_36"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.36" class="v9_17_36">36</span>Sir, I have killed lions and bears that way, and I can kill this worthless Philistine. He shouldn't have made fun of 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 rescued me from the claws of lions and bears, and he will keep me safe from the hands of this Philistine.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_37">“All right,” Saul answered, “go ahead and fight him. And I hope the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will help you.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_38"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.38" class="v9_17_38">38</span>Saul had his own military clothes and armor put on David, and he gave David a bronze helmet to wear. </span><span class="v9_17_39"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.39" class="v9_17_39">39</span>David strapped on a sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to wearing those things.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_39">“I can't move with all this stuff on,” David said. “I'm just not used to it.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_39">David took off the armor </span><span class="v9_17_40"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.40" class="v9_17_40">40</span>and picked up his shepherd's stick. He went out to a stream and picked up five smooth rocks and put them in his leather bag. Then with his sling in his hand, he went straight toward Goliath.</span></p><h3 class="s1">David Kills Goliath</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_41"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.41" class="v9_17_41">41</span>Goliath came toward David, walking behind the soldier who was carrying his shield. </span><span class="v9_17_42"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.42" class="v9_17_42">42</span>When Goliath saw that David was just a healthy, good-looking boy, he made fun of him. </span><span class="v9_17_43"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.43" class="v9_17_43">43</span><a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.43!x.1" class="notelink x-link"><span></span></a> “Do you think I'm a dog?” Goliath asked. “Is that why you've come after me with a stick?” He cursed David in the name of the Philistine gods </span><span class="v9_17_44"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.44" class="v9_17_44">44</span>and shouted, “Come on! When I'm finished with you, I'll feed you to the birds and wild animals!”</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:</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_17_45">You've come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I've come out to fight you in the name of the <span class="nd">Lord</span> All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel's army, and you have insulted him too!</span></p><p class="pi"><span class="v9_17_46"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.46" class="v9_17_46">46</span>Today the <span class="nd">Lord</span> will help me defeat you. I'll knock you down and cut off your head, and I'll feed the bodies of the other Philistine soldiers to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know that Israel has a real God. </span><span class="v9_17_47"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.47" class="v9_17_47">47</span>Everybody here will see that the <span class="nd">Lord</span> doesn't need swords or spears to save his people. The <span class="nd">Lord</span> always wins his battles, and he will help us defeat you.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_48"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.48" class="v9_17_48">48</span>When Goliath started forward, David ran toward him. </span><span class="v9_17_49"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.49" class="v9_17_49">49</span>He put a rock in his sling and swung the sling around by its straps. When he let go of one strap, the rock flew out and hit Goliath on the forehead. It cracked his skull, and he fell facedown 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> David defeated Goliath with a sling and a rock. He killed him without even using a sword.</span></p><p class="par"><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> David ran over and pulled out Goliath's sword. Then he used it to cut off Goliath's head.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_51">When the Philistines saw what had happened to their hero, they started running away. </span><span class="v9_17_52"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.52" class="v9_17_52">52</span>But the soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and went after them as far as Gath<a href="#fn" id="link_1Sam.17.52!f.1" class="notelink f-link"><span>+</span></a> and Ekron. The bodies of the Philistines were scattered all along the road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_53"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.53" class="v9_17_53">53</span>When the Israelite army returned from chasing the Philistines, they took what they wanted from the enemy camp. </span><span class="v9_17_54"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.54" class="v9_17_54">54</span>David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.</span></p><h3 class="s1">David Becomes One of Saul's Officers</h3><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_55"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.55" class="v9_17_55">55</span>After King Saul had watched David go out to fight Goliath, Saul turned to the commander of his army and said, “Abner, who is that young man?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_55">“Your Majesty,” Abner answered, “I swear by your life that I don't know.”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_56"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.56" class="v9_17_56">56</span>“Then find out!” Saul told him.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_57"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.57" class="v9_17_57">57</span>When David came back from fighting Goliath, he was still carrying Goliath's head.</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_57">Abner took David to Saul, </span><span class="v9_17_58"><span class="reftext" id="1Sam.17.58" class="v9_17_58">58</span>and Saul asked, “Who are you?”</span></p><p class="par"><span class="v9_17_58">“I am David the son of Jesse, a loyal Israelite from Bethlehem.”</span></p></div> </div> <a name="fn"></a><br /><br /><br /><b>Footnotes:<br /><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.1 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Socoh and Azekah: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">Socoh was controlled by the Israelites, while Azekah was in Philistine hands.</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.4 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">about three meters: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">The Standard Hebrew Text; the Dead Sea Scrolls and some manuscripts of one ancient translation have “about two meters.”</char></note><br /><note caller="+" style="f"><char style="fr" closed="false">17.52 </char><char style="fq" closed="false">Gath: </char><char style="ft" closed="false">One ancient translation; Hebrew “a valley.”</char></note></div></div><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div align="center"><p><span style="font-size:11pt;">Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)</span></p> <p><span style="font-size:11pt;">© 2006 American Bible Society. 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