¹The Philistines assembled their armies for war. They assembled at Socoh, which is in Judah, and camped between Socoh and Azekah at Ephes Dammim. ²So Saul and the army of Israel assembled and camped in the Elah Valley. They formed a battle line to fight the Philistines. ³The Philistines were stationed on a hill on one side, and the Israelites were stationed on a hill on the other side. There was a ravine between the two of them.

⁴The Philistine army’s champion came out of their camp. His name was Goliath from Gath. He was ten feet tall.^a⁵He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he wore a bronze coat of armor scales weighing 125 pounds. ⁶On his legs he had bronze shin guards and on his back a bronze javelin. ⁷The shaft of his spear was like the beam used by weavers. The head of his spear was made of 15 pounds of iron. The man who carried his shield walked ahead of him.

⁸Goliath stood and called to the Israelites, “Why do you form a battle line? Am I not a Philistine, and aren’t you Saul’s servants? Choose a man, and let him come down to ⸤fight⸥ me. ⁹If he can fight me and kill me, then we will be your slaves. But if I overpower him and kill him, then you will be our slaves and serve us.” ¹⁰The Philistine added, “I challenge the Israelite battle line today. Send out a man so that we can fight each other.”

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Footnotes

a 17:4 Masoretic Text; Dead Sea Scrolls and Greek “seven feet tall.”