1 Samuel 15-17

American Standard Version

15 And Samuel said unto Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the words of Jehovah. ² Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, I ^[a]have marked that which Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of Egypt. ³ Now go and smite Amalek, and ^[b]utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.

⁴ And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. ⁵ And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and ^[c]laid wait in the valley. ⁶ And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. ⁷ And Saul smote the Amalekites, from Havilah as thou goest to Shur, that is before Egypt. ⁸ And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and ^[d]utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. ⁹ But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not ^[e]utterly destroy them: but everything that was vile and refuse, that they ^[f]destroyed utterly.

¹⁰ Then came the word of Jehovah unto Samuel, saying, ¹¹ It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And Samuel was wroth; and he cried unto Jehovah all night. ¹² And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a ^[g]monument, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal. ¹³ And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of Jehovah: I have performed the commandment of Jehovah. ¹⁴ And Samuel said, What meaneth then this bleating of the sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear? ¹⁵ And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God; and the rest we have ^[h]utterly destroyed. ¹⁶ Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what Jehovah hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.

¹⁷ And Samuel said, ^[i]Though thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel; ¹⁸ and Jehovah sent thee on a journey, and said, Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. ¹⁹ Wherefore then didst thou not obey the voice of Jehovah, but didst fly upon the spoil, and didst that which was evil in the sight of Jehovah? ²⁰ And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have obeyed the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have ^[j]utterly destroyed the Amalekites. ²¹ But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto Jehovah thy God in Gilgal. ²² And Samuel said, Hath Jehovah as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of Jehovah? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams. ²³ For rebellion is as the sin of ^[k]witchcraft, and stubbornness is as ^[l]idolatry and teraphim. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, he hath also rejected thee from being king.

²⁴ And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah. ²⁶ And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah hath rejected thee from being king over Israel. ²⁷ And as Samuel turned about to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it rent. ²⁸ And Samuel said unto him, Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to a neighbor of thine, that is better than thou. ²⁹ And also the ^[m]Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. ³⁰ Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God. ³¹ So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah.

³² Then said Samuel, Bring ye hither to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came unto him cheerfully. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. ³³ And Samuel said, As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. ³⁵ And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; ^[n]for Samuel mourned for Saul: and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.

16 And Jehovah said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go: I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite; for I have provided me a king among his sons. ² And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to Jehovah. ³ And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do: and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. ⁴ And Samuel did that which Jehovah spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, Comest thou peaceably? ⁵ And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto Jehovah: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.

⁶ And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on ^[o]Eliab, and said, Surely Jehovah’s anointed is before him. ⁷ But Jehovah said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have rejected him: for Jehovah seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looketh on the heart. ⁸ Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this. ⁹ Then Jesse made ^[p]Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath Jehovah chosen this. ¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Jehovah hath not chosen these. ¹¹ And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he is keeping the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit ^[q]down till he come hither. ¹² And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and withal ^[r]of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look upon. And Jehovah said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he. ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of Jehovah came mightily upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah ^[s]troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷ And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. ¹⁸ Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and ^[t]prudent in ^[u]speech, and a comely person; and Jehovah is with him. ¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. ²⁰ And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a ^[v]bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. ²¹ And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. ²² And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. ²³ And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

17 Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle; and they were gathered together at Socoh, which belongeth to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim. ² And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the vale of ^[w]Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. ³ And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them. ⁴ And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. ⁵ And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was clad with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass. ⁶ And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders. ⁷ And the ^[x]staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and his shield-bearer went before him. ⁸ And he stood and cried unto the ^[y]armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me. ⁹ If he be able to fight with me, and 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. ¹⁰ And the Philistine said, I ^[z]defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together. ¹¹ And when Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.

¹² Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lehem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was an old man in the days of Saul, stricken in years among men. ¹³ And the three eldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. ¹⁴ And David was the youngest; and the three eldest followed Saul. ¹⁵ Now David went to and fro from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Beth-lehem. ¹⁶ And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.

¹⁷ And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to thy brethren; ¹⁸ and bring these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge. ¹⁹ Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, ^[aa]were in the vale of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. ²⁰ And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the ^[ab]place of the wagons, as the host which was going forth to the ^[ac]fight shouted for the battle. ²¹ And Israel and the Philistines put the battle in array, army against army. ²² And David left his baggage in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran to the army, and came and saluted his brethren. ²³ And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them. ²⁴ And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid. ²⁵ And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to ^[ad]defy Israel 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 Israel. ²⁶ And David 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 Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^[ae]defy the armies of the living God? ²⁷ And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.

²⁸ And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why art thou come down? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thy heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle. ²⁹ And David said, What have I now done? ^[af]Is there not a cause? ³⁰ And he turned away from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.

³¹ And when the words were heard which David spake, they rehearsed them before Saul; and he sent for him. ³² And David said to Saul, Let no man’s heart fail ^[ag]because of him; thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. ³³ And Saul said to David, 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. ³⁴ And David said unto Saul, Thy servant was keeping his father’s sheep; ^[ah]and when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock, ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ Thy servant smote both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath ^[ai]defied the armies of the living God. ³⁷ And David said, Jehovah 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 Saul said unto David, Go, and Jehovah shall be with thee. ³⁸ And Saul clad David with his apparel, and he put a helmet of brass upon his head, and he clad him with a coat of mail. ³⁹ And David girded his sword upon his apparel, and he assayed to go; for he had not proved it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot go with these; for I have not proved them. And David put them off him. ⁴⁰ And he took his staff in his hand, and chose him five smooth stones out of the ^[aj]brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his wallet; and his sling was in his hand: and he drew near to the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David; and the man that bare the shield went before him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and withal of a fair countenance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the birds of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. ⁴⁵ Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin: but I come to thee in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast ^[ak]defied. ⁴⁶ This day will Jehovah deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and take thy head from off thee; and I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day unto the birds of the heavens, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that Jehovah saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is Jehovah’s, and he will give you into our hand. ⁴⁸ And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead; and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the earth.

⁵⁰ So David 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 David. ⁵¹ Then David ran, and stood over 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 that their ^[al]champion was dead, they fled. ⁵² And the men of Israel and of Judah arose, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to ^[am]Gai, and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell down by the way to ^[an]Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron. ⁵³ And the children of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴ And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵ And when Saul saw David 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. ⁵⁶ And the king said, Inquire thou whose son the stripling is. ⁵⁷ And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, Whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered, I am the son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.