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17Now the Philistines gathered together their armies to battle, and were gathered together at Shochoh, which belongeth to Judah, and pitched between Shochoh and Azekah, in Ephesdammim.
²And Saul and the men of Israel were gathered together, and pitched by the valley of Elah, and set the battle in array against the Philistines.
³And the Philistines stood on a mountain on the one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side: and there was a valley between them.
⁴And there went out a champion out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, of Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.
⁵And he had an helmet of brass upon his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail; and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of brass.
⁶And he had greaves of brass upon his legs, and a target of brass between his shoulders.
⁷And the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam; and his spear’s head weighed six hundred shekels of iron: and one bearing a shield went before him.
⁸And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel, and said unto them, Why are ye come out to set your battle in array? am not I a Philistine, and ye servants to Saul? choose you a man for you, and let him come down to me.
⁹If he be able to fight with me, and to kill me, then will we be your servants: but if I prevail against him, and kill him, then shall ye be our servants, and serve us.
¹⁰And the Philistine said, I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.
¹¹When Saul and all Israel heard those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed, and greatly afraid.
¹²Now David was the son of that Ephrathite of Bethlehemjudah, whose name was Jesse; and he had eight sons: and the man went among men for an old man in the days of Saul.
¹³And the three eldest sons of Jesse went and followed Saul to the battle: and the names of his three sons that went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and next unto him Abinadab, and the third Shammah.
¹⁴And David was the youngest: and the three eldest followed Saul.
¹⁵But David went and returned from Saul to feed his father’s sheep at Bethlehem.
¹⁶And the Philistine drew near morning and evening, and presented himself forty days.
¹⁷And Jesse said unto David his son, Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp of thy brethren;
¹⁸And carry these ten cheeses unto the captain of their thousand, and look how thy brethren fare, and take their pledge.
¹⁹Now Saul, and they, and all the men of Israel, were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.
²⁰And David rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a keeper, and took, and went, as Jesse had commanded him; and he came to the trench, as the host was going forth to the fight, and shouted for the battle.
²¹For Israel and the Philistines had put the battle in array, army against army.
²²And David left his carriage in the hand of the keeper of the carriage, and ran into the army, and came and saluted his brethren.
²³And as he talked with them, behold, there came up the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Goliath by name, out of the armies of the Philistines, and spake according to the same words: and David heard them.
²⁴And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him, and were sore afraid.
²⁵And the men of Israel said, Have ye seen this man that is come up? surely to defy Israel is he come up: and it shall be, that the man who killeth him, the king will enrich him with great riches, and will give him his daughter, and make his father’s house free in Israel.
²⁶And David spake to the men that stood by him, saying, What shall be done to the man that killeth this Philistine, and taketh away the reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?
²⁷And the people answered him after this manner, saying, So shall it be done to the man that killeth him.
²⁸And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
²⁹And David said, What have I now done? Is there not a cause?
³⁰And he turned from him toward another, and spake after the same manner: and the people answered him again after the former manner.