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1 And the Philistines gather their armies to battle, and gather themselves to Socchoth of Judaea, and encamp between Socchoth and Azeca * Ephermen. 2 And Saul and the men of Israel gather together, and they encamp in the valley, and set the battle in array against the Philistines. 3 And the Philistines stand on the mountain on one side, and Israel stands on the mountain on the other side, and the valley was between them. 4 And there went forth a mighty man out of the army of the Philistines, Goliath, by name, out of Geth, his height was four cubits and a span. 5 And he had a helmet upon his head, and he wore a breastplate of chain armour; and the weight of his breastplate was five thousand shekels of brass and iron. 6 And greaves of grass were upon his legs, and a brazen target was between his shoulders. 7 And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the † spear's head was formed of six hundred shekels of iron; and his armour-bearer went before him. 8 And he stood and cried to the army of Israel, and said to them, Why are you⌃ come forth to set yourselves in battle array against us? Am not I a Philistine, and you⌃ ‡ Hebrews of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man, and let him come down to me. 9 And if he shall be able to fight against me, and shall strike me, then will we be your servants: but if I should prevail and strike him, you⌃ shall be our servants, and serve us. 10 And the Philistine said, Behold, I have defied the armies of Israel this very day: give me a man, and we will both of us fight in single combat. 11 And Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, and they were dismayed, and greatly terrified. 12 And David son of an Ephrathite said, this one was of Bethleem Juda, and his name was Jessae, and he had eight sons. And the man passed for an old man amongst men in the days of Saul. 13 And the three elder sons of Jessae went and followed Saul to the war, and the § names of his sons that went to the war were, Eliab his ﬁrst-born, and his second Aminadab, and his third son Samma. 14 And David himself ** was the younger son, and the three elder followed Saul. 15 And David departed and returned from Saul, †† to feed his father’s sheep in Bethleem; 16 And the Philistine advanced morning and evening, and stood up forty days. 17 And Jessae said to David, Take now to your brethren an ephah of this meal, and these ten loaves, and run to the camp and give them to your brothers. 18 And you shall carry to the captain of the thousand ‡‡ these ten cheeses of milk, and you shall see how your brethren fare, and learn what they lack. 19 And Saul himself and all the men of Israel were in the valley of the Oak, warring with the Philistines. 20 And David rose early in the morning, and left the sheep to a keeper, and took and went as Jessae commanded him, and he came to the trench and to the army as it was going out to ﬁght, and they shouted for the battle. 21 And Israel and the Philistines formed their lines one opposite the other. 22 And David deposited his burden in the hand of a keeper, and ran to the line, and went and asked his brethren how they Were. 23 And while he was speaking with them, behold the Amessaean advanced, Goliath by name, the Philistine of Geth, of the armies of the Philistines, and he spoke §§ as before, and David heard. 24 And all the men of Israel when they saw the man ﬂed from before him, and they were greatly terrified. 25 And the men of Israel said, Have you⌃ seen this man that comes up? for he has reproached Israel and has come up; and it shall be that the man who shall strike him, the king shall enrich him with great wealth and shall give him his daughter, and shall make his father’s house free in Israel. 26 and David spoke to the men who stood with him saying, Shall it indeed be done thus to the man who shall strike that Philistine, and take away reproach from Israel? for who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he has defied the army of the living God? 27 And the people spoke to him according to this Word, saying Thus shall it be done to the man Who shall strike him. 28 And Eliab his elder brother heard as he spoke to the men, and Eliab was very angry with David and said, Why have you thus come down, and with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the naughtiness of your heart, for you are come down to see the battle. 29 And David said what have I done now? *** Have I no business here? 30 And he turned from him towards another, and he spoke after the same manner; and the people answered him ††† after the former manner. 31 And the Words which David spoke were heard and were reported ‡‡‡ to Saul. And he took him to himself. 32 And David said to Saul, Let not, I pray you, the heart of my lord be dejected §§§ within him: your servant will go, and fight with this Philistine. 33 And Saul said to David, You will not in anyway be able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are a mere youth, and he a man of war from his youth. 34 And David said to Saul, Your servant was tending the flock for his father; and when a lion came and a she-bear, and took a sheep out of the flock, 35 then I went forth after him, and struck him, and drew the spoil out of his mouth: and * as he rose up against me, then I caught hold of his throat, and struck him, and killed him. 36 Your servant struck both the lion and the bear, and the uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them: shall I not go and strike him, and remove this day a reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised one, who has defied the army of the living God? 37 The Lord who delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this uncircumcised Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and the Lord shall be with you. 38 And Saul clothed David with a military coat, and put his brazen helmet on his head. 39 And he girded David with his sword over his coat: and he † made trial walking with them once and again: and David said to Saul, I shall not be able to go with these, for I have not proved them: so they remove them from him. 40 And he took his staff in his hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones out of the brook, and put them in the shepherd's scrip which he had for his store, and his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine. ‡ 41 And the Philistine advanced and drew near to David, and a man bearing his shield went before him, and the Philistine looked on. 42 And Goliath saw David, and despised him; for he was a lad, and ruddy, § with a fair countenance. 43 And the Philistine said to David, Am I as a dog, that you come against me with a staff and stones? ** and David said, Nay, but worse than a dog. And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air, and to the beasts of the earth. 45 And David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword, and with spear, and with shield; but I come to you in the name of the Lord God of hosts of the army of Israel, which you have defied 46 this day. And the Lord shall †† deliver you this day into my hand; and I will kill you, and take away your head from off you, and will give your limbs and the limbs of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky, and to the wild beasts of the earth; and all the earth shall know that there is a God in Israel. 47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord delivers not by sword or spear, for the battle is the Lord's, and the Lord will deliver you into our hands. 48 And the Philistine arose and went to meet David. 49 And David stretched out his hand to his scrip, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead, and the stone penetrated through the helmet into his forehead, and he fell upon his face to the ground. ‡‡ 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him, and there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 And David ran, and stood upon him, and took his sword, and killed him, and cut off his head: and the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, and they fled. 52 And the men of Israel and Juda §§ arose, and shouted and pursued them as far as the entrance to *** Geth, and as far as the gate of Ascalon: and the slain men of the Philistines fell in the way of the ††† gates, both to Geth, and to Accaron. 53 And the men of Israel returned ‡‡‡ from pursuing after the Philistines, and they §§§ destroyed their camp. 54 And David took the head of the Philistine, and brought it to Jerusalem; but he put his armour in his tent. * 55 And when Saul saw David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abener the captain of the host, Whose son is this youth? and Abener said, As your soul lives, O King, I know not. 56 And the king said, Do you ask whose son this youth is. 57 And as David returned from the slaughter of the Philistine, Abener took him and brought him before Saul, and the head of the Philistine was in his hand. 58 And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? and David said, The son of your servant Jessae the Bethleemite.
* 17:1 Alex. Aphesdommin. † 17:7 Gr. the spear. ‡ 17:8 Or, servants, עברי being read as if עברי. § 17:13 Gr. name. ** 17:14 Gr. is. †† 17:15 Gr. feeding. ‡‡ 17:18 Lit. the ten cheeses of this milk. §§ 17:23 Gr. according to these words. *** 17:29 Gr. is there not a word? ††† 17:30 Lit. according to the word of the first. ‡‡‡ 17:31 Gr. behind Saul. §§§ 17:32 Gr. upon him. * 17:35 Gr. it. † 17:39 Gr. laboured. ‡ 17:40 Verse 41 is not in the Vatican codex. Alex. has the following. § 17:42 Gr. with beauty of eyes. ** 17:43 The following words in italics not in Alex. or Heb. †† 17:46 Gr. shut you up. ‡‡ 17:49 Verse 50 is not in the Vatican codex. Alex. has the following. §§ 17:52 Gr. arise. *** 17:52 Alex. Gai. ††† 17:52 Heb. שעריס Shaaraim. ‡‡‡ 17:53 Gr. declining from after. §§§ 17:53 Gr. trampled on. * 17:54 Verses 55 to 58 are not in the Vatican codex. Alex. has the following.