¹⁸ One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse^(A) of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior.^(B) He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with^(C) him.”

¹⁹ The Lord was with^(A) Samuel as he grew^(B) up, and he let none^(C) of Samuel’s words fall to the ground.

²³ The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph’s^(A) care, because the Lord was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did.^(B)

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

³³ Saul replied,^(B) “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 lion^(C) 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 seized^(D) it by its hair, struck it and killed it. ³⁶ Your servant has killed both the lion^(E) and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.

² The Lord was with Joseph^(A) so that he prospered, and he lived in the house of his Egyptian master.