1 Samuel 17-20

I Samuel 17

¹Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war at Socoh in Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

²Saul and the men of Israel assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah, arraying themselves for battle against the Philistines.

³The Philistines stood on one hill and the Israelites stood on another, with the valley between them.

⁴Then a champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out from the Philistine camp. He was six cubits and a span in height,

⁵and he had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a bronze coat of mail weighing five thousand shekels,

⁶and he had armor of bronze on his legs and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.

⁷The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. In addition, his shield bearer went before him.

⁸And Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and array yourselves for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose one of your men and have him come down against me.

⁹If he is able to fight me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and labor for us.”

¹⁰Then the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day! Give me a man to fight!”

¹¹On hearing the words of the Philistine, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and greatly afraid.

¹²Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, an Ephrathite from Bethlehem of Judah who had eight sons in the days of Saul. And Jesse was old and well along in years.

¹³The three older sons of Jesse had followed Saul into battle: The firstborn was Eliab, the second was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

¹⁴And David was the youngest. The three oldest had followed Saul,

¹⁵but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.

¹⁶For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening to take his stand.

¹⁷One day Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.

¹⁸Take also these ten portions of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on the welfare of your brothers and bring back an assurance from them.

¹⁹They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

²⁰So David got up early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, loaded up, and set out as Jesse had instructed him. He reached the camp as the army was marching out to its position and shouting the battle cry.

²¹And Israel and the Philistines arrayed in formation against each other.

²²Then David left his supplies in the care of the quartermaster and ran to the battle line. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing.

²³And as he was speaking with them, suddenly the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came forward from the Philistines and shouted his usual words, which David also heard.

²⁴When all the men of Israel saw Goliath, they fled from him in great fear.

²⁵Now the men of Israel had been saying, “Do you see this man who keeps coming out to defy Israel? To the man who kills him the king will give great riches. And he will give him his daughter in marriage and exempt his father’s house from taxation in Israel.”

²⁶David asked the men who were standing with him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Just who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”

²⁷The people told him about the offer, saying, “That is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

²⁸Now when David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, his anger burned against David. “Why have you come down here?” he asked. “And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and wickedness of heart—you have come down to see the battle!”

²⁹“What have I done now?” said David. “Was it not just a question?”

³⁰Then he turned from him toward another and asked about the offer, and those people answered him just as the first ones had answered.

³¹Now David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, who called for him.

³²And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of this Philistine. Your servant will go and fight him!”

³³But Saul replied, “You cannot go out against this Philistine to fight him. You are just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

³⁴David replied, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and whenever a lion or a bear came and carried off a lamb from the flock,

³⁵I went after it, struck it down, and delivered the lamb from its mouth. If it reared up against me, I would grab it by its fur, strike it down, and kill it.

³⁶Your servant has killed lions and bears; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”

³⁷David added, “The LORD, who delivered me from the claws of the lion and the bear, will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” “Go,” said Saul, “and may the LORD be with you.”

³⁸Then Saul clothed David in his own tunic, put a bronze helmet on his head, and dressed him in armor.

³⁹David strapped his sword over the tunic and tried to walk, but he was not accustomed to them. “I cannot walk in these,” David said to Saul. “I am not accustomed to them.” So David took them off.

⁴⁰And David took his staff in his hand, selected five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag. And with his sling in hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹Now the Philistine came closer and closer to David, with his shield-bearer before him.

⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him because he was just a boy, ruddy and handsome.

⁴³“Am I a dog,” he said to David, “that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

⁴⁴“Come here,” he called to David, “and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

⁴⁵But David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

⁴⁶This day the LORD will deliver you into my hand. This day I will strike you down, cut off your head, and give the carcasses of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the creatures of the earth. Then the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.

⁴⁷And all those assembled here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD’s, and He will give all of you into our hands.”

⁴⁸As the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.

⁴⁹Then David reached into his bag, took out a stone, and slung it, striking the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

⁵⁰Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

⁵¹David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword and pulled it from its sheath and killed him; and he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.

⁵²Then the men of Israel and Judah charged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. And the bodies of the Philistines were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.

⁵³When the Israelites returned from their pursuit of the Philistines, they plundered their camps.

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

⁵⁵As Saul had watched David going out to confront the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this young man?” “As surely as you live, O king,” Abner replied, “I do not know.”

⁵⁶“Find out whose son this young man is!” said the king.

⁵⁷So when David returned from killing the Philistine, still holding his head in his hand, Abner took him and brought him before Saul.

⁵⁸“Whose son are you, young man?” asked Saul. “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem,” David replied.

I Samuel 18

¹After David had finished speaking with Saul, the souls of Jonathan and David were knit together, and Jonathan loved him as himself.

²And from that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return to his father’s house.

³Then Jonathan made a covenant with David because he loved him as himself.

⁴And Jonathan removed the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, his sword, his bow, and his belt.

⁵So David marched out and prospered in everything Saul sent him to do, and Saul set him over the men of war. And this was pleasing in the sight of all the people, and of Saul’s officers as well.

⁶As the troops were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs, and with tambourines and other instruments.

⁷And as the women danced, they sang out: “Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands.”

⁸And Saul was furious and resented this song. “They have ascribed tens of thousands to David,” he said, “but only thousands to me. What more can he have but the kingdom?”

⁹And from that day forward Saul kept a jealous eye on David.

¹⁰The next day a spirit of distress sent from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house while David played the harp as usual. Now Saul was holding a spear,

¹¹and he hurled it, thinking, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David eluded him twice.

¹²So Saul was afraid of David, because the LORD was with David but had departed from Saul.

¹³Therefore Saul sent David away and gave him command of a thousand men. David led the troops out to battle and back,

¹⁴and he continued to prosper in all his ways, because the LORD was with him.

¹⁵When Saul saw that David was very successful, he was afraid of him.

¹⁶But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he was leading them out to battle and back.

¹⁷Then Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter Merab. I will give her to you in marriage. Only be valiant for me and fight the LORD’s battles.” But Saul was thinking, “I need not raise my hand against him; let the hand of the Philistines be against him.”

¹⁸And David said to Saul, “Who am I, and what is my family or my father’s clan in Israel, that I should become the son-in-law of the king?”

¹⁹So when it was time to give Saul’s daughter Merab to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.

²⁰Now Saul’s daughter Michal loved David, and when this was reported to Saul, it pleased him.

²¹“I will give her to David,” Saul thought, “so that she may be a snare to him, and the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “For a second time now you can be my son-in-law.”

²²Then Saul ordered his servants, “Speak to David privately and tell him, ‘Behold, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. Now therefore, become his son-in-law.’”

²³But when Saul’s servants relayed these words to David, he replied, “Does it seem trivial in your sight to be the son-in-law of the king? I am a poor man and lightly esteemed.”

²⁴And the servants told Saul what David had said.

²⁵Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king desires no other dowry but a hundred Philistine foreskins as revenge on his enemies.’” But Saul intended to cause David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.

²⁶When the servants reported these terms to David, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. Before the wedding day arrived,

²⁷David and his men went out and killed two hundred Philistines. He brought their foreskins and presented them as payment in full to become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave his daughter Michal to David in marriage.

²⁸When Saul realized that the LORD was with David and that his daughter Michal loved David,

²⁹he grew even more afraid of David. So from then on Saul was David’s enemy.

³⁰Every time the Philistine commanders came out for battle, David was more successful than all of Saul’s officers, so that his name was highly esteemed.

I Samuel 19

¹Then Saul ordered his son Jonathan and all his servants to kill David. But Jonathan delighted greatly in David,

²so he warned David, saying, “My father Saul intends to kill you. Be on your guard in the morning; find a secret place and hide there.

³I will go out and stand beside my father in the field where you are, so I can ask about you. And if I find out anything, I will tell you.”

⁴Then Jonathan spoke well of David to his father Saul and said to him, “The king should not sin against his servant David; he has not sinned against you. In fact, his actions have been highly beneficial to you.

⁵He took his life in his hands when he struck down the Philistine, and the LORD worked a great salvation for all Israel. You saw it and rejoiced, so why would you sin against innocent blood by killing David for no reason?”

⁶Saul listened to the voice of Jonathan and swore an oath: “As surely as the LORD lives, David will not be put to death.”

⁷So Jonathan summoned David and told him all these things. Then Jonathan brought David to Saul to serve him as he had before.

⁸When war broke out again, David went out and fought the Philistines and struck them with such a mighty blow that they fled before him.

⁹But as Saul was sitting in his house with his spear in his hand, a spirit of distress from the LORD came upon him. While David was playing the harp,

¹⁰Saul tried to pin him to the wall with his spear. But the spear struck the wall and David eluded him, ran away, and escaped that night.

¹¹Then Saul sent messengers to David’s house to watch him and kill him in the morning. But David’s wife Michal warned him, “If you do not run for your life tonight, tomorrow you will be dead!”

¹²So Michal lowered David from the window, and he ran away and escaped.

¹³Then Michal took a household idol and laid it in the bed, placed some goat hair on its head, and covered it with a garment.

¹⁴When Saul sent the messengers to seize David, Michal said, “He is ill.”

¹⁵But Saul sent the messengers back to see David and told them, “Bring him up to me in his bed so I can kill him.”

¹⁶And when the messengers entered, there was the idol in the bed with the quilt of goats’ hair on its head.

¹⁷And Saul said to Michal, “Why did you deceive me like this? You sent my enemy away and he has escaped!” Michal replied, “He said to me, ‘Help me get away, or I will kill you!’”

¹⁸So David ran away and escaped. And he went to Samuel at Ramah and told him all that Saul had done to him. Then he and Samuel went to Naioth and stayed there.

¹⁹When Saul was told that David was at Naioth in Ramah,

²⁰he sent messengers to capture him. But when they saw the group of prophets prophesying, with Samuel leading them, the Spirit of God came upon them, and Saul’s messengers also began to prophesy.

²¹When this was reported to Saul, he sent more messengers, but they began to prophesy as well. So Saul tried again and sent messengers a third time, and even they began to prophesy.

²²Finally, Saul himself left for Ramah and came to the large cistern at Secu, where he asked, “Where are Samuel and David?” “At Naioth in Ramah,” he was told.

²³So Saul went to Naioth in Ramah. But the Spirit of God came upon even Saul, and he walked along prophesying until he came to Naioth in Ramah.

²⁴Then Saul stripped off his robes and also prophesied before Samuel. And he collapsed and lay naked all that day and night. That is why it is said, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”

I Samuel 20

¹Then David fled from Naioth in Ramah. He came to Jonathan and asked, “What have I done? What is my iniquity? How have I sinned against your father, that he wants to take my life?”

²“Far from it!” Jonathan replied. “You will not die. Indeed, my father does nothing, great or small, without telling me. So why would he hide this matter from me? This cannot be true!”

³But David again vowed, “Your father knows very well that I have found favor in your eyes, and he has said, ‘Jonathan must not know of this, or he will be grieved.’ As surely as the LORD lives and as you yourself live, there is but a step between me and death.”

⁴Then Jonathan said to David, “Whatever you desire, I will do for you.”

⁵So David told him, “Look, tomorrow is the New Moon, and I am supposed to dine with the king. Instead, let me go and hide in the field until the third evening from now.

⁶If your father misses me at all, tell him, ‘David urgently requested my permission to hurry to Bethlehem, his hometown, because there is an annual sacrifice for his whole clan.’

⁷If he says, ‘Good,’ then your servant is safe, but if he is enraged, you will know he has evil intentions.

⁸Therefore deal faithfully with your servant, for you have brought me into a covenant with you before the LORD. If there is iniquity in me, then kill me yourself; why should you bring me to your father?”

⁹“Never!” Jonathan replied. “If I ever found out that my father had evil intentions against you, would I not tell you?”

¹⁰Then David asked Jonathan, “Who will tell me if your father answers you harshly?”

¹¹“Come,” he replied, “let us go out to the field.” So the two of them went out into the field,

¹²and Jonathan said, “By the LORD, the God of Israel, I will sound out my father by this time tomorrow or the next day. If he is favorable toward you, will I not send for you and tell you?

¹³But if my father intends to bring evil on you, then may the LORD punish me, and ever so severely, if I do not tell you and send you on your way in safety. May the LORD be with you, just as He has been with my father.

¹⁴And as long as I live, treat me with the LORD’s loving devotion, that I may not die,

¹⁵and do not ever cut off your loving devotion from my household—not even when the LORD cuts off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”

¹⁶So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the LORD hold David’s enemies accountable.”

¹⁷And Jonathan had David reaffirm his vow out of love for him, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.

¹⁸Then Jonathan said to David, “Tomorrow is the New Moon, and you will be missed if your seat is empty.

¹⁹When you have stayed three days, hurry down to the place you hid on the day this trouble began, and remain beside the stone Ezel.

²⁰I will shoot three arrows to the side of it, as if I were aiming at a target.

²¹Then I will send a boy and say, ‘Go, find the arrows!’ Now, if I expressly say to him, ‘Look, the arrows are on this side of you; bring them,’ then come, because as surely as the LORD lives, it is safe for you and there is no danger.

²²But if I say to the young man, ‘Look, the arrows are beyond you,’ then you must go, for the LORD has sent you away.

²³And as for the matter you and I have discussed, the LORD is a witness between you and me forever.”

²⁴So David hid in the field, and when the New Moon had come, the king sat down to eat.

²⁵He sat in his usual place by the wall, opposite Jonathan and beside Abner, but David’s place was empty.

²⁶Saul said nothing that day because he thought, “Something has happened to David to make him ceremonially unclean—surely he is unclean.”

²⁷But on the day after the New Moon, the second day, David’s place was still empty, and Saul asked his son Jonathan, “Why hasn’t the son of Jesse come to the meal either yesterday or today?”

²⁸Jonathan answered, “David urgently requested my permission to go to Bethlehem,

²⁹saying, ‘Please let me go, because our clan is holding a sacrifice in the city, and my brother has told me to be there. So now, if I have found favor in your eyes, please let me go and see my brothers.’ That is why he did not come to the king’s table.”

³⁰Then Saul’s anger burned against Jonathan, and he said to him, “You son of a perverse and rebellious woman! Do I not know that you have chosen the son of Jesse to your own shame and to the disgrace of the mother who bore you?

³¹For as long as the son of Jesse lives on this earth, neither you nor your kingship shall be established. Now send for him and bring him to me, for he must surely die!”

³²“Why must he be put to death?” Jonathan replied. “What has he done?”

³³Then Saul hurled his spear at Jonathan to kill him; so Jonathan knew that his father was determined to kill David.

³⁴Jonathan got up from the table in fierce anger and did not eat any food that second day of the month, for he was grieved by his father’s shameful treatment of David.

³⁵In the morning Jonathan went out to the field for the appointment with David, and a small boy was with him.

³⁶He said to the boy, “Run and find the arrows I shoot.” And as the boy ran, Jonathan shot an arrow beyond him.

³⁷When the boy reached the place where Jonathan’s arrow had fallen, Jonathan called to him, “Isn’t the arrow beyond you?”

³⁸Then Jonathan cried out, “Hurry! Make haste! Do not delay!” So the boy picked up the arrow and returned to his master.

³⁹But the boy did not know anything; only Jonathan and David knew the arrangement.

⁴⁰Then Jonathan gave his equipment to the boy and said, “Go, take it back to the city.”

⁴¹When the young man had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone, fell facedown, and bowed three times. Then he and Jonathan kissed each other and wept together—though David wept more.

⁴²And Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for the two of us have sworn in the name of the LORD, saying, ‘May the LORD be a witness between you and me, and between your descendants and mine forever.’” Then David got up and departed, and Jonathan went back into the city.