1 Samuel 17:42–51

⁴²When the Philistine looked and saw David, he despised him ⁱbecause he was just a youth, healthy ^jkand handsome. ⁴³He said to David, “Am I a dog ^lthat you come against me with sticks?” ^mThen he cursed David by his gods. ⁿ⁴⁴“Come here,” the Philistine called to David, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts!” ^o

⁴⁵David said to the Philistine: “You come against me with a dagger, spear, and sword, but I come against you in the name of Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel’s armies—you have defied Him. ^p46Today, the Lord will hand you over to me. Today, I’ll strike you down, cut your head off, and give the corpses ^qof the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the creatures of the earth. Then all the world will know that Israel has a God, ^r47and this whole assembly will know that it is not by sword or by spear that the Lord saves, ^sfor the battle is the Lord’s. ^tHe will hand you over to us.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine started forward to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet the Philistine. ^u49David put his hand in the bag, took out a stone, slung it, and hit the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground. ⁵⁰David defeated the Philistine with a sling and a stone. Even though David had no sword, he struck down the Philistine and killed him. ⁵¹David ran and stood over him. He grabbed the Philistine’s sword, ^vpulled it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they ran. ^w