Published by 
Image via Wikipedia
The Philistines were getting their army ready for battle and camped near the Israelites in Judah. King Saul gathered his Israelite troops near them across a near by valley. So the Philistines and Israelites faced each other on opposite hills, with the valley between them. Then Goliath, a Philistine a warrior from Gath, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the army troops of Israel. He was over nine feet tall and wore a bronze helmet, and bronze armor that weighed about 125 pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor, and he carried a bronze spear on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver’s beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed about 15 pounds. Goliath’s armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield.
Goliath stood mocking and shouting across to the Israelites. “Why are you all coming out to fight?” he called. “I am the strongest Philistine warrior, but you are just the servants of Saul. Choose someone to come down here and fight me! If he kills me, then we will be your slaves. But if I kill him, you will be our slaves! I dare the armies of Israel today to send someone to fight me!” So when Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were very frightened and upset.
Now David was the son of a man named Jesse, from Bethlehem in the land of Judah. Jesse was an old man at that time, and he had eight sons. Jesse’s three oldest sons—Eliab, Abinadab, and Shimea—had already joined Saul’s army to fight the Philistines. David was the youngest son. David’s three oldest brothers stayed with Saul’s army, but David went back and forth so he could help his father care for the animals in Bethlehem.
For forty days, every morning and evening, the Philistine warrior marched in front of the Israelite army. One day Jesse said to David, “Take this basket of roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread, and carry them quickly to your brothers. And give these ten pieces of cheese to their captain. See how your brothers are getting along, and bring back a report on how they are doing.” David’s brothers were with Saul and the Israelite army at the valley, where they were fighting against the Philistines.
So David left the sheep with another shepherd and set out early the next morning with the food, as Jesse had directed him. He arrived at the camp just as the Israelite army was leaving for the battlefield with loud shouts and battle cries. Soon the Israelite and Philistine forces stood facing each other, army against army. David left his things with the supplies keeper and hurried out to the fighters to see his brothers. As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine warrior from Gath, came out from the Philistine fighters. Then David heard him shout his usual mocks to the army of Israel.
As soon as the Israelite army saw him, they began to run away in great fear. “Have you seen the giant?” they asked. “He comes out each day to fight Israel. The king has offered a huge reward to anyone who kills him. He will give one of his daughters for a wife to the one who kills him, and his entire family won’t ever have to pay taxes again!” So David asked the soldiers standing nearby, “What will I get for killing this Philistine and putting an end to his opposition of Israel? Who is this Philistine unbeliever anyway, that he is allowed to challenge the armies of the living God?” And they all said the same to David. They said, “Yes, that’s what you’ll get for killing him.”
But when David’s oldest brother, Eliab, heard David talking to them, he was angry. “What are you doing around here anyway?” he demanded. “What about that little herd of animals at home that you’re supposed to be taking care of? I know about your pride and lies. You just wanted to come see the battle!
“What have I done now?” David replied. “I was only asking a question!” He walked over to some others and asked them the same thing and got the same answer. Then David’s bragging was told to King Saul, so the king sent for him.
So David told Saul, “Don’t worry about this Philistine. I’ll go fight him!”
But Saul said, “Don’t be ridiculous! There’s no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win! You’re only a boy, and he’s been a great warrior since he was young.”
But David kept asking to go. “I have been taking care of my father’s animals,” he said. “When a lion or a bear comes to steal a baby from them, I go after it with my walking stick and rescue the baby from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and beat it to death. I’ve killed both a lion and a bear, and I’ll kill this unbelieving Philistine, too, for he has challenged the armies of the living God! The Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine!”
So Saul finally said he could go. “Yes, go ahead,” he said. “And may the Lord be with you!” Then Saul gave David his own armor and a bronze helmet. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and tried to walk to see what it was like, for he had never worn these things before. So he said to Saul, “I can’t go in these; I’m not used to them.” So David took them all off.
On the way back to the battle, David picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them into his bag. Then, with only with his walking stick and sling, he started across the valley to fight the Philistine. Goliath walked out toward David with his shield bearer ahead of him, glaring hatefully at the young red-faced boy. “Am I a dog,” he yelled at David, “that you come at me with a stick?” And he cursed David by calling on the names of his false gods. “Come over here, and I’ll give your body to the birds and wild animals to eat!” Goliath yelled.
But David yelled back to the Philistine, “You come at me with a sword and spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven—the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have challenged. Today the Lord will defeat you, and I will kill you and cut off your head. And then I will give the dead bodies of your fighters to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And everyone here will know that the Lord saves his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord’s battle, and he will give you to us!”
As Goliath moved closer to attack, David quickly ran out to meet him. Then, reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he flung it with his sling and hit the Philistine right in the forehead. The stone sank deep into his head, and Goliath staggered and fell on the ground face down. So David beat the Philistine with only a sling and a stone, having no sword. Then David ran over and pulled Goliath’s own sword from its sheath. And David stabbed him and cut off his head.
When all the Philistines saw that their strongest warrior was dead, they turned and ran. Then the fighters of Israel and Judah gave a great shout of triumph and ran after the Philistines, chasing them far away. And so the bodies of the dead and wounded Philistines were scattered all along the road. Then, after the battle, the Israelite army returned and took whatever they wanted from the empty camp of the Philistines. (So David took the Philistine’s head to Jerusalem, but he kept the giant’s armor in his own tent.)
Image via Wikipedia
