Goliath Challenges Israel

17 The Philistines gathered their armies together for war. They met at Socoh in Judah. Their camp was between Socoh and Azekah, at a town called Ephes Dammim. ²Saul and the Israelite soldiers also gathered together. Their camp was in the Valley of Elah. Saul’s soldiers were lined up and ready to fight the Philistines. ³The Philistines were on one hill. The Israelites were on the other hill. And the valley was between them. ⁴The Philistines had a champion fighter named Goliath. Goliath was from Gath. Goliath was over 9 feet* tall. Goliath came out of the Philistine camp. ⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head. He wore a coat of armor that was made like the scales on a fish. This armor was made of bronze and weighed about 125 pounds.* ⁶Goliath wore bronze protectors on his legs. He had a bronze javelin* tied on his back. ⁷The wooden part of Goliath’s spear was as big as a weaver’s rod. The spear’s blade weighed 15 pounds.* Goliath’s helper walked in front of him, carrying Goliath’s shield. ⁸Each day Goliath would come out and shout a challenge to the Israelite soldiers. He would say, “Why are all of your soldiers lined up ready for battle? You are Saul’s servants. I am a Philistine. So choose one man and send him to fight me. ⁹If that man kills me, then he wins and we Philistines will become your slaves. But if I kill your man, then I win, and you will become our slaves. You will have to serve us!” ¹⁰The Philistine also said, “Today I stand and make fun of the army of Israel! I dare you to send me one of your men and let us fight!” ¹¹Saul and the Israelite soldiers heard the things Goliath said. And they were very afraid.

David Goes to the Battle Front

¹²David was the son of Jesse. Jesse was from the Ephrathah family in Bethlehem, Judah. Jesse had eight sons. In Saul’s time Jesse was an old man. ¹³Jesse’s three oldest sons went with Saul to the war. The first son was Eliab. The second son was Abinadab. And the third son was Shammah. ¹⁴David was the youngest son. The three oldest sons were in Saul’s army. ¹⁵But David left Saul from time to time to take care of his father’s sheep at Bethlehem. ¹⁶The Philistine (Goliath) came out every morning and evening and stood before the Israelite army. Goliath made fun of Israel like this for 40 days. ¹⁷One day, Jesse said to his son David, “Take this basket* of cooked grain and these ten loaves of bread to your brothers in the camp. ¹⁸Also take these ten pieces of cheese for the officer who commands your brothers’ group of 1,000 soldiers. See how your brothers are doing. Bring back something to show me your brothers are all right. ¹⁹Your brothers are with Saul and all the Israelite soldiers in the Valley of Elah. They are there to fight against the Philistines.” ²⁰Early in the morning, David let another shepherd take care of the sheep. David took the food and left as Jesse had told him to. David drove their wagon to the camp. The soldiers were going out to their battle positions just as David arrived. The soldiers began shouting their war cry. ²¹The Israelites and Philistines were lined up and ready for battle. ²²David left the food and things with the man who kept supplies. David ran to the place where the Israelite soldiers were. David asked about his brothers. ²³While David was talking with his brothers, the Philistine champion fighter came out from the Philistine army. This was Goliath, the Philistine from Gath. Goliath shouted things against Israel as usual. David heard what he said. ²⁴The Israelite soldiers saw Goliath and ran away. They were all afraid of Goliath. ²⁵One of the Israelite men said, “Did you see that guy! Look at him! Goliath comes out and makes fun of Israel again and again. Whoever kills that guy will get rich! King Saul will give him a lot of money. Saul will also let his daughter marry the man who kills Goliath. And Saul will also make that man’s family free in Israel.” ²⁶David asked the men standing near him, “{What did he say?} What is the reward for killing this Philistine and taking away this shame from Israel? Who is this Goliath anyway? He is only some foreigner.* Goliath is nothing but a Philistine. Why does he think he can speak against the army of the living God?” ²⁷So the Israelite told David about the reward for killing Goliath. ²⁸David’s oldest brother Eliab heard David talking with the soldiers. Eliab became angry at David. Eliab asked David, “Why did you come here? Who did you leave those few sheep with in the desert? I know why you came down here! You didn’t want to do what you were told to do. You just wanted to come down here to watch the battle!” ²⁹David said, “What did I do now? I didn’t do anything wrong! I was only talking.” ³⁰David turned to some other people and asked them the same questions. They gave David the same answers as before. ³¹Some men heard David talking. They took David to Saul and told him what David had said. ³²David said to Saul, “People shouldn’t let Goliath discourage them. I am your servant. I will go fight this Philistine!” ³³Saul answered, “You can’t go out and fight against this Philistine (Goliath). You’re not even a soldier!* And Goliath has been fighting in wars since he was a boy.” ³⁴But David said to Saul, “I, your servant, was taking care of my father’s sheep. A lion and a bear came and took a sheep from the flock. ³⁵Each time I chased that wild animal. I attacked it and took the sheep from its mouth. That wild animal jumped on me, but I caught it by the fur under its mouth. And I hit it and killed it. ³⁶I killed a lion and a bear like that! And I will kill that foreigner,* Goliath, just like them! Goliath will die because he made fun of the army of the living God. ³⁷The Lord saved me from the lion and the bear. The Lord will also save me from this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go and may the Lord be with you.” ³⁸Saul put his own clothes on David. Saul put a bronze helmet on David’s head and armor* on David’s body. ³⁹David put on the sword and tried to walk around. David tried to wear Saul’s uniform, but David was not used to all those heavy things. David said to Saul, “I can’t fight in these things. I’m not used to them.” So David took them all off. ⁴⁰David took his walking stick in his hand and went to find five smooth stones from the stream. He put the five stones in his shepherd’s bag and held his sling* in his hand. And then he went to meet the Philistine (Goliath).

David Kills Goliath

⁴¹The Philistine (Goliath) slowly walked closer and closer to David. Goliath’s helper walked in front of him, carrying the shield. ⁴²Goliath looked at David {and laughed}. Goliath saw that David was only a handsome, red-faced* boy* ⁴³Goliath said to David, “What is that stick for? Did you come to chase me away like a dog?” Then Goliath used the names of his gods to say curses against David. ⁴⁴Goliath said to David, “Come here, and I’ll feed your body to the birds and wild animals!” ⁴⁵David said to the Philistine (Goliath), “You come to me using sword, spear, and javelin.* But I come to you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful, the God of the armies of Israel! You have said bad things about him. ⁴⁶Today the Lord will let me defeat you! I will kill you. Today I will cut off your head and feed your body to the birds and wild animals. We will do that to all the other Philistines too! Then all the world will know there is a God in Israel! ⁴⁷All the people gathered here will know that the Lord does not need swords or spears to save people. The battle belongs to the Lord! And the Lord will help us defeat all of you Philistines.” ⁴⁸Goliath the Philistine started to attack David. Goliath slowly walked closer and closer towards David. But David ran out to meet Goliath. ⁴⁹David took out a stone from his bag. He put it in his sling* and swung the sling. The stone flew from the sling and hit Goliath right between the eyes. The stone sank deep into his head, and Goliath fell to the ground—face down. ⁵⁰So David defeated the Philistine with only a sling* and one stone! He hit the Philistine and killed him. David didn’t have a sword, ⁵¹so he ran and stood beside the Philistine. Then David took Goliath’s own sword out of its sheath* and used it to cut off Goliath’s head. And that is how David killed the Philistine. When the other Philistines saw their hero was dead, they turned and ran. ⁵²The soldiers of Israel and Judah shouted and started chasing the Philistines. The Israelites chased the Philistines all the way to the city limits of Gath and to the gates of Ekron. They killed many of the Philistines. Their bodies were scattered along the Shaaraim road all the way to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³After chasing the Philistines, the Israelites came back to the Philistine camp and took many things from that camp. ⁵⁴David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but David kept the Philistine’s weapons at home.

Saul Begins to Fear David

⁵⁵Saul watched David go out to fight Goliath. Saul spoke to Abner, the commander of the army. “Abner, who is that young man’s father?” Abner answered, “I swear I don’t know, sir.” ⁵⁶King Saul said, “Find out who that young man’s father is.” ⁵⁷When David came back after killing Goliath, Abner brought him to Saul. David was still holding the Philistine’s head. ⁵⁸Saul asked him, “Young man, who is your father?” David answered, “I am the son of your servant Jesse, from Bethlehem.”

over 9 feet Literally, “6 cubits and 1 span.” Josephus, the ancient Greek translation, and one of the ancient Hebrew scrolls from Qumran all have “4 cubits and 1 span,” or about 6 feet 9 inches. 125 pounds Literally, “5,000 shekels.” javelin A small spear. 15 pounds Literally, “600 shekels.” basket Literally, “ephah.” foreigner Literally, “uncircumcised.” This shows Goliath was a foreigner and did not share in the agreement God made with the people of Israel. You’re not even a soldier Or, “You are only a boy!” The Hebrew word for “boy” often means “servant” or “the helper that carries a soldier’s weapons.” armor The heavy clothes made from leather and metal that a soldier wore to protect himself. sling A strip of leather for throwing rocks. red-faced Or, “tanned” or possibly “red-haired.” The Hebrew word means “red” or “ruddy.” boy Or, “teenager” or “soldier’s helper.” javelin A small spear. sheath A case for carrying a sword.