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17 And the Philistines gather their camps to battle, and are gathered to Shochoh, which [is] to Judah, and encamp between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephes-Dammim;

and Saul and the men of Israel have been gathered, and encamp by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array to meet the Philistines.

And the Philistines are standing on the mountain on this side, and the Israelites are standing on the mountain on that side, and the valley [is] between them.

And there goeth out a man of the duellists from the camps of the Philistines, Goliath [is] his name, from Gath; his height [is] six cubits and a span,

and a helmet of brass [is] on his head, and [with] a scaled coat of mail he [is] clothed, and the weight of the coat of mail [is] five thousand shekels of brass,

and a frontlet of brass [is] on his feet, and a javelin of brass between his shoulders,

and the wood of his spear [is] like a beam of weavers', and the flame of his spear [is] six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the buckler is going before him.

And he standeth and calleth unto the ranks of Israel, and saith to them, `Why are ye come out to set in array the battle? [am] not I the Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose for you a man, and let him come down unto me;

if he be able to fight with me, and have smitten me, then we have been to you for servants; and if I am able for him, and have smitten him, then ye have been to us for servants, and have served us.'

10 And the Philistine saith, `I have reproached the ranks of Israel this day; give to me a man, and we fight together.'

11 And Saul heareth -- and all Israel -- these words of the Philistine, and they are broken down and greatly afraid.

12 And David [is] son of this Ephrathite of Beth-Lehem-Judah, whose name [is] Jesse, and he hath eight sons, and the man in the days of Saul hath become aged among men;

13 and the three eldest sons of Jesse go, they have gone after Saul to battle; and the name of his three sons who have gone into battle [are] Eliab the first-born, and his second Abinadab, and the third Shammah.

14 And David is the youngest, and the three eldest have gone after Saul,

15 and David is going and returning from Saul, to feed the flock of his father at Beth-Lehem.

16 And the Philistine draweth nigh, morning and evening, and stationeth himself forty days.

17 And Jesse saith to David his son, `Take, I pray thee, to thy brethren, an ephah of this roasted [corn], and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brethren;

18 and these ten cuttings of the cheese thou dost take in to the head of the thousand, and thy brethren thou dost inspect for welfare, and their pledge dost receive.'

19 And Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel [are] in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

20 And David riseth early in the morning, and leaveth the flock to a keeper, and lifteth up, and goeth, as Jesse commanded him, and he cometh in to the path, and to the force which is going out unto the rank, and they have shouted for battle;

21 and Israel and the Philistines set in array rank to meet rank.

22 And David letteth down the goods from off him on the hand of a keeper of the goods, and runneth into the rank, and cometh and asketh of his brethren of welfare.

23 And he is speaking with them, and lo, a man of the duellists is coming up, Goliath the Philistine [is] his name, of Gath, out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he speaketh according to those words, and David heareth;

24 and all the men of Israel when they see the man flee from his presence, and are greatly afraid.

25 And the men of Israel say, `Have ye seen this man who is coming up? for, to reproach Israel he is coming up, and it hath been -- the man who smiteth him, the king doth enrich him with great riches, and his daughter he doth give to him, and his father's house doth make free in Israel.'

26 And David speaketh unto the men who are standing by him, saying, `What is done to the man who smiteth this Philistine, and hath turned aside reproach from Israel? for who [is] this uncircumcised Philistine that he hath reproached the ranks of the living God?'

27 And the people speak to him according to this word, saying, `Thus it is done to the man who smiteth him.'

28 And Eliab, his eldest brother, heareth when he speaketh unto the men, and the anger of Eliab burneth against David, and he saith, `Why [is] this -- thou hast come down! and to whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I have known thy pride, and the evil of thy heart -- for, to see the battle thou hast come down.'

29 And David saith, `What have I done now? is it not a word?'

30 And he turneth round from him unto another, and saith according to this word, and the people return him word as the first word.

31 And the words which David hath spoken are heard, and they declare before Saul, and he receiveth him;

32 and David saith unto Saul, `Let no man's heart fall because of him, thy servant doth go, and hath fought with this Philistine.'

33 And Saul saith unto David, `Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine, to fight with him, for a youth thou [art], and he a man of war from his youth.'

34 And David saith unto Saul, `A shepherd hath thy servant been to his father among the sheep, and the lion hath come -- and the bear -- and hath taken away a sheep out of the drove,

35 and I have gone out after him, and smitten him, and delivered out of his mouth, and he riseth against me, and I have taken hold on his beard, and smitten him, and put him to death.

36 Both the lion and the bear hath thy servant smitten, and this uncircumcised Philistine hath been as one of them, for he hath reproached the ranks of the living God.'

37 And David saith, `Jehovah, who delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, He doth deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul saith unto David, `Go, and Jehovah is with thee.'

38 And Saul clotheth David with his long robe, and hath put a helmet of brass on his head, and doth clothe him with a coat of mail.

39 And David girded his sword above his long robe, and beginneth to go, for he hath not tried [it]; and David saith unto Saul, `I am not able to go with these, for I had not tried;' and David turneth them aside from off him.

40 And he taketh his staff in his hand, and chooseth for him five smooth stones from the brook, and putteth them in the shepherds' habiliments that he hath, even in the scrip, and his sling [is] in his hand, and he draweth nigh unto the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine goeth on, going and drawing near unto David, and the man bearing the buckler [is] before him,

42 and the Philistine looketh attentively, and seeth David, and despiseth him, for he was a youth, and ruddy, with a fair appearance.

43 And the Philistine saith unto David, `Am I a dog that thou art coming unto me with staves?' and the Philistine revileth David by his gods,

44 and the Philistine saith unto David, `Come unto me, and I give thy flesh to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the field.'

45 And David saith unto the Philistine, `Thou art coming unto me with sword, and with spear, and with buckler, and I am coming unto thee in the name of Jehovah of Hosts, God of the ranks of Israel, which thou hast reproached.

46 This day doth Jehovah shut thee up into my hand -- and I have smitten thee, and turned aside thy head from off thee, and given the carcase of the camp of the Philistines this day to the fowl of the heavens, and to the beast of the earth, and all the earth do know that God is for Israel.

47 and all this assembly do know that not by sword and by spear doth Jehovah save, that the battle [is] Jehovah's, and He hath given you into our hand.'

48 And it hath come to pass, that the Philistine hath risen, and goeth, and draweth near to meet David, and David hasteth and runneth to the rank to meet the Philistine,

49 and David putteth forth his hand unto the vessel, and taketh thence a stone, and slingeth, and smiteth the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sinketh into his forehead, and he falleth on his face to the earth.

50 And David is stronger than the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smiteth the Philistine, and putteth him to death, and there is no sword in the hand of David,

51 and David runneth and standeth over the Philistine, and taketh his sword, and draweth it out of its sheath, and putteth him to death, and cutteth off with it his head; and the Philistines see that their hero [is] dead, and flee.

52 And the men of Israel rise -- also Judah -- and shout, and pursue the Philistines till thou enter the valley, and unto the gates of Ekron, and the wounded of the Philistines fall in the way of Shaaraim, even unto Gath, and unto Ekron,

53 and the sons of Israel turn back from burning after the Philistines, and spoil their camps.

54 And David taketh the head of the Philistine, and bringeth it in to Jerusalem, and his weapons he hath put in his own tent.

55 And when Saul seeth David going out to meet the Philistine, he hath said unto Abner, head of the host, `Whose son [is] this -- the youth, Abner?' and Abner saith, `Thy soul liveth, O king, I have not known.'

56 And the king saith, `Ask thou whose son this [is] -- the young man.'

57 And when David turneth back from smiting the Philistine, then Abner taketh him and bringeth him in before Saul, and the head of the Philistine in his hand;

58 and Saul saith unto him, `Whose son [art] thou, O youth?' and David saith, `Son of thy servant Jesse, the Beth-Lehemite.'

David and Goliath

17 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled(A) at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh(B) and Azekah.(C) Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah(D) and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines. The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.

A champion named Goliath,(E) who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span.[a] He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels[b]; on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin(F) was slung on his back. His spear shaft was like a weaver’s rod,(G) and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels.[c] His shield bearer(H) went ahead of him.

Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose(I) a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us.” 10 Then the Philistine said, “This day I defy(J) the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other.(K) 11 On hearing the Philistine’s words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite(L) named Jesse,(M) who was from Bethlehem(N) in Judah. Jesse had eight(O) sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. 13 Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab;(P) the second, Abinadab;(Q) and the third, Shammah.(R) 14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul, 15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend(S) his father’s sheep(T) at Bethlehem.

16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.

17 Now Jesse said to his son David, “Take this ephah[d](U) of roasted grain(V) and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp. 18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers(W) are and bring back some assurance[e] from them. 19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines.”

20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry. 21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other. 22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies,(X) ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were. 23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual(Y) defiance, and David heard it. 24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.

25 Now the Israelites had been saying, “Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter(Z) in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes(AA) in Israel.”

26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace(AB) from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised(AC) Philistine that he should defy(AD) the armies of the living(AE) God?”

27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger(AF) at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart(AG) on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied,(AH) “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lion(AI) or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized(AJ) it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lion(AK) and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescued(AL) me from the paw of the lion(AM) and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with(AN) you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his own(AO) tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer(AP) in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome,(AQ) and he despised(AR) him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog,(AS) that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds(AT) and the wild animals!(AU)

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,(AV) but I come against you in the name(AW) of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.(AX) 46 This day the Lord will deliver(AY) you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses(AZ) of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world(BA) will know that there is a God in Israel.(BB) 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword(BC) or spear that the Lord saves;(BD) for the battle(BE) is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling(BF) and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut(BG) off his head with the sword.(BH)

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath[f] and to the gates of Ekron.(BI) Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim(BJ) road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

55 As Saul watched David(BK) going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner,(BL) whose son is that young man?”

Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.

David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse(BM) of Bethlehem.”

Footnotes

  1. 1 Samuel 17:4 That is, about 9 feet 9 inches or about 3 meters
  2. 1 Samuel 17:5 That is, about 125 pounds or about 58 kilograms
  3. 1 Samuel 17:7 That is, about 15 pounds or about 6.9 kilograms
  4. 1 Samuel 17:17 That is, probably about 36 pounds or about 16 kilograms
  5. 1 Samuel 17:18 Or some token; or some pledge of spoils
  6. 1 Samuel 17:52 Some Septuagint manuscripts; Hebrew of a valley