hen Saul was king of Israel, the Philistines gathered their armies to fight against Israel. The Philistines stood on a mountain on one side, and Israel stood on a mountain on the other side, with a valley between them.

A champion went out of the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath of Gath. He was almost seven feet tall. He wore a helmet of brass, and a coat of mail, and armor on his legs and shoulders, and carried a great spear with a head made of fifteen pounds of iron.

...David took the head of the Philistine...

Goliath called to the armies of Israel, and said, “Choose a man, and let him come down to fight me. If he can kill me, then we will surrender to you—but if I prevail, and kill him, then you will be our subjects.”

The Israelites heard those words, and were very afraid. They said, “The man who kills Goliath, the king will give great riches—he will give him his own daughter.” A boy named David heard them, and said, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of God? I will go and fight this Philistine”. But King Saul said to David, “You cannot fight against him—you are only a boy, and he has been a warrior since his youth.”

David said to Saul, “I have watched my father’s sheep, and killed a lion and a bear that came for his lambs. I will kill this Philistine as I did the lion and the bear.” So Saul gave David his armor, a brass helmet and a coat of mail. But David was not used to armor, and he took it off. Instead he took his staff and his sling, and chose five smooth stones from the brook, and went out to Goliath.

When Goliath saw that David was only a boy, he said, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with a stick? Come here, and I will give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals.”

Then David said to Goliath, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a shield--but I come to you in the name of Yahweh, the god of the armies of Israel. Yahweh will deliver you into my hand: I will kill you, and cut off your head, and leave the corpses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, so that all the world will know that there is a God in Israel.”

Then Goliath went toward David, and David ran toward Goliath. He took a stone from his bag, and slung it, and struck Goliath in his forehead. The stone lodged in Goliath’s forehead, and he fell on his face on the ground. David ran and stood over Goliath, and drew the Philistine’s sword from his sheath, and cut off his head.

When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, they fled. The men of Israel pursued them, and looted their tents. And David took Goliath’s head, and brought it to Jerusalem.