Reader Chapter

1 Shamu'al 17

1 Shamu'al chapter 17 in the Qadmoni reader. Read the full chapter text with direct verse references and continue into the interactive reader.

Open Interactive Reader Return to 1 Shamu'al
Browse 1 Shamu'al chapter index
17:1

The Clash at the Valley of Elah and the Fall of Golyath

Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Yahudah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.
17:2
And Shaul and the men of Yashar'al were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
17:3
And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Yashar'al stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
17:4

The Champion of Gath

And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Golyath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
17:5
And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
17:6
And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
17:7
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
17:8

The Defiance of the Matrix

And he stood and cried unto the armies of Yashar'al, and said unto them, "Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Shaul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me."
17:9
"If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us."
17:10
And the Philistine said, "I defy the armies of Yashar'al this day; give me a man, that we may fight together."
17:11
When Shaul and all Yashar'al heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
17:12

The Arrival of the Shepherd

Now Dawid was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-yahudah, whose name was Yishai; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Shaul.
17:13
And the three eldest sons of Yishai went and followed Shaul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
17:14
And Dawid was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Shaul.
17:15
But Dawid went and returned from Shaul to feed his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.
17:16

The Forty Days of Intimidation

And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
17:17

The Provisions for the Vanguard

And Yishai said unto Dawid his son, "Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;"
17:18
"And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge."
17:19
Now Shaul, and they, and all the men of Yashar'al, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
17:20

The Acoustic Breach

And Dawid rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Yishai had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.
17:21
For Yashar'al and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.
17:22
And Dawid left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
17:23
And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Golyath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and Dawid heard them.
17:24

The Fear of the Camp

And all the men of Yashar'al, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
17:25
And the men of Yashar'al said, "Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Yashar'al is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father's house free in Yashar'al."
17:26
And Dawid spake to the men that stood by him, saying, "What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Yashar'al? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living Alahiym?"
17:27
And the people answered him after this manner, saying, "So shall it be done to the man that killeth him."
17:28

The Wrath of the Eldest Brother

And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against Dawid, and he said, "Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle."
17:29
And Dawid said, "What have I now done? Is there not a cause?"
17:30
And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.
17:31

The Audience with the King

And when the words were heard which Dawid spake, they rehearsed them before Shaul: and he sent for him.
17:32
And Dawid said to Shaul, "Let no man's heart fail because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine."
17:33
And Shaul said to Dawid, "Thou art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him: for thou art but a youth, and he a man of war from his youth."
17:34

The Lion and the Bear Protocol

And Dawid said unto Shaul, "Thy servant kept his father's sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:"
17:35
"And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him."
17:36
"Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living Alahiym."
17:37
Dawid said moreover, "𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine." And Shaul said unto Dawid, "Go, and 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 be with thee."
17:38

The Refusal of the Carnal Armor

And Shaul armed Dawid with his armor, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head; also he armed him with a coat of mail.
17:39
And Dawid girded his sword upon his armor, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And Dawid said unto Shaul, "I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them." And Dawid put them off him.
17:40

The Five Smooth Stones

And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in a shepherd's bag which he had, even in a scrip; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.
17:41
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto Dawid; and the man that bore the shield went before him.
17:42
And when the Philistine looked about, and saw Dawid, he disdained him: for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.
17:43
And the Philistine said unto Dawid, "Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves?" And the Philistine cursed Dawid by his lo alahiym.
17:44
And the Philistine said to Dawid, "Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the air, and to the beasts of the field."
17:45

The Declaration of the Name

Then said Dawid to the Philistine, "Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 Tzebaoth, the Alahiym of the armies of Yashar'al, whom thou hast defied."
17:46
"This day will 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is an Alahiym in Yashar'al."
17:47
"And all this assembly shall know that 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄's, and he will give you into our hands."
17:48

The Execution of the Giant

And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet Dawid, that Dawid hasted, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
17:49
And Dawid put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
17:50
So Dawid prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of Dawid.
17:51
Therefore Dawid ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
17:52

The Rout of the Philistines

And the men of Yashar'al and of Yahudah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to Shaarayim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron.
17:53
And the children of Yashar'al returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
17:54

The Head in Yarushalayim

And Dawid took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Yarushalayim; but he put his armor in his tent.
17:55

The Inquiry of Abner

And when Shaul saw Dawid go forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the host, "Abner, whose son is this youth?" And Abner said, "As thy soul liveth, O king, I cannot tell."
17:56
And the king said, "Inquire thou whose son the stripling is."
17:57
And as Dawid returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Shaul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.
17:58
And Shaul said to him, "Whose son art thou, thou young man?" And Dawid answered, "I am the son of thy servant Yishai the Beth-lehemite."