1Filistrene samlede igen deres hær for at gå i krig. De samledes i Soko i Juda og slog lejr i Efes-Dammim mellem Soko og Azeka.2Saul og israelitterne samledes og slog lejr ved Elahdalen, og de gjorde sig klar til kamp.3Filistrene og israelitterne stod således ansigt til ansigt på hver sin bjergskråning med kun dalen imellem sig.4Filistrene havde en kriger, Goliat fra Gat, som var næsten tre meter høj.5Hans rustning bestod af en hjelm af bronze, et brystpanser af bronze, der vejede over 50 kilo,*6og benskinner af bronze. På ryggen bar han et kastespyd af bronze.7Skaftet på hans kampspyd var flere tommer tykt og med en spydspids af jern, der vejede næsten syv kilo. Foran ham gik hans våbendrager med et stort skjold.8Goliat trådte frem foran de øvrige filistre og råbte over til israelitterne: „Hvorfor har I stillet hele hæren op til kamp? Vi kan da bare ordne sagen ved en lille tvekamp! Jeg er filistrenes største krigshelt. I er selvfølgelig kun Sauls slaver, men vælg bare en af jeres mænd til at komme herned og kæmpe med mig.9Hvis han vinder over mig og slår mig ihjel, bliver vi jeres slaver. Men hvis jeg vinder over ham og slår ham ihjel, bliver I vores slaver.10Jeg udfordrer Israels hær til at sende en mand her hen til mig, hvis I altså tør.”11Da Saul og israelitterne hørte, hvad Goliat sagde, blev de skrækslagne og tabte fuldstændig modet.12Det samme gentog sig i 40 dage. Hver eneste morgen og aften trådte kæmpen frem og udfordrede israelitterne. Nu havde David jo syv ældre brødre, der alle var sønner af Isaj, som boede i Betlehem i Judas stammeområde. De tre ældste—Eliab, Abinadab og Shamma—var med i Sauls hær. David, der var yngst, tjente hos Saul, men var netop nu i Betlehem, hvor han hjalp sin gamle far med at vogte fårene og gederne.17En dag sagde Isaj til David: „Tag den her sæk ristede korn og de her ti brød med til dine brødre i Sauls hær,18og giv de her ti stykker ost til deres anfører. Find ud af, hvordan dine brødre har det, og sørg for at bringe et brev eller noget andet med tilbage fra dem.19De er sammen med Saul og hele hæren i Elahdalen.”20David overlod så fårene til en anden hyrde, og tidligt næste morgen tog han af sted. Han ankom til udkanten af lejren, netop som hæren var ved at stille op til kamp og udstødte kampråbet.21Israelitterne og filistrene stillede op over for hinanden på hver sin side af dalen.22David efterlod sin bagage hos manden, der havde opsyn med forsyningerne, og skyndte sig ud for at finde sine brødre.23Mens han talte med dem, trådte Goliat frem og stillede sig op foran filisterhæren, og David hørte, hvordan han råbte sin udfordring til israelitterne.24Så snart Israels krigere så ham, flygtede de skrækslagne.25„Sikken en kæmpe,” sagde krigerne til hinanden, „han kommer hver dag for at håne Israels hær. Kongen har udlovet en belønning til den, der slår kæmpen ihjel. Han bliver rig, han får kongens datter til kone, og hele hans slægt bliver fritaget for at betale skat.”26David henvendte sig nu til nogle af de omkringstående og spurgte: „Hvad får den mand, der slår filisteren ihjel og gør en ende på hans forhånelser? Hvem er egentlig denne ugudelige, uomskårne filister, der tror, han kan tillade sig at håne den levende Guds hær?”27Han fik det samme svar igen om den udlovede dusør.28Men da Davids ældste bror, Eliab, hørte, hvad David talte med mændene om, blev han vred. „Hvad bestiller du egentlig her?” skældte han. „Har du efterladt de stakkels får i ørkenen? Jeg kender dig. Du er både hovmodig og selvisk. Du er bare kommet for at se på kampen.”29„Hvad har jeg nu gjort?” forsvarede David sig. „Der er vel ikke noget forkert i at spørge?”30Så gik han hen til nogle andre mænd og stillede samme spørgsmål. De gav ham det samme svar.
David kæmper mod Goliat
31Det rygtedes hurtigt i lejren, hvad David havde sagt. Da kong Saul fik det at vide, sendte han bud efter ham.32„Du må ikke lade dig slå ud af den overmodige filister,” sagde David til Saul. „Jeg skal nok gøre det af med ham.”33„Det kan du ikke,” sukkede Saul. „Du er ung og uerfaren, mens den mand har været kriger fra sin ungdom af.”34Men David svarede: „Jeg har i årevis vogtet min fars får. Hvis der kom en løve eller en bjørn og tog et lam fra hjorden,35løb jeg efter dyret, fældede det med min slynge og rev lammet ud af gabet på det. Hvis dyret så angreb mig, greb jeg fat i dets pels og slog det ihjel.36Jeg har slået både løver og bjørne ihjel, og nu skal det gå den her uomskårne filister på samme måde, for han har udfordret den levende Guds hær.37Den Gud, som frelste mig fra løvers og bjørnes kløer, vil også hjælpe mig imod den filister.” „Godt,” svarede Saul, „så gå imod ham. Og må Herren være med dig.”38Saul gav nu David sin egen rustning med både bronzehjelm og brynje.39David spændte bæltet med sværdet om livet, men han kunne ikke bevæge sig med alt det på. Han havde jo aldrig prøvet det før. „Jeg kan dårligt bevæge mig i den mundering,” sagde han og tog det hele af igen.40I stedet udvalgte han sig fem glatte sten ved bækken og lagde dem i sin hyrdetaske, og med sin hyrdestav og sin slynge gik han Goliat i møde.41Goliat kom gående hen imod David med skjoldbæreren foran sig. Da han fik øje på ham, snerrede han i foragt over den lille rødmossede fyr, der vovede sig frem imod ham.43„Hvad regner du mig for? En hund?” brølede han til David. „Du kommer jo imod mig med en kæp!” Så forbandede han David ved alle sine guder44og tilføjede: „Kom herhen, så skal jeg gøre dig til føde for fuglene og de vilde dyr!”45Men David råbte tilbage: „Du kommer imod mig med sværd, spyd og lanse, men jeg kommer imod dig i Herrens navn! Du har hånet ham, skønt han er Anføreren for de himmelske hære og for Israels styrker!46Derfor vil Herren gøre det af med dig i dag. Jeg vil slå dig ihjel og hugge hovedet af dig, så det er dig og dine folk, der bliver til føde for fuglene og de vilde dyr. På den måde får hele verden at se, at der er en Gud i Israel!47Og Israel skal lære, at Herren ikke giver sejr ved sværd og spyd, når han vil gennemføre sine planer. I dag vil han udlevere jer til os.”48Da Goliat nærmede sig, løb David ham i møde.49Han stak hånden i sin hyrdetaske, fiskede en sten op, slyngede den rundt og lod den flyve mod filisterens hoved. Stenen borede sig ind i Goliats pande, og han faldt næsegrus til jorden.50Sådan fældede David filisterkæmpen med en sten fra sin slynge. Da han ikke havde noget sværd,51løb han hen og trak Goliats sværd af skeden og huggede hovedet af kæmpen. Ved det syn gik der panik i filisterhæren. De vendte om og tog flugten, da det gik op for dem, at deres helt var død.52Da udstødte Israels og Judas mænd et krigshyl og stormede efter filistrene, og de forfulgte dem helt til Gat og Ekrons byporte. Døde og sårede filistre lå spredt fra Sha’arajim til Gat og Ekron.53Derefter vendte israelitterne tilbage og plyndrede filistrenes rømmede lejr.54Men David sikrede sig Goliats hoved og tog det senere med til Jerusalem, mens filisterens våben blev anbragt i hans telt.*55Dengang Saul så David gå imod kæmpen Goliat, spurgte han sin hærfører Abner: „Abner, hvilken familie er det nu den der unge fyr kommer fra?” „Jeg aner det ikke,” svarede Abner.56„Så find ud af det!” sagde kongen.57Efter at David havde dræbt Goliat, og han kom tilbage med kæmpens hoved i hånden, førte Abner ham straks til Saul.58„Sig mig, unge mand,” sagde Saul, „hvem er din far?” David svarede: „Jeg er søn af Isaj, der bor i Betlehem.”
English Standard Version
David and Goliath
1Now the Philistines gathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, in Ephes-dammim.2And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines.3And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.4And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six* cubits* and a span.5He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels* of bronze.6And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a javelin of bronze slung between his shoulders.7The shaft 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.8He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.9If he is able to fight with 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 serve us.”10And the Philistine said, “I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.”11When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. In the days of Saul the man was already old and advanced in years.*13The three oldest sons of Jesse had followed 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. The three eldest followed Saul,15but David went back and forth from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.16For forty days the Philistine came forward and took his stand, morning and evening.17And Jesse said to David his son, “Take for your brothers an ephah* of this parched grain, and these ten loaves, and carry them quickly to the camp to your brothers.18Also take these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand. See if your brothers are well, and bring some token from them.”19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.20And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper and took the provisions and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the encampment as the host was going out to the battle line, shouting the war cry.21And Israel and the Philistines drew up for battle, army against army.22And David left the things in charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the ranks and went 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 spoke the same words as before. And David heard him.24All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.25And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he has come up to defy Israel. And the king will enrich the man who kills him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father’s house free in Israel.”26And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for 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?”27And the people answered him in the same way, “So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”28Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your presumption and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”29And David said, “What have I done now? Was it not but a word?”30And he turned away from him toward another, and spoke in the same way, and the people answered him again as before.31When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him.32And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”33And Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”34But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock,35I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him.36Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God.”37And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with you!”38Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail,39and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off.40Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.41And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, with his shield-bearer in front of him.42And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ruddy and handsome in appearance.43And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.44The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.”45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to 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, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel,47and that all this assembly may know that the Lord saves not with sword and spear. For the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”48When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.49And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.50So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David.51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.52And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath* and the gates of Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.53And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp.54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.55As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Abner, whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, “As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.”56And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.”57And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.58And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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