1. The Philistines gathered their troops for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.
2. Saul and the Israelite army assembled and camped in the valley of Elah, where they arranged their battle lines to fight against the Philistines.
3. The Philistines were standing on one hill, and the Israelites on another hill, with the valley between them.
4. Then a champion came out from the camp of the Philistines. His name was Goliath; he was from Gath. He was close to seven feet tall.
5. He had a bronze helmet on his head and was wearing scale body armor. The weight of his bronze body armor was five thousand shekels.
6. He had bronze shin guards on his legs, and a bronze javelin was slung over his shoulders.
7. The shaft of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and the iron point of his spear weighed six hundred shekels. His shield bearer was walking before him.
8. Goliath stood and called to Israel’s troops, “Why do you come out to prepare for battle? Am I not the Philistine, and are you not the servants of Saul? Choose for yourselves a man so he may come down to me!
9. If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.”
10. Then the Philistine said, “I defy Israel’s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight each other!”
11. When Saul and all the Israelites heard these words of the Philistine, they were upset and very afraid.
12. Now David was the son of this Ephrathite named Jesse from Bethlehem in Judah. He had eight sons, and in Saul’s days he was old and well advanced in years.
13. Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to war. The names of the three sons who went to war were Eliab, his firstborn, Abinadab, the second oldest, and Shammah, the third oldest.