David Kills Goliath

1The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah. 2Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines. 3The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.

4Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall. 5He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels. 6He had bronze shin guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders. 7The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer was walking before him.

8Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops, “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me! 9If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.” 10Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other!” 11When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.

12Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons, and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years. 13Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest. 14Now David was the youngest. While the three oldest sons followed Saul, 15David was going back and forth from Saul in order to care for his father’s sheep in Bethlehem.

16Meanwhile for forty days the Philistine approached every morning and evening and took his position. 17Jesse said to his son David, “Take your brothers this ephah of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; go quickly to the camp to your brothers. 18Also take these ten portions of cheese to their commanding officer. Find out how your brothers are doing and bring back their pledge that they received the goods. 19They are with Saul and the whole Israelite army in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.”

20So David got up early in the morning and entrusted the flock to someone else who would watch over it. After loading up, he went just as Jesse had instructed him. He arrived at the camp as the army was going out to the battle lines shouting its battle cry. 21Israel and the Philistines drew up their battle lines opposite one another. 22After David had entrusted his cargo to the care of the supply officer, he ran to the battlefront. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing. 23As he was speaking with them, the champion named Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, was coming up from the battle lines of the Philistines. He spoke the way he usually did, and David heard it. 24When all the men of Israel saw this man, they retreated from his presence and were very afraid.

25The men of Israel said, “Have you seen this man who is coming up? He does so to defy Israel. But the king will make the man who can strike him down very wealthy! He will give him his daughter in marriage, and he will make his father’s house exempt from tax obligations in Israel.”

26David asked the men who were standing near him, “What will be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and frees Israel from this humiliation? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he defies the armies of the living God?” 27The soldiers told him what had been promised, saying, “This is what will be done for the man who can strike him down.”

28When David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking to the men, he became angry with David and said, “Why have you come down here? To whom did you entrust those few sheep in the desert? I am familiar with your pride and deceit! You have come down here to watch the battle!”

29David replied, “What have I done now? Can’t I say anything?” 30Then he turned from those who were nearby to someone else and asked the same question, but they gave him the same answer as before. 31When David’s words were overheard and reported to Saul, he called for him.

32David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone be discouraged. Your servant will go and fight this Philistine!” 33But Saul replied to David, “You aren’t able to go against this Philistine and fight him! You’re just a boy! He has been a warrior from his youth!”

34David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been a shepherd for his father’s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock, 35I would go out after it, strike it down, and rescue the sheep from its mouth. If it rose up against me, I would grab it by its jaw, strike it, and kill it.