Goliath Defies Israel

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. 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. 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. ⁴A champion named Goliath came out from the Philistine camp. He was from Gath, and he stood 6 cubits and a span tall. ⁵He wore a bronze helmet on his head and a coat of mail that weighed 5,000 shekels of bronze. ⁶He had bronze armor covering his legs and a bronze javelin strapped across his back between his shoulders. 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. 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." 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. ¹⁰Then the Philistine added, "I challenge the armies of Israel today! Send me a man so we can fight it out!" ¹¹When Saul and all of Israel heard Goliath's words, they were shaken and deeply afraid. 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. 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. ¹⁴David was the youngest. While his 3 oldest brothers served with Saul, ¹⁵David went back and forth between serving Saul and tending his father's sheep in Bethlehem. ¹⁶Meanwhile, the Philistine came forward every morning and every evening to issue his challenge. This went on for 40 days. 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"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." ¹⁹Saul, David's brothers, and all the men of Israel were camped in the valley of Elah, facing off against the Philistines. 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. ²¹Israel and the Philistines lined up facing each other, army against army. ²²David left his supplies with the man in charge of the baggage and ran into the ranks to find his brothers and greet them. 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. ²⁴Every Israelite soldier who saw Goliath turned and ran, terrified of him. 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." 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?" ²⁷The soldiers repeated what they'd already said, telling him, "That's what will be done for the man who kills him." 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!" ²⁹David replied, "What have I done now? Is there not a cause?" ³⁰He turned away from Eliab and asked someone else the same thing, and they gave him the same answer. ³¹Word of what David was saying spread through the camp, and eventually someone reported it to Saul. Saul sent for him. ³²David told Saul, "Don't let anyone lose heart because of this Philistine. I, your servant, will go and fight him." ³³Saul replied, "You can't go fight this Philistine. You're just a boy, and he's been a warrior his entire life." 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." 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. 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." 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." ³⁸Saul dressed David in his own armor, placing a bronze helmet on his head and fitting him with a coat of mail. 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.