¹² Now David was ^(A)the son of ^[a]the ^(B)Ephrathite of Bethlehem in Judah, the man whose name was Jesse, and ^(C)he had eight sons. And ^[b]Jesse was old in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men. ¹³ The three older sons of Jesse had ^[c]followed Saul to the battle. And ^(D)the names of his three sons who had gone into the battle were Eliab the firstborn, and second to him, Abinadab, and the third, Shammah. ¹⁴ So ^(E)David was the youngest. Now the three oldest followed Saul, ^15 (F)but David went back and forth from Saul ^(G)to tend his father’s flock at Bethlehem. ¹⁶ And the Philistine came forward morning and evening, and took his stand for forty days.

¹⁷ Then Jesse said to his son David, “^(H)Take now for your brothers an ephah of this roasted grain and these ten loaves, and run to the camp to your brothers. ^18 (I)Bring also these ten slices of cheese to the commander of their thousand, ^(J)and look into the well-being of your brothers and bring back ^[d]confirmation from them. ¹⁹ For Saul and they and all the men of Israel are in the Valley of Elah, fighting the Philistines.”