1 Samuel 17:26–19:24

26 David asked the men standing near him, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine and removes this disgraced from Israel? Who is this uncircumcisede Philistine that he should defyf the armies of the livingg God?”

27 They repeated to him what they had been saying and told him, “This is what will be done for the man who kills him.”

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

5 Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successfulv that Saul gave him a high rank in the army.w This pleased all the troops, and Saul’s officers as well.

6 When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing,x with joyful songs and with timbrelsy and lyres. 7 As they danced, they sang:z

“Saul has slain his thousands,

and David his tensa of thousands.”

8 Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. “They have credited David with tens of thousands,” he thought, “but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?b” 9 And from that time on Saul kept a closec eye on David.

10 The next day an evila spiritd from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre,e as he usuallyf did. Saul had a spearg in his hand 11 and he hurled it, saying to himself,h “I’ll pin David to the wall.” But David eludedi him twice.j

12 Saul was afraidk of David, because the Lordl was withm David but had departed fromn Saul. 13 So he sent David away from him and gave him command over a thousand men, and David ledo the troops in their campaigns.p 14 In everything he did he had great success,q because the Lord was withr him. 15 When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him. 16 But all Israel and Judah loved David, because he led them in their campaigns.s

17 Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughtert Merab. I will give her to you in marriage;u only serve me bravely and fight the battlesv of the Lord.” For Saul said to himself,w “I will not raise a hand against him. Let the Philistines do that!”

18 But David said to Saul, “Who am I,x and what is my family or my clan in Israel, that I should become the king’s son-in-law?y” 19 Sob when the time came for Merab,z Saul’s daughter, to be given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel of Meholah.a

20 Now Saul’s daughter Michalb was in love with David, and when they told Saul about it, he was pleased.c 21 “I will give her to him,” he thought, “so that she may be a snared to him and so that the hand of the Philistines may be against him.” So Saul said to David, “Now you have a second opportunity to become my son-in-law.”

22 Then Saul ordered his attendants: “Speak to David privately and say, ‘Look, the king likes you, and his attendants all love you; now become his son-in-law.’ ”

23 They repeated these words to David. But David said, “Do you think it is a small matter to become the king’s son-in-law?e I’m only a poor man and little known.”

24 When Saul’s servants told him what David had said, 25 Saul replied, “Say to David, ‘The king wants no other pricef for the bride than a hundred Philistine foreskins, to take revengeg on his enemies.’ ” Saul’s planh was to have David fall by the hands of the Philistines.

26 When the attendants told David these things, he was pleased to become the king’s son-in-law. So before the allotted time elapsed, 27 David took his men with him and went out and killed two hundred Philistines and brought back their foreskins. They counted out the full number to the king so that David might become the king’s son-in-law. Then Saul gave him his daughter Michali in marriage.

28 When Saul realized that the Lord was with David and that his daughter Michalj loved David, 29 Saul became still more afraidk of him, and he remained his enemy the rest of his days.

30 The Philistine commanders continued to go out to battle, and as often as they did, David met with more successl than the rest of Saul’s officers, and his name became well known.

Saul Tries to Kill David

19 Saul told his son Jonathanm and all the attendants to killn David. But Jonathan had taken a great liking to David 2 and warned him, “My father Saul is looking for a chance to kill you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; go into hidingo and stay there. 3 I will go out and stand with my father in the field where you are. I’ll speakp to him about you and will tell you what I find out.”

4 Jonathan spokeq well of David to Saul his father and said to him, “Let not the king do wrongr to his servant David; he has not wronged you, and what he has done has benefited you greatly. 5 He took his lifes in his hands when he killed the Philistine. The Lord won a great victoryt for all Israel, and you saw it and were glad. Why then would you do wrong to an innocentu man like David by killing him for no reason?”

6 Saul listened to Jonathan and took this oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be put to death.”

7 So Jonathan …