1 At one time the Philistia mob came together at the town called Socoh in the Judah country, to fight with the Israel mob. They camped at a place called Efes-Dammim. It is half-way between the town called Socoh and the town called Azekah. 2 Saul gathered the Israel soldiers together, and they camped in the valley called Elah. They got ready there to fight with the Philistia soldiers. 3 There was a hill close by, so the Israel mob went up from the valley on to that hill. From there they saw the Philistia mob on the hill on the other side of the valley.

4 One of the Philistia soldiers was a really big man called Goliath, and he was from a town called Gath. He was really tall, about 3 metres. 5-6 In a fight he used to put on iron plates to cover his body. One covered his head, and 2 others covered his legs. Another covered his chest, and it was really heavy. It was about 60 kilograms. He carried 2 fighting spears, a short one and a long one. The short one was made of a brown metal called bronze. It was in a belt over his shoulder. 7 The long spear had a sharp point made of iron. The point was really heavy too, about 7 kilograms. Another soldier used to walk in front of Goliath, to carry his shield for him.

8 Every day, Goliath used to go out into the middle and call out to the Israel mob like this, “Hey Israel mob. What are you waiting for? You call yourselves soldiers? Look at me. I’m a real soldier, from Philistia. You mob are just Saul’s working men. Listen. You pick one man and send him to me, so the 2 of us can fight. 9 If he kills me, we mob will let you take us all to Israel, to work for you mob. But if I kill him, we will take you mob back to Philistia, to work for us. 10 Don’t be weak. Send one man to me so the 2 of us can fight.” 11 Saul and the Israel mob heard that big man’s words, and they got frightened and confused.

15-16 That happened every day. Goliath used to go out and say that in the early morning and late afternoon. He did that for 40 days.

At that time, David kept on going back from Saul’s place to his father’s place, to look after his father’s sheep.

17 One day, his father said, “Get this bag of cooked seed, and get 10 loaves of bread. Take them to your big brothers. 18 And take 10 big lumps of cheese too, and give them to the boss soldier. Go quickly. I’m worried about your big brothers. Bring back some news from them. Bring back something to show that they are still all right. 19 Go to the valley called Elah. That’s the place where Saul and our mob are fighting with the Philistia mob.”

20 David listened to his father. Then he told another man to look after the sheep. The next morning, he put all that food on a donkey and went to the valley called Elah. After he got there, he saw the soldiers as they got ready to fight. They shouted to make themselves brave. 21 The Israel mob and the Philistia mob watched each other across the valley. 22 David gave the food to the man that was in charge of all the food, then he ran out to the soldiers and said hello to his brothers. 23 While they talked, that big man from Gath, Goliath, he went out into the middle as before. And he went around and shouted out loud, as he always did. And David heard him talk like that. 24 Every time the Israel mob saw Goliath, they got frightened and ran away from him.

25 You see, they already said to each other like this, “Every day, that man comes to shame us and make fun of us. But if one of our men kills him, Saul will give him big money. He will also give him his daughter to marry. And Saul will not make his family pay tax money.”

26 David said to the men that stood near him, “That man gives us shame. He doesn’t know God. Somebody has to shut him up. What will Saul give if somebody kills him? We can’t let him make fun of the true God and his army, no way.”

27 They told him the same thing, “Saul will give big money to the man that kills Goliath. And he will give him his daughter to marry. And Saul will not make his family pay tax money.”

28 David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard them talking, and he was angry with David. He said to him, “Why did you come here? What about those few little sheep? Who is watching them today? You are doing wrong. Why do you try to make yourself big? I know what you are like. You just came here for fun, to see the fighting.”

29 David asked, “Why are you angry with me? What did I do wrong? I’m just asking.” 30 And he asked another man, “What will Saul give to the man that kills Goliath?” The man told him the same thing as before.

31 Somebody went and told Saul about David. So Saul sent a man to get him.

32 David said to him, “Boss. We can’t be frightened of that man. I will go. I will fight with him myself.”

33 Saul said, “No way. You can’t fight with him. You are only a young man, and he’s a brave soldier. He was a soldier since he was young.”

34 But David said, “I look after my father’s sheep and goats. A lion or a bear might grab a sheep, and drag it away to eat. 35 I chase it, and I hit the cheeky animal, until it lets the sheep go. If it tries to bite and scratch me, I grab it by the hair and kill it dead. 36 I’ve killed lions and bears dead. That cheeky man is shaming God’s army, so I will kill him the same way. God is the only powerful one. 37 He has saved me from cheeky animals, and he will save me from that cheeky man too.”

Saul said, “All right, you go and fight him. God will go with you.”

38 Saul had some iron plates there, to use in a fight. He used to put them on to cover his body. Those things were really heavy. He gave them to David to put on. He also gave him a hat made of bronze, to cover the head. 39 David also put on a belt and put Saul’s long knife in it. It was the first time David put on heavy things like that, and he couldn’t walk properly.

And he said to Saul, “I can’t walk like this. I’ve never used this kind of thing before.” So he took them off. 40 He got his walking stick and his thing for throwing stones, called a sling, and he went down to the creek. He picked up 5 smooth stones, and he put them in his bag. Then he walked up towards that Philistia man.

41 Goliath saw him and walked towards him also. The other soldier that carried his shield walked in front of him. And they came close to David. 42 That big man laughed and made fun of David, “You are just a young man, a pretty boy. 43-44 Why are you coming at me with a stick? Do you think I’m a dog? All right, come. I will kill you dead, so the birds and the wild animals can eat your body. I will kill you dead properly.” And he called out to his gods and told them to curse David.

45 David answered, “You think you will kill me dead. You come to me with a long knife and 2 spears. But God sent me to fight you. He is the boss of everything, and he is with me now as I go to you, and I will kill you dead. God is the only powerful one, and he is the leader of the Israel soldiers. But you made fun of him. 46 So today God will help me to win. And I will kill you and cut off your head. Today you Philistia mob will all lie dead, and the birds and the wild animals will eat your bodies. Then everybody will know that the only real God is Israel’s God. 47 All of us here will know that God looks after his people, but he doesn’t have to use long knives and spears. He does it his way. God is boss of this fight. So we Israel mob will finish up all of you Philistia mob.”

48 Goliath moved closer to hit David, but David quickly ran towards him. 49 He took out a stone from his bag, and he used his sling to throw it at Goliath, and that stone hit Goliath on the forehead and went through the bone in his head. He fell on his face on the ground and lay there.

50 And that’s how David won. He didn’t use a long knife. No, he killed that Philistia man dead just with a sling and a stone.*2 Samuel 21:19 51 Then he ran up to him and stood on top of him. He took out the long knife from Goliath’s belt and cut off his head.*1 Samuel 21:9

After the Philistia mob saw that their big soldier lay there dead on the ground, they all turned around and ran away. 52 The Israel mob shouted out loud and chased them. They kept on chasing them along the Sharayim road as far as those 2 places called Gath and Ekron. Lots of Philistia people lay dead along that road.