King James Version

1 The Philistines gathered their camps for battle and they encamped in Socoh, which belongs to Judah, and they camped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes Dammim. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel gathered, and they camped in the valley of Elah, and they arranged battle against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stand on this mountain, and Israel stands on this mountain, and the valley is between them. 4 And a man of the Philistine camps went out, Goliath his name from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 And a bronze helmet is on his head, and a coat of scale armor is his clothing, and the weight of the armor is five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And a bronze helmet on my head, and a bronze spear between my shoulders. 7 And the spear and the tree of his spear were like the lamp of the weavers, and the flame of his spear was six hundred shekels of iron, and the bearer of the shield went before him. 8 And he stood and called to the ranks of Israel and said to them, "Why have you come out to array yourselves for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and you are servants to Saul? Choose for yourselves a man and let him come down to me." 9 If he is able to fight with me and overcome me, then we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, then you will be our servants and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, "I have defied the ranks of Israel today; give me a man and let us fight together." 11 And Saul heard and all Israel the words of the Philistine, and they were terrified and greatly afraid. 12 And David, the son of a man from Ephrath, this one from Bethlehem of Judah, and his name was Jesse, and he had eight sons, and the man was old in the days of Saul, among the men. 13 And three of the sons of Jesse, the great ones, went after Saul to the battle; and the names of the three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and Abinadab his second, and the third was Shammah. 14 And David is the youngest, and the three older ones went after Saul. 15 And David went and returned from Saul to feed his father's sheep at Bethlehem. 16 And the Philistine approached early in the morning and in the evening, and he stood for forty days. 17 And Jesse said to David his son, "Take now the ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and run to the camp to your brothers." 18 And you shall bring these ten cakes of the milk to the chief of the thousand, and you shall appoint your brothers for peace, and you shall take their pledges. 19 And Saul and they, and all the men of Israel, were fighting in the valley of Elah with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper, and he took and went as Jesse had commanded him, and he came to the camp, and the army that was going out to the battle shouted. 21 And Israel set up a battle line against the Philistines to meet in battle. 22 And David left the instruments behind with the keeper of the instruments and ran to the battle and went and asked about his brothers' peace. 23 And he spoke with them, and behold, a man, Goliath the Philistine, went up from Gath, from the camps of the Philistines, and he spoke these words, and David heard. 24 And all the men of Israel, upon seeing the man, fled from before me and were very afraid. 25 And an Israelite man said, "Have you seen this man who rises up to defy Israel? The man who kills him, the king will make him very rich and will give him his daughter, and he will make his father's house free in Israel." 26 And David said to the men who were standing with him, "What shall be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and takes away the reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" 27 And he said to them, "This is the word: Thus shall it be done to the man who strikes him." 28 And Eliab, his older brother, heard him speaking to the men, and Eliab's anger burned against David, and he said, "Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the wickedness of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle." 29 And David said, "What have I done now? Is there not a word?" 30 And he turned away from him toward another and said this matter, and the people answered him as the first matter. 31 And they told the words that David spoke, and they reported to Saul, and he took it. 32 And David said to Saul, "Let not the heart of man fall upon you; your 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 a youth, and he is a man of war from his youth." 34 And David said to Saul, "Your servant was a shepherd for my father’s sheep, and a lion came and a bear, and took a lamb from the flock." 35 And I will go out after him and strike him and rescue him from his hand, and he rose against me, and I took hold of his beard and struck him and killed him. 36 Also, this lion and also the bear struck your servant, and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, for he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 And David said, "The Lord who delivered me from the hand of the lion and from the hand of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." And Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you." 38 And Saul dressed David in his garments, and he put a bronze helmet on his head, and he dressed him in armor. 39 And David girded his sword on his thigh and wanted to go, for he had not tested them; and David said to Saul, "I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them." And David removed them from upon him. 40 And he took his staff in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them in the shepherd's bag which was with him, and his sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine. 41 And the Philistine went and approached David, and the man bearing the shield went before him. 42 And the Philistine looked and saw David, and he despised him because he was a youth and ruddy, with a handsome appearance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, "Am I a dog that you come to 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 your flesh to the birds of the sky and to the beasts of the field." 45 And David said to the Philistine, "You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied." 46 Today the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you, and I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines today to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the earth, and all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this congregation shall know that it is not by sword and spear that the Lord saves, for the battle is the Lord's, and He will give you into our hand. 48 And it happened that when the Philistine rose up and went and drew near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49 And David sent his hand to the vessel and took from there a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, and the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. 50 And David prevailed over the Philistine with the sling and with a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 And David ran and stood over the Philistine, and he took his sword and drew it out of its sheath, and he killed him and cut off his head, and the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Judah arose and shouted, and they pursued the Philistines as far as Gai and to the gates of Ekron, and the slain of the Philistines fell along the way to Shaaraim and to Gath and to Ekron. 53 And the children of Israel returned from pursuing the Philistines and they plundered their camps. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, and he put his weapons in his tent. 55 And when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, the captain of the army, "Whose son is this youth, Abner?" And Abner said, "As your soul lives, O king, I do not know." 56 And the king said, "Ask, who are you, son of this world?" 57 And when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, and the head of the Philistine was in his hand. 58 And Saul said to me, “Who are you, young man?” And I said, “I am David, the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem.”