28 When Eliab, David’s oldest brother, heard him speaking with the men, he burned with angerh at him and asked, “Why have you come down here? And with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how conceited you are and how wicked your heart is; you came down only to watch the battle.”

29 “Now what have I done?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” 30 He then turned away to someone else and brought up the same matter, and the men answered him as before. 31 What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

32 David said to Saul, “Let no one lose hearti on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.”

33 Saul replied,j “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth.”

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant has been keeping his father’s sheep. When a lionk or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, 35 I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seizedl it by its hair, struck it and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both the lionm and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 37 The Lord who rescuedn me from the paw of the liono and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.”

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be withp you.”

38 Then Saul dressed David in his ownq tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. 39 David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.

“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 40 Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.

41 Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearerr in front of him, kept coming closer to David. 42 He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome,s and he despisedt him. 43 He said to David, “Am I a dog,u that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 “Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birdsv and the wild animals!w”

45 David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin,x but I come against you in the namey of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.z 46 This day the Lord will delivera you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcassesb of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole worldc will know that there is a God in Israel.d 47 All those gathered here will know that it is not by sworde or spear that the Lord saves;f for the battleg is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

48 As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. 49 Reaching into his bag and taking out a stone, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell facedown on the ground.

50 So David triumphed over the Philistine with a slingh and a stone; without a sword in his hand he struck down the Philistine and killed him.

51 David ran and stood over him. He took hold of the Philistine’s sword and drew it from the sheath. After he killed him, he cuti off his head with the sword.j

When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. 52 Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gathf and to the gates of Ekron.k Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraiml road to Gath and Ekron. 53 When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

54 David took the Philistine’s head and brought it to Jerusalem; he put the Philistine’s weapons in his own tent.

55 As Saul watched Davidm going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, “Abner,n whose son is that young man?”

Abner replied, “As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don’t know.”

56 The king said, “Find out whose son this young man is.”

57 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head.

58 “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him.

David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesseo of Bethlehem.”

Saul’s Growing Fear of David

18 After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathanp became one in spirit with David, and he lovedq him as himself.r 2 From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family. 3 And Jonathan made a covenants with David because he loved him as himself. 4 Jonathan took off the robet he was wearing and gave it to David, along with his tunic, and even his sword, his bow and his belt.u