Bible Verses About Armies: Champions fight instead of

He stood and yelled at the armies of Isra'el, "Why come out and draw up a battle line? I'm a P'lishti, and you are servants of Sha'ul, so choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.

If he can fight me and kill me, we'll be your slaves; but if I beat him and kill him, you will become slaves and serve us."

The P'lishti added, "I challenge Isra'el's armies today - give me a man, and we'll fight it out!"

When Sha'ul and all Isra'el heard those words of the P'lishti, they were shaken and terrified.

Now David was the son of that Efrati from Beit-Lechem in Y'hudah named Yishai. He had eight sons; and in the time of Sha'ul he was old - the years had taken their toll.

Yishai's three oldest sons had followed Sha'ul to battle; the names of his three sons who went to battle were Eli'av the firstborn, next to him Avinadav, and the third Shammah.

David was the youngest; the three oldest followed Sha'ul.

David went back and forth from Sha'ul to pasture his father's sheep at Beit-Lechem.

Meanwhile, the P'lishti approached with his challenge every morning and evening for forty days.

Yishai said to David his son, "Please take your brothers five bushels of this roasted grain and these ten loaves of bread; hurry, and carry them to your brothers at the camp.

Also bring these ten cheeses to their field officer. Find out if your brothers are well, and bring back some token from them.

Sha'ul and your brothers, with all the army of Isra'el, are in the Elah Valley, fighting the P'lishtim."

David got up early in the morning, left the sheep with a helper, took his load and set out, as Yishai had ordered him. He arrived at the barricade of the camp just as the troops were going out to their battle stations and shouting the war cry.

Isra'el and the P'lishtim had set up their battle lines facing each other.

David left his equipment in charge of the equipment guard, ran to the troops, went to his brothers and asked if they were well.

As he was talking with them, there came the champion, the P'lishti from Gat named Golyat, from the ranks of the P'lishtim, saying the same words as before; and David heard them.

When the soldiers from Isra'el saw the man, they all ran away from him, terrified.

The soldiers from Isra'el said [to each other], "You saw that man who just came up? He has come to challenge Isra'el. To whoever kills him, the king will give a rich reward; he'll also give him his daughter and exempt his father's family from all service and taxes in Isra'el."

David said to the men standing with him, "What reward will be given to the man who kills this P'lishti and removes this disgrace from Isra'el? Who is this uncircumcised P'lishti anyway, that he challenges the armies of the living God?"

The people answered with what they had been saying, adding, "That's what will be done for the man who kills him."

Eli'av his oldest brother heard when David spoke to the men, and it made Eli'av angry at him. He asked, "Why did you come down here? With whom did you leave those few sheep in the desert? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is! You just came down to watch the fighting."

David said, "What have I done now? I only asked a question."

He turned away from him to someone else and asked the same question, and the people gave him the same answer.

David's words were overheard and told to Sha'ul, who summoned him.

David said to Sha'ul, "No one should lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight this P'lishti."