SHEMU’ĔL 1-17

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

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

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

4 Then a champion came out from the camp of the Pelishtites, named Golyath, from Gath, whose height was six ammah and a zereth.

5 And 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,

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

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

8 And 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 Pelishtite, 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.”

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

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

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

13 And 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.

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

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

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

17 Then 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.”

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

20 And 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.

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

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

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

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

25 And 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.”

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

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

28 And 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.”

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

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

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

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

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

34 Then 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,

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

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

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

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

39 And 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.

40 And 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 Pelishtite.

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

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

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

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

45 But Dawiḏ said to the Pelishtite, “You come to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a lance. But I come to you in the Name of 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 of hosts, the Elohim of the armies of Yisra’ĕl, whom you have reproached.

46 “This day 𐤉𐤄𐤅𐤄 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 Pelishtites today to the birds of the shamayim and the wild beasts of the earth, so that all the earth know that Elohim is for Yisra’ĕl,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

55 And when Sha’ul saw Dawiḏ going out against the Pelishtite, 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.”

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

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

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