1 Now the Philistines gathered their forces for war and assembled at Sokoh in Judah. They pitched camp at Ephes Dammim, between Sokoh and Azekah.2 Saul and the Israelites assembled and camped in the Valley of Elah and drew up their battle line to meet the Philistines.3 The Philistines occupied one hill and the Israelites another, with the valley between them.4 A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. His height was six cubits and a span. [^1]5 He had a bronze helmet on his head and wore a coat of scale armor of bronze weighing five thousand shekels ";6 on his legs he wore bronze greaves, and a bronze javelin was slung on his back.7 His spear shaft was like a weaver's rod, and its iron point weighed six hundred shekels. "His shield bearer went ahead of him.8 Goliath stood and shouted to the ranks of Israel, "Why do you come out and line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose a man and have him come down to me.9 If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us."10 Then the Philistine said, "This day I defy the armies of Israel! Give me a man and let us fight each other."11 On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.12 Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old.13 Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.14 David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,15 but David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.16 For forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand.17 Now Jesse said to his son David, "Take this ephah "of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread for your brothers and hurry to their camp.18 Take along these ten cheeses to the commander of their unit. See how your brothers are and bring back some assurance "from them.19 They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."20 Early in the morning David left the flock in the care of a shepherd, loaded up and set out, as Jesse had directed. He reached the camp as the army was going out to its battle positions, shouting the war cry.21 Israel and the Philistines were drawing up their lines facing each other.22 David left his things with the keeper of supplies, ran to the battle lines and asked his brothers how they were.23 As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it.24 Whenever the Israelites saw the man, they all fled from him in great fear.25 Now the Israelites had been saying, "Do you see how this man keeps coming out? He comes out to defy Israel. The king will give great wealth to the man who kills him. He will also give him his daughter in marriage and will exempt his family from taxes in Israel."26 David asked the men standing near him, "What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgrace from Israel? Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?"27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, "This is what will be done for the man who kills him."28 When Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with anger at him and asked, "Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle."29 "Now what have I done?" said David. "Can't I even speak?"30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before.31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.32 David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."33 Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."34 But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.36 Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."38 Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David.42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him.43 He said to David, "Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?" And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.44 "Come here," he said, "and I'll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!"45 David said to the Philistine, "You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.46 This day the LORD will deliver you into my hands, and I'll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD saves; for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give all of you into our hands."48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him.49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine's sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cut off his head with the sword. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran.52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath "and to the gates of Ekron. Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim road to Gath and Ekron.53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.54 David took the Philistine's head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine's weapons in his own tent.55 As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know."56 The king said, "Find out whose son this young man is."57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.58 "Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

1 Congregantes autem Philisthiim agmina sua in prlium, convenerunt in Socho Jud : et castrametati sunt inter Socho et Azeca in finibus Dommim. 2 Porro Saul et filii Isral congregati venerunt in Vallem terebinthi, et direxerunt aciem ad pugnandum contra Philisthiim. 3 Et Philisthiim stabant super montem ex parte hac, et Isral stabat supra montem ex altera parte : vallisque erat inter eos. 4 Et egressus est vir spurius de castris Philisthinorum nomine Goliath, de Geth, altitudinis sex cubitorum et palmi : 5 et cassis rea super caput ejus, et lorica squamata induebatur. Porro pondus loric ejus, quinque millia siclorum ris erat : 6 et ocreas reas habebat in cruribus, et clypeus reus tegebat humeros ejus. 7 Hastile autem hast ejus erat quasi liciatorium texentium : ipsum autem ferrum hast ejus sexcentos siclos habebat ferri : et armiger ejus antecedebat eum. 8 Stansque clamabat adversum phalangas Isral, et dicebat eis : Quare venistis parati ad prlium ? numquid ego non sum Philisthus, et vos servi Saul ? eligite ex vobis virum, et descendat ad singulare certamen. 9 Si quiverit pugnare mecum, et percusserit me, erimus vobis servi : si autem ego prvaluero, et percussero eum, vos servi eritis, et servietis nobis. 10 Et aiebat Philisthus : Ego exprobravi agminibus Isral hodie : date mihi virum, et ineat mecum singulare certamen. 11 Audiens autem Saul et omnes Isralit sermones Philisthi hujuscemodi, stupebant, et metuebant nimis.12 David autem erat filius viri Ephrathi, de quo supra dictum est, de Bethlehem Juda, cui nomen erat Isai, qui habebat octo filios, et erat vir in diebus Saul senex, et grandvus inter viros. 13 Abierunt autem tres filii ejus majores post Saul in prlium : et nomina trium filiorum ejus qui perrexerunt ad bellum, Eliab primogenitus, et secundus Abinadab, tertiusque Samma. 14 David autem erat minimus. Tribus ergo majoribus secutis Saulem, 15 abiit David, et reversus est a Saul ut pasceret gregem patris sui in Bethlehem. 16 Procedebat vero Philisthus mane et vespere, et stabat quadraginta diebus. 17 Dixit autem Isai ad David filium suum : Accipe fratribus tuis ephi polent, et decem panes istos, et curre in castra ad fratres tuos, 18 et decem formellas casei has deferes ad tribunum : et fratres tuos visitabis, si recte agant : et cum quibus ordinati sunt, disce. 19 Saul autem, et illi, et omnes filii Isral, in Valle terebinthi pugnabant adversum Philisthiim. 20 Surrexit itaque David mane, et commendavit gregem custodi : et onustus abiit, sicut prceperat ei Isai. Et venit ad locum Magala, et ad exercitum, qui egressus ad pugnam vociferatus erat in certamine. 21 Direxerat enim aciem Isral, sed et Philisthiim ex adverso fuerant prparati. 22 Derelinquens ergo David vasa qu attulerat sub manu custodis ad sarcinas, cucurrit ad locum certaminis, et interrogabat si omnia recte agerentur erga fratres suos. 23 Cumque adhuc ille loqueretur eis, apparuit vir ille spurius ascendens, Goliath nomine, Philisthus de Geth, de castris Philisthinorum : et loquente eo hc eadem verba audivit David. 24 Omnes autem Isralit, cum vidissent virum, fugerunt a facie ejus, timentes eum valde.25 Et dixit unus quispiam de Isral : Num vidistis virum hunc, qui ascendit ? ad exprobrandum enim Israli ascendit. Virum ergo qui percusserit eum, ditabit rex divitiis magnis, et filiam suam dabit ei, et domum patris ejus faciet absque tributo in Isral. 26 Et ait David ad viros qui stabant secum, dicens : Quid dabitur viro qui percusserit Philisthum hunc, et tulerit opprobrium de Isral ? quis enim est hic Philisthus incircumcisus, qui exprobravit acies Dei viventis ? 27 Referebat autem ei populus eumdem sermonem, dicens : Hc dabuntur viro qui percusserit eum. 28 Quod cum audisset Eliab frater ejus major, loquente eo cum aliis, iratus est contra David, et ait : Quare venisti, et quare dereliquisti pauculas oves illas in deserto ? Ego novi superbiam tuam, et nequitiam cordis tui : quia ut videres prlium, descendisti. 29 Et dixit David : Quid feci ? numquid non verbum est ? 30 Et declinavit paululum ab eo ad alium : dixitque eumdem sermonem. Et respondit ei populus verbum sicut prius.31 Audita sunt autem verba qu locutus est David, et annuntiata in conspectu Saul. 32 Ad quem cum fuisset adductus, locutus est ei : Non concidat cor cujusquam in eo : ego servus tuus vadam, et pugnabo adversus Philisthum. 33 Et ait Saul ad David : Non vales resistere Philistho isti, nec pugnare adversus eum, quia puer es : hic autem vir bellator est ab adolescentia sua. 34 Dixitque David ad Saul : Pascebat servus tuus patris sui gregem, et veniebat leo vel ursus, et tollebat arietem de medio gregis : 35 et persequebar eos, et percutiebam, eruebamque de ore eorum : et illi consurgebant adversum me, et apprehendebam mentum eorum, et suffocabam, interficiebamque eos. 36 Nam et leonem et ursum interfeci ego servus tuus : erit igitur et Philisthus hic incircumcisus quasi unus ex eis. Nunc vadam, et auferam opprobrium populi : quoniam quis est iste Philisthus incircumcisus, qui ausus est maledicere exercitui Dei viventis ? 37 Et ait David : Dominus qui eripuit me de manu leonis, et de manu ursi, ipse me liberabit de manu Philisthi hujus. Dixit autem Saul ad David : Vade, et Dominus tecum sit. 38 Et induit Saul David vestimentis suis, et imposuit galeam ream super caput ejus, et vestivit eum lorica. 39 Accinctus ergo David gladio ejus super vestem suam, cpit tentare si armatus posset incedere : non enim habebat consuetudinem. Dixitque David ad Saul : Non possum sic incedere, quia non usum habeo.Et deposuit ea, 40 et tulit baculum suum, quem semper habebat in manibus : et elegit sibi quinque limpidissimos lapides de torrente, et misit eos in peram pastoralem quam habebat secum, et fundam manu tulit : et processit adversum Philisthum. 41 Ibat autem Philisthus incedens, et appropinquans adversum David, et armiger ejus ante eum. 42 Cumque inspexisset Philisthus, et vidisset David, despexit eum. Erat enim adolescens, rufus, et pulcher aspectu. 43 Et dixit Philisthus ad David : Numquid ego canis sum, quod tu venis ad me cum baculo ? Et maledixit Philisthus David in diis suis : 44 dixitque ad David : Veni ad me, et dabo carnes tuas volatilibus cli et bestiis terr. 45 Dixit autem David ad Philisthum : Tu venis ad me cum gladio, et hasta, et clypeo : ego autem venio ad te in nomine Domini exercituum, Dei agminum Isral quibus exprobrasti 46 hodie, et dabit te Dominus in manu mea, et percutiam te, et auferam caput tuum a te : et dabo cadavera castrorum Philisthiim hodie volatilibus cli, et bestiis terr, ut sciat omnis terra quia est Deus in Isral, 47 et noverit universa ecclesia hc, quia non in gladio nec in hasta salvat Dominus : ipsius enim est bellum, et tradet vos in manus nostras. 48 Cum ergo surrexisset Philisthus, et veniret, et appropinquaret contra David, festinavit David et cucurrit ad pugnam ex adverso Philisthi. 49 Et misit manum suam in peram, tulitque unum lapidem, et funda jecit, et circumducens percussit Philisthum in fronte : et infixus est lapis in fronte ejus, et cecidit in faciem suam super terram. 50 Prvaluitque David adversum Philisthum in funda et lapide, percussumque Philisthum interfecit. Cumque gladium non haberet in manu David, 51 cucurrit, et stetit super Philisthum, et tulit gladium ejus, et eduxit eum de vagina sua : et interfecit eum, prciditque caput ejus. Videntes autem Philisthiim quod mortuus esset fortissimus eorum, fugerunt. 52 Et consurgentes viri Isral et Juda vociferati sunt, et persecuti sunt Philisthos usque dum venirent in vallem, et usque ad portas Accaron : cecideruntque vulnerati de Philisthiim in via Saraim, et usque ad Geth, et usque ad Accaron. 53 Et revertentes filii Isral postquam persecuti fuerant Philisthos, invaserunt castra eorum. 54 Assumens autem David caput Philisthi, attulit illud in Jerusalem : arma vero ejus posuit in tabernaculo suo.55 Eo autem tempore quo viderat Saul David egredientem contra Philisthum, ait ad Abner principem militi : De qua stirpe descendit hic adolescens, Abner ? Dixitque Abner : Vivit anima tua, rex, si novi. 56 Et ait rex : Interroga tu, cujus filius sit iste puer. 57 Cumque regressus esset David, percusso Philistho, tulit eum Abner, et introduxit coram Saule, caput Philisthi habentem in manu. 58 Et ait ad eum Saul : De qua progenie es, o adolescens ? Dixitque David : Filius servi tui Isai Bethlehemit ego sum.