17
1 And the Philistines gathered together their camps to battle, and they gathered themselves together at Sochoh, which belongeth to Judah; and they encamped between Sochoh and 'Azekah, at Ephess-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel gathered themselves together, and encamped in the valley of Elah, and put themselves in battle-array opposite to the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and the Israelites stood on a mountain on the other side: and the valley was between them. 4 And there went out the champion out of the camp of the Philistines, Goliath of Gath was his name, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 And he had a helmet of copper upon his head, and he was clothed with a scaly coat of mail; and the weight of the coat of mail was five thousand shekels of copper. 6 And he had greaves of copper upon his legs, and a javelin of copper between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam; and the blade of his spear [weighed] six hundred shekels of iron: and the shield-bearer was walking before him. 8 And he stood and calleth unto the arrays of Israel, and said unto them, Why will ye come out to put yourselves in battle-array? Behold: I am the Philistine, and ye are servants to Saul! select for yourselves one man, and let him come down to me; 9 If he be able to fight with me, and he kill me, then will we be unto you as servants; but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be unto us as servants, and ye shall serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, I have defied the arrays of Israel this day; give me a man, and let us fight together. 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were disheartened, and became greatly afraid. 12 Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Beth-lechem-judah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man was old in the days of Saul, belonging to the persons [of high esteem]. 13 And the three eldest sons of Jesse were gone following Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that were gone to the battle were Eliab the first-born, and the next to him Abinadab, and the third Shammah. 14 And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul. 15 But David kept going and returning from Saul to feed his father's flocks at Beth-lechem. 16 And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days. 17 And Jesse said unto David his son, Take, I pray thee, for thy brothers an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to thy brothers; 18 And these ten cheeses shalt thou bring unto the captain of the thousand, and inquire of thy brothers how they fare, and take away their pledge. 19 Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines. 20 And David rose up early in the morning, and gave up the flocks to a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the entrenchment, as the host was going forth in battle-array, and shouted the battle-cry. 21 And the Israelites and the Philistines put themselves in battle-array, army against army. 22 And David left the articles which he had on him in the hand of the keeper of the baggage, and ran into the array, and came and asked of his brothers after their welfare. 23 And as he was speaking with them, behold, there came up the champion, Goliath the Philistine, by name, of Gath, out of the battle-arrays of the Philistines, and spoke in accordance with these same words: and David heard it. 24 And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from before him, and were greatly afraid. 25 And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is coming forth? for to defy Israel is he coming forth; and it shall be, that the man who killeth him,—him will the king enrich with great riches, and his daughter will he give him, and his father's house will he make free in Israel. 26 And David said to the men that stood by him, thus, What shall be done to the man that may smite yon Philistine, and take away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the arrays of the living God? 27 And the people spoke to him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that may smite him. 28 And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he was speaking unto the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why didst thou come down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy presumption, and the wickedness of thy heart; for in order to see the battle art thou come down. 29 And David said, What have I now done? It is nothing but a word. 30 And he turned from him toward another, and spoke after the same manner: and the people made him again a reply after the former manner. 31 And the words which David had spoken were heard, and they told them in the presence of Saul, who sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him: thy servant will go and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, Thou art not able to go unto this Philistine to fight with him; for thou art but a lad, and he [hath been] a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant was feeding his father's flocks, and there came a lion, and a bear, and bore off a lamb out of the drove; 35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he rose up against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him. 36 Both the lion and the bear did thy servant smite: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall become as one of them; because he hath defied the arrays of the living God. 37 Moreover David said, The Lord who hath delivered me out of the power of the lion, and out of the power of the bear, will also surely deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and may the Lord be with thee. 38 And Saul clothed David with his garments, and he put a helmet of copper upon his head; and he clothed him also with a coat of mail. 39 And David girded his sword over his garments, and he essayed to go; for he had not tried it. And David said unto Saul, I cannot walk in these [things]; for I have never tried it before. And David put them off from him. 40 And he took his staff in his hand, and chose himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's pouch which be had, even in a scrip, with his sling in his hand; and he approached to the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine went and drew nearer and nearer unto David; and the man that bore the shield went before him. 42 And when the Philistine looked about, and saw David, he disdained him; for he was but a lad, and ruddy, with a fair appearance. 43 And the Philistine said unto David, Am I a dog, that thou comest unto me with sticks? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give thy flesh unto the fowls of the heavens, and to the beasts of the field. 45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest unto me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a javelin; but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the arrays of Israel, that thou hast defied. 46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into my hand; and I will smite thee, and remove thy head from thee; and I will give the carcasses of the army of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and all the earth shall know that there is a God for Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not through sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you up into our hand. 48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and went and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the battle-array to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand into the pouch, and took thence a stone, and slung it, and he struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone sunk into his forehead: and he fell upon his face to the ground. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with the stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 And David ran, and stood by the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of its sheath, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they fled. 52 And then arose the men of Israel and of Judah, and shouted, and pursued the Philistines, until thou comest to the valley, and to the gates of 'Ekron. And the slain of the Philistines fell down by the way to Sha'arayim, even as far as Gath, and up to 'Ekron. 53 And the children of Israel returned from hotly pursuing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their camps. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but his weapons he placed in his tent. 55 And when Saul saw David going forth against the Philistine, he said unto Abner, the captain of the army, Abner, whose son is this lad? And Abner said, As thy soul liveth, O king, I know it not. 56 And the king said, Ask thou whose son this youth is. 57 And as David returned from smiting 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 art thou, young man? And David answered, The son of thy servant Jesse the Beth-lechemite.