1Now the Philistines gathered their camps for war, and they were gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and Azekah, at Ephes-dammim.
2And Saul and the men of Israel gathered and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and they drew up in battle line to meet the Philistines.
3And the Philistines were standing on the mountain on one side, and Israel was standing on the mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.
4Then a champion came out from the camps of the Philistines; his name was Goliath, from Gath. His height was six cubits and a span.
5A helmet of bronze was on his head, and he was clothed with a coat of scale armor, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze.
6Bronze greaves were on his legs, and a bronze javelin was between his shoulders.
7And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the head of his spear was six hundred shekels of iron; and his shield-bearer went before him.
8He stood and called out to the ranks of Israel and said to them, “Why do you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me.
9If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, then we will become your servants; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will become our servants and serve us.”
10And the Philistine said, “I myself have defied the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, and let us 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 this Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, whose name was Jesse, and who had eight sons. And in the days of Saul the man was old, advanced in years among men.
13The three eldest sons of Jesse had gone; they had followed Saul to the war. And the names of his three sons who went to the war were Eliab the firstborn, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
14And David was the youngest; the three eldest followed Saul.
15But David went back and forth from Saul to shepherd his father’s flock at Bethlehem.
16And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and he took his stand for forty days.
17Now Jesse said to David his son, “Take now for your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and run to the camp to your brothers.
18And these ten cuts of cheese you shall bring to the commander of the thousand. And you shall look after the welfare of your brothers and take a pledge from them.
19Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
20So David rose early in the morning, left the flock with a keeper, took up the load, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the encampment as the army was going out to the battle line and raising the war cry.
21And Israel and the Philistines drew up in battle line, rank against rank.
22And David left the things he was carrying in the charge of the keeper of the baggage and ran to the battle line, and he came and asked his brothers about their welfare.
23While he was speaking with them, behold, the champion, Goliath the Philistine by name, from Gath, was coming up from the ranks of the Philistines, and he spoke the same words; and David heard.
24And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from before him and were greatly afraid.
25And the men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who comes up? Surely it is to defy Israel that he comes up. And the man who strikes him down—the king will enrich him with great riches, and give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.”
26Then David said to the men standing beside him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and removes the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the ranks of the living God?”
27And the people told him the same word, saying, “Thus it will be done for the man who strikes him down.”
28Now Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men, and Eliab’s anger burned against David, and he said, “Why did you come down here, 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 just a word?”
30And he turned away from him toward another and spoke the same word, and the people answered him a word as before.
31When the words that David had spoken were heard, they reported them before Saul, and he sent for him.
32And David said to Saul, “Let no man’s heart fail on account of him. Your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.”
33But Saul said to David, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are a youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.”
34And David said to Saul, “Your servant used to shepherd his father’s flock, and when a lion came—or a bear—and carried off a lamb from the flock,
35I would go out after it and strike it and rescue it from its mouth; and if it rose up against me, I would seize it by its beard and strike it and kill it.
36Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defiled the battle lines of the living God.
37And David said, “Yahweh, who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, he will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and may Yahweh be with you.”
38Then Saul clothed David with his own garments; he put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail.
39And David girded his sword over his garments and tried to walk, for he had not tested them; and David said to Saul, “I cannot walk in these, for I have not tested them.” So David took them off him.
40He took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the wadi and put them in the shepherd’s bag that he had, in the pouch, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.
41And the Philistine came, moving steadily and drawing near to David, with the man carrying the large shield before him.
42When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him, for he was 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.
44And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and to the beasts of the field.”
45But David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of Yahweh of hosts, the God of the battle lines of Israel, whom you have defiled.
46This day Yahweh will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you; and I will give the corpses of the camp of the Philistines this day to the birds of the heavens and to the wild animals of the earth, so that all the earth may know that there is a God for Israel.
47And all this assembly will know that Yahweh does not save by sword and spear, for the battle belongs to Yahweh, and he will give you into our hand.”
48And it happened, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.
49And David put his hand into the bag and took from there a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead; and 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 a stone; he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in David’s hand.
51Then David ran and stood over the Philistine and took his sword and drew it from its sheath and finished him off, 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 arose and shouted and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and up to the gates of Ekron. And the slain of the Philistines fell along the road of Shaaraim, as far as Gath and as far as Ekron.
53Then the sons of Israel returned from chasing after the Philistines and plundered their camps.
54And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his weapons in his own tent.
55When Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of the army, “Whose son is this youth, Abner?” And Abner said, “As your life lives, O king, I do not know.”
56And the king said, “You inquire whose son this young man is.”
57So when David returned from striking down 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 said, “The son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
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