1 NOW the Philistines gathered together their armies for battle, and were massed at the border of Judah, and they encamped between the border and Arka in Epher-samin.

2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and encamped in the valley of Terebinth, and they set the army in array to fight against the Philistines.

3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, and the valley was between them.

4 And there went out a mighty man from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5 And he had a helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of his coat of mail was five thousand shekels of brass.

6 And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a cuirass of mail between his shoulders.

7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron; and his shieldbearer went before him.

8 And he stood and cried to the armies of Israel, and said to them, Why have you come out to set your battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, that he may come out against me.

9 If 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.

10 And the Philistine said, I have defied the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.

11 When Saul and all Israel heard the words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite of Beth-lehem of Judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons; and the man was old and advanced in years in the days of Saul.

13 And the three older sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle; and their names were Eliab the first-born, and next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14 And David was the youngest;

15 Now David had returned from Saul, and was gone to tend his father's sheep at Beth-lehem.

16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself for forty days.

17 And Jesse said to David his son, Take now for your brothers an ephah of parched wheat and ten loaves of bread, and run to the camp to your brothers;

18 And carry these ten cheeses to the commander of their thousand and inquire into the welfare of your brothers and bring the news of them to me.

19 Now Saul and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Terebinth fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David rose up early in the morning and left the sheep with the keeper, and took and went as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the camp in the valley which goes up to the battle array, and the army shouted for the battle.

21 Then Israel and the Philistines put themselves in battle array, army against army.

22 And David put off his provisions by the side of the baggage, and ran into the army ranks, and came and saluted his brothers.

23 And while he was talking with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spoke the same words; and David heard them.

24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the mighty man, were afraid and fled from him.

25 And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely to defy Israel he has come up; and it shall be that the man who kills him, the king will enrich him with great riches and will give him his daughter and make his father's house free in Israel.

26 And David said to the men who stood by him, What shall be done for the man who kills this uncircumcised Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?

27 And the people told him the king's promises, saying, So shall it be done to the man who kills him.

28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard him when he spoke to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said to him, Why have you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your boldness and the evil of your heart; for you have come down to see the battle.

29 And David said, What have I done now? Behold, I was just talking.

30 And he turned from him to the other side, and spoke in the same manner; and the people answered him again as they had done before.

31 And when the words which David spoke were reported to Saul, he sent for him.

32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

33 And Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a boy, and he has been a man of war from his youth.

34 And David said to Saul, Your servant was tending his father's sheep, and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb from the flock;

35 And I went out after the lion and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth; and he growled at me, and I caught him by his beard, and I smote him and slew him.

36 Your servant slew both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

37 David said moreover, The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me out of the hands of the Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the LORD be with you.

38 And Saul armed David with his own armor and put a helmet of brass upon his head; and armed him with a coat of mail.

39 And David girded his sword upon his armor, but he was unwilling to go; for he had not tried them out. So David took them off.

40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose five smooth stones out of the gravel, and put them into his shepherd's bag, even into his wallet, and his sling was in his hand; and he drew near to the Philistine.

41 And behold, the Philistine came and drew near to David; and his shieldbearer went before him.

42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and ruddy, and of a fair countenance.

43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with a staff? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the fowls of the air and to the beasts of the field.

45 Then David said to the Philistine, You come against me with a sword and with a spear and with a shield; but I come against you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands; and I will slay you and take your head from you; and I will give the carcasses of the host of the Philistines this day to the wild beasts of the earth and to the fowls of the air, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.

47 And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear; for the battle is the LORD'S, and he will deliver you into our hands.

48 And, behold, when the Philistine came and drew near to meet David, David hastened and ran to the battle line to meet the Philistine.

49 And David put his hand in his bag and took thence a stone, and slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.

51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him and cut off his head. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

52 And the men of Israel and of Judah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and as far as the valley of Ekron. And the slain of the Philistines fell by the way of Shaarain, even to Gath and to Ekron.

53 And the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and plundered their camps.

54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armor in his tent.

55 And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said to Abner, the commander of his army, Whose son is this youth? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.

56 And the king said, Inquire whose son this young man is.

57 And when David returned after he had slain the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

58 And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David said to him, I am the son of your servant Jesse the Beth-lehemite.