David and Goliath
1Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. 3The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.
4A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.17:4 That is, about 3 metres 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armour of bronze weighing five thousand shekels17:5 That is, about 58 kilograms; 6on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back. 7His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.17:7 That is, about 6.9 kilograms His shield-bearer went ahead of him.
8Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, ‘Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and let him come down to me. 9If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.’ 10Then the Philistine said, ‘This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.’ 11On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.
12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 13Jesse’s three eldest sons had followed Saul to the war: the firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah. 14David was the youngest. The three eldest followed Saul, 15but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
16For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.
17Now Jesse said to his son David, ‘Take this ephah17:17 That is, probably about 16 kilograms of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance17:18 Or some token; or some pledge of spoils from them. 19They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.’
20Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it. 24Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.
25Now the Israelites had been saying, ‘Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel.’
26David asked the men standing near him, ‘What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?’
27They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, ‘This is what will be done for the man who kills him.’
28When Eliab, David’s eldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, ‘Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.’
29‘Now what have I done?’ said David. ‘Can’t I even speak?’ 30He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.
32David said to Saul, ‘Let no-one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.’
33Saul replied, ‘You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.’
34But David said to Saul, ‘Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion 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 you.’
38Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armour on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39David 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. 40Then 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.
41Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield-bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. 43He said to David, ‘Am I a dog, 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 and the wild animals!’
45David 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 Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. 47All those gathered 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 moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet him. 49Reaching 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 face down on the ground.
50So David triumphed 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 took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, 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 surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath17:52 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew of a valley and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron. 53When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.
54David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.
55As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, ‘Abner, whose son is that young man?’
Abner replied, ‘As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.’
56The king said, ‘Find out whose son this young man is.’
57As 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 of Bethlehem.’
Davide ndi Goliati
1Afilisti anasonkhanitsa ankhondo awo ku Soko mʼdziko la Yuda. Iwo anamanga misasa yawo ku Efesi-Damimu, pakati pa Soko ndi Azeka. 2Sauli ndi Aisraeli anasonkhana namanga misasa mʼchigwa cha Ela ndipo anandandalitsa ankhondo kuti amenyane ndi Afilisti. 3Afilisti anali phiri lina ndipo Aisraeli analinso phiri lina, ndipo pakati pawo panali chigwa.
4Tsono munthu wina wamphamvu, dzina lake Goliati wochokera ku Gati anatuluka ku misasa ya Afilisti. Msinkhu wake unali pafupipafupi mamita atatu. 5Iye ankavala chipewa chamkuwa ndi malaya achitsulo olemera makilogalamu 57. 6Ankavalanso zokuta miyendo yake zamkuwa, ndipo ankanyamula nthungo ya mkuwa pa phewa pake. 7Thunthu la mkondo wake linali ngati mkombero wowombera nsalu, ndipo mutu wa mkondowo unkalemera makilogalamu asanu ndi awiri. Patsogolo pake pamakhala munthu wonyamula zida zake za nkhondo.
8Goliatiyo anayimirira ndi kufuwula kwa ankhondo a Israeli, nati, “Nʼchifukwa chiyani mwakonzekera nkhondo chotere? Kodi sindine Mfilisiti ndipo inu sindinu akapolo a Sauli? Sankhani munthu kuti abwere kwa ine. 9Ngati angathe kumenyana nane ndi kundipha, ife tidzakhala akapolo anu, koma ngati ine ndimugonjetsa ndi kumupha, inu mudzakhala akapolo athu ndi kumatitumikira.” 10Ndipo Mfilisitiyo anati, “Bwerani lero timenyane basi! Patseni munthu kuti ndimenyane naye.” 11Atamva mawu a Mfilisitiyo, Sauli ndi Aisraeli onse anataya mtima nachita mantha kwambiri.
12Davide anali mwana wa munthu wa fuko la Efurati dzina lake Yese amene amachokera ku Betelehemu mʼdziko la Yuda. Yese anali ndi ana aamuna asanu ndi awiri. Pa nthawi ya Sauli nʼkuti ali wokalamba. 13Ana atatu oyamba kubadwa a Yese nʼkuti atapita nawo ku nkhondo pamodzi ndi Sauli. Woyamba dzina lake anali Eliabu, wachiwiri anali Abinadabu, ndipo wachitatu anali Sama. 14Davide ndiye anali mzime. Ana aakulu atatuwo ndiwo anapita ku nkhondo ndi Sauli. 15Koma Davide ankapita ku misasa ya Sauli ndi kubwerako kuti azikaweta nkhosa za abambo ake ku Betelehemu.
16Kwa masiku makumi anayi, Mfilisiti uja ankabwera mmawa ndi madzulo kumadzionetsera.
17Tsiku lina Yese anawuza mwana wake Davide kuti, “Atengere abale ako makilogalamu khumi a tirigu wokazinga ndi malofu a buledi khumi ndipo upite nazo mofulumira ku misasa yawo. 18Utengerenso wolamulira wa gulu lawo tchizi khumi uyu. Ukaone mmene abale ako akukhalira ndipo ubwere ndi kanthu kosonyeza kuti ali bwino. 19Sauli, abale akowo ndi asilikali onse a Israeli ali ku chigwa cha Ela, akumenyana ndi Afilisti.”
20Mʼmamawa mwake Davide anasiya nkhosa mʼmanja mwa munthu wina ndipo anatenga zakudyazo nanyamuka monga momwe Yese abambo ake anamulamulira. Anakafika ku misasa pamene asilikali ankapita kukandanda pa mzere ku nkhondo, nʼkufuwula mfuwu wankhondo. 21Aisraeli ndi Afilisti anandanda pa mzere wankhondo moyangʼanana. 22Tsono Davide anasiyira zakudya zija munthu wosunga katundu nathamangira kumene kunali ankhondo kuja ndi kukalonjera abale ake. 23Pamene iye ankayankhula nawo anangoona Goliati wa ku Gati uja akuchoka pa mzere wa Afilisti akufuwula mawu onyoza monga mwa masiku onse, ndipo Davide ankawamva. 24Aisraeli ataona munthuyo, anamuthawa ndi mantha aakulu.
25Ndipo Aisraeli ankanena kuti, “Kodi mwamuona munthu akubwerayo? Iye amangobwera kudzanyoza Israeli. Tsono mfumu inati kuti idzapereka chuma chambiri kwa munthu amene adzamuphe. Idzaperekanso mwana wake wamkazi kuti amukwatire ndiponso banja la abambo ake silidzaperekanso msonkho mu Israeli.”
26Davide anafunsa anthu amene anayima pafupi naye kuti, “Kodi adzamuchita chiyani munthu amene adzapha Mfilisiti uyu ndi kuchotsa chitonzo pakati pa Israeli? Mfilisiti wosachita mdulidweyu ndi ndani kuti azinyoza gulu lankhondo la Mulungu wamoyo?”
27Anthu anamuwuzanso zonse zimene mfumu inanena kuti idzachitira munthu amene adzapha Mfilisitiyo.
28Eliabu, mkulu wake wa Davide, atamumva akuyankhula ndi anthuwo, anamukwiyira ndipo anamufunsa kuti, “Nʼchifukwa chiyani wabwera kuno? Ndipo wasiyira yani nkhosa zochepazo mʼchipululu? Ndikudziwa kuti ndiwe wodzikuza ndiponso woyipa mtima. Unabwera kuno kuti udzaonere nkhondo.”
29Davide anati, “Kodi ndachita chiyani ine? Kodi ndisamayankhule?” 30Ndipo anamuchokera napita kwa munthu wina ndipo anamufunsa nkhani yomweyo, ndipo anthu anamuyankha iye monga poyamba paja. 31Mawu amene Davide anayankhula atamveka, anthu anakafotokozera Sauli ndipo Sauli anamuyitanitsa.
32Davide anati kwa Sauli, “Munthu aliyense asataye mtima chifukwa cha Mfilisitiyu. Ine kapolo wanu ndipita kukamenyana naye.”
33Sauli anayankha Davide kuti, “Iwe sungathe kupita kukamenyana ndi Mfilisitiyu. Iwe ukanali mnyamata, koma iyeyu ndi amene wakhala akumenya nkhondo kuyambira unyamata wake.”
34Koma Davide anati kwa Sauli, “Kapolo wanune ndinkaweta nkhosa za abambo anga. Ndipo mkango kapena chimbalangondo chikamabwera ndi kugwira mwana wankhosa pakati pa nkhosazo, 35ine ndinkatsatira ndi kupha chirombocho. Choncho ndinkapulumutsa mwana wankhosa uja mʼkamwa mwake. Ndipo chinkati chikandiwukira, ine ndinkagwira tchowa lake, nʼkuchikantha mpaka kuchipha. 36Ine kapolo wanu ndinapha mkango ngakhalenso chimbalangondo. Tsono Mfilisiti wosachita mdulidweyu adzaphedwa monga zinazo chifukwa wanyoza ankhondo a Mulungu wamoyo. 37Yehova amene anandilanditsa mʼkamwa mwa mkango ndi chimbalangondo adzandilanditsa mʼmanja mwa Mfilisiti uyu.”
Sauli anati kwa Davide, “Pita, ndipo Yehova akhale nawe.”
38Ndipo Sauli anamveka Davide mwinjiro wake. Anamuveka zovala zankhondo ndi chipewa cha mkuwa. 39Davide anamangirira lupanga pa mwinjirowo. Atayesa kuyenda nazo, analephera chifukwa anali asanazizolowere.
Iye anati kwa Sauli, “Sindingathe kuyenda nazo chifukwa sindinazizolowere.” Ndipo anazivula. 40Pambuyo pake anatenga ndodo yake mʼmanja. Kenaka anasankha miyala yosalala bwino mu mtsinje ndi kuyiika mʼthumba lake la ku ubusa. Legeni ili mʼmanja mwake, Davide ananyamuka kukakumana ndi Mfilisiti uja.
41Tsono Mfilisiti uja anayambapo kupita kumene kunali Davide, mnyamata wonyamula zida zake za nkhondo ali patsogolo pake. 42Mfilisitiyo atangomuona Davide, anamunyoza popeza kuti Davide anali mnyamata chabe wofiirira ndi wa maonekedwe abwino. 43Iye anati kwa Davide, “Kodi ndine galu, kuti ubwere kwa ine ndi ndodo?” Ndipo Mfilisitiyo anamutemberera Davide potchula mayina a milungu yake. 44Iye anatinso, “Bwera kuno ndipo ndidzapereka mnofu wako kwa mbalame zamlengalenga ndi kwa zirombo zakuthengo!”
45Koma Davide anati kwa Mfilisitiyo, “Iwe wabwera kwa ine ndi lupanga, mkondo ndi nthungo, koma ine ndikubwera kwa iwe mʼdzina la Yehova Wamphamvuzonse, Mulungu wa ankhondo Aisraeli amene iwe ukuwanyoza. 46Anatinso lero lino Yehova adzakupereka mʼmanja mwanga. Ndidzakukantha ndi kudula mutu wako. Ndidzapereka mitembo ya asilikali a Afilisti kwa mbalame za mlengalenga, ndi kwa zirombo zakuthengo ndipo dziko lonse lapansi lidzadziwa kuti mu Israeli muli Mulungu. 47Onse amene asonkhana pano adzadziwa kuti Mulungu sapulumutsa anthu ndi lupanga kapena mkondo, pakuti nkhondo ndi ya Yehova. Iye adzakuperekani mʼmanja mwathu.”
48Mfilisitiyo akusendera pafupi kuti akumane naye, Davideyo anathamangira mofulumira ku mzere wa nkhondo kukakumana naye. 49Davideyo anapisa dzanja lake mʼthumba lake natengamo mwala ndipo anawuponya, nalasa pa mphumi pa Mfilisitiyo. Mwalawo unalowa pa chipumi chake, ndipo anagwa chafufumimba.
50Kotero Davide anamupambana Mfilisitiyo pomugenda ndi mwala wa legeni ndi kumupha. Mʼmanja mwa Davide munalibe lupanga.
51Davide anathamanga nakayimirira pamwamba pa Mfilisiti uja. Anasolola lupanga lake lomwe moyikamo mwake, namupha pomudula mutu wake.
Afilisti ataona kuti ngwazi yawo yafa, anathawa. 52Ndipo Aisraeli ndi anthu a ku Yuda ananyamuka, ndipo akufuwula anathamangitsa Afilisti aja mpaka ku Gati ndi ku zipata za Ekroni. Anthu akufa awo amagwa njira yonse ya ku Saaraimu mpaka ku Gati ndi ku Ekroni. 53Aisraeli anabwerako kothamangitsa Afilisti kuja ndipo anadzatenga zonse zimene zinali mʼmisasa ya Afilistiwo. 54Pambuyo pake Davide anatenga mutu wa Mfilisitiyo napita nawo ku Yerusalemu, koma anayika zida za Mfilisitiyo mu tenti yake.
55Sauli ataona Davide akupita kukakumana ndi Mfilisitiyo anafunsa Abineri, mkulu wa ankhondo kuti, “Abineri, kodi mnyamatayu ndi mwana wa yani?”
Abineri anayankha kuti, “Ndithu mfumu muli apa ine sindikumudziwa.”
56Mfumu inati, “Pita kafufuze kuti mnyamata ameneyu ndi mwana wa yani.”
57Davide atangobwerako kokapha Mfilisiti kuja, Abineri anamutenga nabwera naye kwa Sauli, mutu wa Mfilisiti uja uli mʼmanja mwake.
58Sauli anamufunsa, “Mnyamata iwe, kodi paja ndiwe mwana wayani?”
Davide anati, “Ndine mwana wa mtumiki wanu Yese wa ku Betelehemu.”
