1 Samuel 17

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1. 1The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They gathered at Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and set up camp between Socoh and Azekah, at a place called Ephesdammim.
2. 2Saul and the Israelite army gathered as well, setting up camp in the valley of Elah and forming their battle lines to face the Philistines.
3. 3The Philistines took their position on a hill on one side, and Israel stood on a hill on the other side, with a valley stretching between them.
4. 4A champion named Goliath came out from the Philistine camp. He was from Gath, and he stood 6 cubits and a span tall.
5. 5He wore a bronze helmet on his head and a coat of mail that weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze.
6. 6He had bronze armor covering his legs and a bronze javelin strapped across his back between his shoulders.
7. 7The shaft of his spear was as thick as a weaver's beam, and its iron head alone weighed 600 shekels. A shield bearer walked ahead of him.
8. 8Goliath stood and shouted across to the Israelite army, "Why have you lined up for battle? I'm a Philistine, and you're nothing but Saul's servants! Pick one man from your side and send him down to face me."
9. 9If he can fight me and kill me, we will become your servants. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will become our servants and serve us.
10. 10Then the Philistine added, "I challenge the armies of Israel today! Send me a man so we can fight it out!"
11. 11When Saul and all of Israel heard Goliath's words, they were shaken and deeply afraid.
12. 12Now David was the son of an Ephrathite from Bethlehem in Judah named Jesse, who had 8 sons. By the time of Saul's reign, Jesse was already an old man.
13. 13Jesse's 3 oldest sons had gone with Saul to the war. Their names were Eliab the firstborn, Abinadab the second, and Shammah the third.
14. 14David was the youngest. While his 3 oldest brothers served with Saul,
15. 15David went back and forth between serving Saul and tending his father's sheep in Bethlehem.
16. 16Meanwhile, the Philistine came forward every morning and every evening to issue his challenge. This went on for 40 days.
17. 17One day Jesse told his son David, "Take an ephah of this roasted grain and these 10 loaves of bread, and hurry to your brothers at the camp."
18. 18"Also bring these 10 blocks of cheese to the commander of their unit. Check on your brothers to see how they're doing, and bring back word from them."
19. 19Saul, David's brothers, and all the men of Israel were camped in the valley of Elah, facing off against the Philistines.
20. 20David rose early in the morning, left the sheep with a keeper, took, and went as Jesse had commanded him. He came to the trench as the army was going out to fight and shouted for battle.
21. 21Israel and the Philistines lined up facing each other, army against army.
22. 22David left his supplies with the man in charge of the baggage and ran into the ranks to find his brothers and greet them.
23. 23While he was talking with them, Goliath — the Philistine champion from Gath — stepped out from the Philistine lines and shouted his usual challenge. David heard every word.
24. 24Every Israelite soldier who saw Goliath turned and ran, terrified of him.
25. 25The soldiers were saying to each other, "Do you see the size of this man who keeps coming out? He's here to mock Israel. The king has promised that whoever kills him will receive enormous wealth, the king's own daughter in marriage, and his entire family will be exempt from taxes in Israel."
26. 26David asked the men standing near him, "What exactly will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who does this uncircumcised Philistine think he is, defying the armies of the living God?"
27. 27The soldiers repeated what they'd already said, telling him, "That's what will be done for the man who kills him."
28. 28But David's oldest brother Eliab overheard him talking to the men, and his anger flared up. "Why did you even come down here?" he snapped. "And who did you leave those few sheep with out in the wilderness? I know how arrogant and wicked your heart is — you just came to watch the battle!"
29. 29David replied, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?"
30. 30He turned away from Eliab and asked someone else the same thing, and they gave him the same answer.
31. 31Word of what David was saying spread through the camp, and eventually someone reported it to Saul. Saul sent for him.
32. 32David told Saul, "Don't let anyone lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him."
33. 33Saul replied, "You can't go fight this Philistine. You're just a boy, and he's been a warrior his entire life."
34. 34But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. There came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb from the flock."
35. 35I went after the animal, struck it, and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it attacked me, I caught it by its beard, struck it, and killed it.
36. 36Your servant has killed both a lion and a bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will end up just like them, because he has defied the armies of the living God."
37. 37David continued, "The LORD who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the claws of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and may the LORD be with you."
38. 38Saul dressed David in his own armor, placing a bronze helmet on his head and fitting him with a coat of mail.
39. 39David strapped Saul's sword over the armor and tried to walk around, but he wasn't used to any of it. "I can't fight in these," David told Saul. "I've never worn anything like this." So he took it all off.
40. 40Instead, he picked up his shepherd's staff, chose 5 smooth stones from the stream, and dropped them into the pouch of his shepherd's bag. Then, with his sling in hand, he walked toward the Philistine.
41. 41Goliath moved closer to David, with his shield bearer walking ahead of him.
42. 42When the Philistine got a good look at David, he sneered at him with contempt — David was just a boy, healthy and handsome, with a ruddy complexion.
43. 43Goliath said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" Then he cursed David by the names of his gods.
44. 44"Come here," the Philistine taunted, "and I'll feed your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!"
45. 45David answered the Philistine, "You come at me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin. But I come at you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel — the one you have defied.
46. 46Today the LORD will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the earth, so that the whole world will know there is a God in Israel.
47. 47Everyone gathered here will know that the LORD saves not with sword and spear. This battle belongs to the LORD, and he will give all of you into our hands.
48. 48As Goliath moved forward to close the distance, David sprinted toward the battle line to meet him.
49. 49David reached into his bag, pulled out a stone, loaded his sling, and hurled it. The stone struck the Philistine square in the forehead, sinking deep into his skull. Goliath crashed face-first to the ground.
50. 50That's how David defeated the Philistine — with nothing but a sling and a stone. He struck Goliath down and killed him without even having a sword in his hand.
51. 51David ran over and stood on top of the Philistine. He pulled Goliath's own sword from its sheath, finished him off, and cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they turned and ran.
52. 52The men of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and charged after the Philistines, chasing them all the way to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. Philistine dead and wounded littered the road from Shaaraim all the way to Gath and Ekron.
53. 53After the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they looted the enemy camp.
54. 54David took Goliath's head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's armor in his own tent.
55. 55When Saul saw David going out to face the Philistine, he asked Abner, the commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is this young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as your soul lives, O king, I do not know."
56. 56The king ordered, "Find out whose son this young man is."
57. 57So when David came back from killing the Philistine, Abner brought him straight to Saul. David was still carrying Goliath's head.
58. 58Saul asked him, "Whose son are you, young man?" David answered, "I am the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem."