1 Now the Philistines ^vgathered their armies for battle. And they were gathered at ^wSocoh, which belongs to Judah, and encamped between Socoh and ^xAzekah, in ^yEphes-dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered, and encamped in ^zthe Valley of Elah, and drew up in line of battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stood on the mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on the mountain on the other side, with a valley between them. 4 And there came out from the camp of the Philistines a champion named ^aGoliath of ^bGath, whose height was six¹ cubits² and a span. 5 He had a helmet of bronze on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels³ of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs, and a ^cjavelin of bronze slung between his shoulders. 7 The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron. ^dAnd his shield-bearer went before him. 8 He stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, “Why have you come out to draw up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and ^eare you not servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to 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 ^fand serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, ^g“I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

26 And David said to the men who stood by him, “What shall be done for the man who kills this Philistine and takes away ^wthe reproach from Israel? For who is this ^xuncircumcised Philistine, that he should ^udefy the armies of ^ythe living God?” 27 And the people answered him in the same way, ^z“So shall it be done to the man who kills him.”

31 When the words that David spoke were heard, they repeated them before Saul, and he sent for him. 32 And David said to Saul, ^c“Let no man’s heart fail because of him. ^dYour 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 youth, and he has been a man of war from his youth.” 34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep sheep for his father. And when there came a lion, or a bear, and took a lamb from the flock, 35 I went after him and struck him and delivered it out of his mouth. And if he arose against me, I caught him by his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Your servant has struck down both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, ^efor he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 And David said, ^f“The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Saul said to David, “Go, ^gand the Lord be with you!”

38 Then Saul clothed David with his armor. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, 39 and David strapped his sword over his armor. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

41 And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, ^hwith his shield-bearer in front of him. 42 And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ⁱruddy and handsome in appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^ja dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^kto the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” 45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with ^la javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^ewhom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. ^mAnd I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ⁿto the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^othat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47 and that all this assembly may know that ^pthe Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^qFor the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hand.”

48 When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Then David ran and stood over the Philistine ^rand took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^sthey fled.