1And the Philistines had gathered their armies for battle, and came together at Soḵoh, which belongs to Yehuḏah, and encamped between Soḵoh and Azĕqah, in Ephes Dammim.

2And Sha’ul and the men of Yisra’ĕl were gathered and encamped in the Valley of Ělah, and drew up in battle array to meet the Philistines.

3And the Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Yisra’ĕl stood on a mountain on the other side, with the valley between them.

4Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines, named Golyath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span.

5And a bronze helmet was on his head, and he was armed with a scaled armour, and the weight of the coat was five thousand sheqels of bronze,

6and bronze shin guards on his legs and a bronze spear between his shoulders.

7And the wood of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred sheqels, and a shield-bearer went before him.

8And he stood and shouted to the armies of Yisra’ĕl, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Sha’ul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.

9“If he is able to fight with me, and shall smite me, then we shall be your servants. But if I overcome him and shall smite him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.”

10Then the Philistine said, “This day I shall reproach the armies of Yisra’ĕl. Give me a man, and let us fight together.”

11And Sha’ul and all Yisra’ĕl heard these words of the Philistine, and they were broken down and in great fear.

12Now Dawiḏ was the son of that Ephrathite of Bĕyth Leḥem in Yehuḏah, whose name was Yishai, and he had eight sons, and in the days of Sha’ul the man was old among men.

13And the three oldest sons of Yishai went, they had gone to follow Sha’ul to the battle, and the names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliyaḇ the first-born, and his second Aḇinaḏaḇ, and the third Shammah.

14And Dawiḏ was the youngest. And the three oldest followed Sha’ul,

15but Dawiḏ went and returned from Sha’ul to feed his father’s sheep at Bĕyth Leḥem.

16And for forty days the Philistine drew near, morning and evening, and took his stand.

17Then Yishai said to his son Dawiḏ, “Please take to your brothers an ĕphah of this dried grain and these ten loaves, and run to your brothers at the camp.

18“And take these ten cheeses to the commander of the thousand, and see how your brothers are, and bring back news of them.”

19For Sha’ul and they and all the men of Yisra’ĕl were in the Valley of Ělah, fighting with the Philistines.

20And Dawiḏ rose up early in the morning, and left the sheep with a herdsman, and took and went as Yishai had commanded him. And he came to the camp as the army was going out to the fight, and they shouted for the battle.

21And Yisra’ĕl and the Philistines drew up in battle array, army against army.

22And Dawiḏ left his supplies in the hand of the keeper of the supplies, and ran to the army, and came and greeted his brothers.

23And he was speaking with them and saw the champion, the Philistine of Gath, Golyath by name, coming up from the armies of the Philistines. And he spoke according to the same words, and Dawiḏ heard.

24And all the men of Yisra’ĕl, when they saw the man, ran from him and were in great fear.

25And the men of Yisra’ĕl said, “Have you seen this man who has come up? For he has come up to reproach Yisra’ĕl. And it shall be that the man who smites him, the sovereign is going to enrich him with great riches, and give him his daughter, and give his father’s house exemption in Yisra’ĕl.”

26And Dawiḏ spoke to the men who stood by him, saying, “What shall be done for the man who smites this Philistine and shall take away reproach from Yisra’ĕl? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should reproach the armies of the living Elohim?”

27And the people answered him according to this word, saying, “This is what is done for the man who smites him.”

28And Eliyaḇ his oldest brother heard when he spoke to the men. And Eliyaḇ’s displeasure burned against Dawiḏ, and he said, “Why did you come down here? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart, for you have come down to see the battle.”

29And Dawiḏ said, “Now what have I done? Was it not but a word?”

30And he turned around from him toward another and said the same word. And these people answered him a word like the first word.

31And when the words which Dawiḏ spoke were heard, they reported them to Sha’ul, and he sent for him.

32And Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “Let no man’s heart fail because of him, your servant is going, and shall fight with this Philistine.”

33And Sha’ul said to Dawiḏ, “You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth, and he a man of battle from his youth.”

34Then Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “Your servant has been tending sheep for his father, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock,

35I went out after it and smote it, and rescued it from its mouth. And when it rose against me, I caught it by its beard, and smote it and killed it.

36“Your servant has smitten both lion and bear. And this uncircumcised Philistine shall be like one of them, seeing he has reproached the armies of the living Elohim.”

37And Dawiḏ said, “יהוה, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He does deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” And Sha’ul said to Dawiḏ, “Go, and יהוה be with you!”

38And Sha’ul dressed Dawiḏ with his garments, and he put a bronze helmet on his head, and put a coat of armour on him.

39And Dawiḏ girded his sword over his garments, and began to go, but he had not tried them. Then Dawiḏ said to Sha’ul, “I am not able to go with these, for I have not tried them.” So Dawiḏ took them off.

40And he took his staff in his hand, and chose for himself five smooth stones from the wadi, and put them in a shepherd’s bag, in a pouch which he had, and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

41And the Philistine came, and began drawing near to Dawiḏ, and the man who bore the shield went before him.

42And when the Philistine looked about and saw Dawiḏ, he despised him, for he was a youth, and ruddy and good-looking.

43And the Philistine said to Dawiḏ, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed Dawiḏ by his mighty ones.

44And the Philistine said to Dawiḏ, “Come to me, and I give your flesh to the birds of the heavens and the beasts of the field!”

45But Dawiḏ 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 יהוה of hosts, the Elohim of the armies of Yisra’ĕl, whom you have reproached.

46“This day יהוה shall deliver you into my hand, and I shall smite you and take your head from you, and give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines today to the birds of the heavens and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth know that Elohim is for Yisra’ĕl,

47and all this assembly know that יהוה does not save with sword and spear, for the battle belongs to יהוה, and He shall give you into our hands.”

48And it came to be, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet Dawiḏ, that Dawiḏ hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.

49And Dawiḏ put his hand in his bag and took out a stone, and slung it and smote the Philistine on his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

50Thus Dawiḏ prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and smote the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in the hand of Dawiḏ.

51Then Dawiḏ ran and stood over the Philistine, and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled.

52And the men of Yisra’ĕl and Yehuḏah arose and shouted, and pursued the Philistines as far as the entrance of the valley and to the gates of Eqron. And the wounded of the Philistines fell along the way to Sha‛arayim, even as far as Gath and Eqron.

53Then the children of Yisra’ĕl turned back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camps.

54And Dawiḏ took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Yerushalayim, but he put his weapons in his tent.

55And when Sha’ul saw Dawiḏ going out against the Philistine, he said to Aḇnĕr, the commander of the army, “Aḇnĕr, whose son is this youth?” And Aḇnĕr said, “As your being lives, O sovereign, I do not know.”

56And the sovereign said, “Ask whose son this young man is.”

57And when Dawiḏ returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Aḇnĕr took him and brought him before Sha’ul with the head of the Philistine in his hand.

58And Sha’ul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And Dawiḏ said, “The son of your servant Yishai the Bĕyth Leḥemite.”