¹Then the Philistines mobilized their battalions for war, and they were assembled in Sochoh which is in Judah, and they encamped between Sochoh and Azekah in Ephes-Dammim. ²And Saul and the men of Israel assembled and encamped in the Valley of Elah, and they drew up for war against the Philistines. ³Now the Philistines were stationed on one side of the mountain, and Israel was stationed on the other side of the mountain, and there was a valley between them. ⁴And a duellist went out from the Philistines' camps, whose name was Goliath, from Gath, and his height was six cubits and a span. ⁵And there was a copper helmet on his head, and he wore scaled armour, and the weight of his armour was five thousand shekels of copper. ⁶And he had copper leg-armour on his legs, and a copper javelin between his shoulders. ⁷And his spear was an arrow like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred iron shekels, and his shield-bearer went in front of him. ⁸And he stood and called to the regiments of Israel, and he said to them, “Why have you come out to draw up for war? Am I not a Philistine, and you Saul's servants? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down against me. ⁹If he is able to fight with me, and he strikes me down, then we will be your servants, but if I prevail over him and strike him down, then you will be our servants, and you will serve us.” ¹⁰And the Philistine said, “I defy the regiments of Israel this day. Give me a man and let us fight together!” ¹¹And Saul and the whole of Israel heard these words of the Philistine, and they were very fearful and afraid. ¹²Now David was the son of this Ephrathite man from Bethlehem Judah whose name was Jesse, who had eight sons, and the man was becoming old in the days of Saul, going about his affairs among men. ¹³And the eldest three sons of Jesse had gone to follow Saul to battle, and the names of his three sons who went to battle were Eliab the firstborn, and his second-born Abinadab, and the third one, Shammah. ¹⁴And David was the youngest, and the three eldest went behind Saul. ¹⁵Now David had departed and was returning from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶And the Philistine approached early in the morning and in the evening, and he took a stand for forty days. ¹⁷Meanwhile Jesse said to David his son, “Please take this ephah of roasted corn and these ten loaves to your brothers, and bring them quickly to the encampment for your brothers. ¹⁸And bring these ten slices of cheese to the commander of a thousand, and bid your brothers good fortune, and take their pledge.” ¹⁹And Saul and they and every man of Israel were in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines. ²⁰And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep to a guardian, and he loaded up and departed as Jesse had commanded him, and he arrived at the entrenchment, and the army was going out to the opposing regiment, and they sounded a call to battle. ²¹And Israel drew up its lines, as did the Philistines – regiment against regiment. ²²And David left his equipment behind him in the hands of his equipment-guardian, and he ran to the regiment, and when he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were faring. ²³And just as he was speaking with them, the duellist came up, whose name was Goliath the Philistine from Gath, from the caves of the Philistines, and he spoke similar words to the previous ones, and David heard them. ²⁴And when they saw the man, all the men of Israel fled from him and were very afraid. ²⁵Now the men of Israel had said, “Have you seen this man who has come up, for he comes up to defy Israel, and the king would make the man who could strike him down rich with great wealth, and he would give him his daughter, and he would make his father's house free in Israel.” ²⁶And David spoke to the men who were standing with him and said, “What will be done for the man who strikes this Philistine down and removes the reproach from Israel, for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, for he has defied the regiments of the living God?” ²⁷And the people spoke to him as described above and said, “So shall it be done for the man who strikes him down.” ²⁸And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spoke to the men, and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, “Why is it that you have come down, and to whom have you left those few sheep in the desert? I know your insolence and the wickedness of your heart, for you came down to watch the battle.” ²⁹Then David said, “What have I done now? Isn't there business to attend to?” ³⁰And he turned away from him towards someone else, and he spoke in the same way, and the people answered him in a similar way to the first time. ³¹And when the words which David spoke were heard, they reported them in Saul's presence, and he fetched him. ³²And David said to Saul, “Do not let anyone's heart sink because of him. Your servant will go and fight against this Philistine.” ³³Then Saul said to David, “You cannot go to this Philistine to fight against him, for you are a lad, whereas he has been a warrior from his youth.” ³⁴Then David said to Saul, “Your servant was a shepherd among the sheep for his father, and a lion came, and a bear, and it took a sheep from the flock. ³⁵And I went out after it and struck it down and delivered the sheep from its mouth, and it rose up against me, but I seized its beard and struck it down and killed it. ³⁶Your servant struck down both the lion and the bear, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the regiments of the living God.” ³⁷And David said, “The Lord who delivered me from the grip of the lion and from the grip of the bear will deliver me from the grip of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord will be with you.” ³⁸Then Saul clothed David with his livery, and he put a copper helmet on his head, and he put armour on him. ³⁹And David girded his sword on his livery and set about walking, for he had not practised with it, and David said to Saul, “I can't walk in these things, for I have not practised with them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰And he took his staff in his hand, and he chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's bag which he had, and in his satchel. And his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. ⁴¹Then the Philistine came, getting closer and closer to David, and the man who bore the shield went before him. ⁴²And the Philistine looked and saw David, and he despised him, because he was a lad, and red-haired, and with an elegant appearance. ⁴³And the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, in 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 sky and to the wild animals.” ⁴⁵And David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with your sword and your spear and with your javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hand, and I will strike you down, and I will remove your head from you, and I will give the corpses of the Philistines' camp this day to the birds of the sky and to the wild animals of the land, and all the land will know that Israel has a God. ⁴⁷And this whole convocation will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and he will deliver you into our hands.” ⁴⁸And it came to pass that the Philistine arose and walked and approached David, and David hastened and ran to the ranks towards the Philistine. ⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag and took a stone from there, and he slung it, and he struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone penetrated into his forehead, and he fell to the ground face down. ⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him, while there was no sword in David's hand. ⁵¹Then David ran and stood over the Philistine, and he took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and he cut his head off with it. And the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, and they fled. ⁵²Then the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted and pursued the Philistines to where you come to the valley, and to the gates of Ekron. And the Philistines' casualties fell along the way to Shaaraim and to Gath and to Ekron. ⁵³Then the sons of Israel returned from ardently pursuing the Philistines, and they pillaged their camps. ⁵⁴And David took the Philistine's head, and he brought it to Jerusalem, and he put his equipment in his tent. ⁵⁵And when Saul saw David coming out against the Philistine, he said to Abner the commander of the army, “Whose son is this young man, Abner?” And Abner said, “I swear by your own life, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶And the king said, “You ask whose son the lad is.” ⁵⁷Then when David returned from striking the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with the Philistine's head 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.”