And (A)the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon him, so that (B)he tore it apart as one tears apart a young goat, though he had nothing in his hand; but he did not tell his father or mother what he had done.

Read full chapter

The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him(A) so that he tore the lion apart(B) with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done.

Read full chapter

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a sheep from the flock, 35 I went out after it and [a]attacked it, and (A)rescued the sheep from its mouth; and when it rose up against me, I grabbed it by its mane and struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has [b]killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, “(B)The Lord who saved me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear, He will save me from the hand of this Philistine.” So Saul said to David, “(C)Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38 Then Saul clothed David with his military attire and put a bronze helmet on his head, and outfitted him with armor. 39 And David strapped on his sword over his military attire and struggled at walking, for he had not trained with the armor. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, because I have not trained with them.” And David took them [c]off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, that is, in his shepherd’s pouch, and (D)his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

41 Then the Philistine came and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42 When the Philistine looked and saw David, (E)he was contemptuous of him; for he was only a youth, and [d](F)reddish, with a handsome appearance. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “(G)Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And (H)the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh (I)to the birds of the sky and the [e]wild animals.” 45 But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a [f]saber, (J)but I come to you in the name of the Lord of armies, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will hand you over to me, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. Then I will give the (K)dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, (L)so that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that this entire assembly may know that (M)the Lord does not save by sword or by spear; (N)for the battle is the Lords, and He will hand you over to us!”

48 Then it happened, when the Philistine [g]came closer to meet David, that (O)David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone penetrated his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and the stone: he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and (P)took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and finished him, and cut off his head with it. (Q)When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted, and they pursued the Philistines [h]as far as the valley, and to the gates of (R)Ekron. And the Philistine dead [i]lay along the way to (S)Shaaraim, even to Gath and Ekron. 53 Then the sons of Israel returned from their close pursuit of the Philistines, and plundered their camps. 54 And David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his tent.

55 Now when Saul had seen David going out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is (T)this young man?” And Abner said, “By your life, O king, I do not know.” 56 And the king said, “You then, ask whose son the youth is.” 57 So when David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and (U)brought him before Saul with the Philistine’s head in his hand. 58 Then Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “(V)I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:35 Lit struck
  2. 1 Samuel 17:36 Lit struck
  3. 1 Samuel 17:39 Lit off from himself
  4. 1 Samuel 17:42 I.e., of reddish hair or complexion
  5. 1 Samuel 17:44 Lit beast of the field
  6. 1 Samuel 17:45 Lit scimitar
  7. 1 Samuel 17:48 Lit arose and came
  8. 1 Samuel 17:52 Lit until your coming to
  9. 1 Samuel 17:52 Lit fell

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion(A) or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized(B) it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion(C) and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued(D) me from the paw of the lion(E) and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with(F) you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own(G) tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer(H) in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome,(I) and he despised(J) him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog,(K) that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds(L) and the wild animals!(M)

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,(N) but I come against you in the name(O) of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.(P) 46 This day the Lord will deliver(Q) you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses(R) of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world(S) will know that there is a God in Israel.(T) 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword(U) or spear that the Lord saves;(V) for the battle(W) is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling(X) and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut(Y) off his head with the sword.(Z)

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[a] and to the gates of Ekron.(AA) Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim(AB) road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

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

55 As Saul watched David(AC) going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner,(AD) whose son is that young man?”

Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.

David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse(AE) of Bethlehem.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:52 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew of a valley

22 My God (A)sent His angel and (B)shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, since [a]I was found innocent before Him; and also [b]toward you, O king, I have committed no crime.”

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Daniel 6:22 Lit innocence was found for me
  2. Daniel 6:22 Lit before

22 My God sent his angel,(A) and he shut the mouths of the lions.(B) They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight.(C) Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.”

Read full chapter