The Story of David and Goliath

1 Samuel 17:12–30 WEB

¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehem Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons. The man was an elderly old man in the days of Saul. ¹³The three oldest 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. ¹⁴David was the youngest; and the three oldest followed Saul. ¹⁵Now David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶The Philistine came near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. ¹⁷Jesse said to David his son, “Now take for your brothers an ephah of this parched grain and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers; ¹⁸and bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and bring back news.” ¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the place of the wagons as the army which was going out to the fight shouted for the battle. ²¹Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. ²²David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers. ²³As he talked with them, behold, the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and said the same words; and David heard them. ²⁴All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were terrified. ²⁵The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? He has surely come up to defy Israel. The king will give great riches to the man who kills him, and will give him his daughter, and will make his father’s house tax-free in Israel.” ²⁶David 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?” ²⁷The people answered him in this way, saying, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.” ²⁸Eliab his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men; and Eliab’s anger burned 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 evil of your heart; for you have come down that you might see the battle.” ²⁹David said, “What have I now done? Is there not a cause?” ³⁰He turned away from him toward another, and spoke like that again; and the people answered him again the same way.