1 Samuel 17:34–58

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

Saul said to David, “Go, and the Lord be with^p you.”

³⁸Then Saul dressed David in his own^q tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹David 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. ⁴⁰Then 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.

⁴¹Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer^r in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴²He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome,^s and he despised^t him. ⁴³He 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 birds^v and the wild animals!^w”

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

⁴⁸As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹Reaching 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.

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

⁵¹David 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. ⁵²Then the men of Israel and Judah surged forward with a shout and pursued the Philistines to the entrance of Gath^f and to the gates of Ekron.^k Their dead were strewn along the Shaaraim^l road to Gath and Ekron. ⁵³When the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines, they plundered their camp.

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

⁵⁵As Saul watched David^m 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.”

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

⁵⁷As 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 Jesse^o of Bethlehem.”