³⁸ Then Saul clothed David with his armour. He put a helmet of bronze on his head and clothed him with a coat of mail, ³⁹ and David strapped his sword over his armour. And he tried in vain to go, for he had not tested them. Then David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” So David put them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, ^(A)with his shield bearer in front of him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ^(B)ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^(C)a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(D)to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with ^(E)a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^(F)whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. ^(G)And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ^(H)to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^(I)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that ^(J)the Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^(K)For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly towards the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine ^(L)and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(M)they fled. ⁵² And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath^[a] and the gates of ^(N)Ekron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from ^(O)Shaaraim as far as ^(P)Gath and Ekron. ⁵³ And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴ And David took ^(Q)the head of the Philistine ^(R)and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armour in his tent.

⁵⁵ As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, ^(S)the commander of the army, “Abner, ^(T)whose son is this youth?” And Abner said, ^(U)“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶ And the king said, “Enquire whose son the boy is.” ⁵⁷ And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul ^(V)with the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸ And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, ^(W)“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

David and Jonathan's Friendship

18 As soon as he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan ^(X)loved him as his own soul. ² And Saul took him that day ^(Y)and would not let him return to his father's house. ³ Then Jonathan made a covenant with David, because ^(Z)he loved him as his own soul. ⁴ And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armour, and even his sword and his bow and his belt. ⁵ And David went out ^(AA)and was successful wherever Saul sent him, so that Saul set him over the men of war. And this was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

Saul's Jealousy of David

⁶ As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, ^(AB)the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments.^{[b] 7} And the women ^(AC)sang to one another as they celebrated,

⁸ And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but ^(AE)the kingdom?” ⁹ And Saul kept an eye on David from that day on.

¹⁰ The next day ^(AF)a harmful spirit from God rushed upon Saul, and ^(AG)he raved within his house while David was ^(AH)playing the lyre, as he did day by day. ^(AI)Saul had his spear in his hand. ¹¹ And Saul ^(AJ)hurled the spear, for he thought, “I will pin David to the wall.” But David evaded him twice.

^12 (AK)Saul was afraid of David because ^(AL)the Lord was with him ^(AM)but had departed from Saul. ¹³ So Saul removed him from his presence and made him a commander of a thousand. ^(AN)And he went out and came in before the people. ¹⁴ And David ^(AO)had success in all his undertakings, ^(AP)for the Lord was with him. ¹⁵ And when Saul saw that ^(AQ)he had great success, he stood in fearful awe of him. ^16 (AR)But all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.