¹⁰ Then the Lord gave Samuel a message. He said, ¹¹ “I am very sad I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I directed him to do.” When Samuel heard that, he was angry. He cried out to the Lord during that whole night.

¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these the only sons you have?”

“No,” Jesse answered. “My youngest son is taking care of the sheep.”

Samuel said, “Send for him. We won’t sit down to eat until he arrives.”

¹² So Jesse sent for his son and had him brought in. He looked very healthy. He had a fine appearance and handsome features.

Then the Lord said, “Get up and anoint him. This is the one.”

¹³ So Samuel got the animal horn that was filled with olive oil. He anointed David in front of his brothers. From that day on, the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully on David. Samuel went back to Ramah.

²⁶ David spoke to the men standing near him. He asked them, “What will be done for the man who kills this Philistine? Goliath is bringing shame on Israel. What will be done for the one who removes it? This Philistine isn’t even circumcised. He dares the armies of the living God to fight him. Who does he think he is?”

²⁷ The men told David what Israel’s soldiers had been saying. The men told him what would be done for the man who killed Goliath.

²⁸ David’s oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking with the men. So Eliab became very angry with him. Eliab asked David, “Why have you come down here? Who is taking care of those few sheep in the desert for you? I know how proud you are. I know how evil your heart is. The only reason you came down here was to watch the battle.”

²⁹ “What have I done now?” said David. “Can’t I even speak?” ³⁰ Then he turned away to speak to some other men. He asked them the same question he had asked before. And they gave him the same answer. ³¹ Someone heard what David said and reported it to Saul. So Saul sent for David.

³² David said to Saul, “Don’t let anyone lose hope because of that Philistine. I’ll go out and fight him.”

³³ Saul replied, “You aren’t able to go out there and fight that Philistine. You are too young. He’s been a warrior ever since he was a boy.”

³⁴ But David said to Saul, “I’ve been taking care of my father’s sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock. ³⁵ Then I would go after it and hit it. I would save the sheep it was carrying in its mouth. If it turned around to attack me, I would grab its hair. I would strike it down and kill it. ³⁶ In fact, I’ve killed both a lion and a bear. I’ll do the same thing to this Philistine. He isn’t even circumcised. He has dared the armies of the living God to fight him. ³⁷ The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion. He saved me from the paw of the bear. And he’ll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too.”

Saul said to David, “Go. And may the Lord be with you.”

³⁸ Then Saul dressed David in his own military clothes. He put a coat of armor on him. He put a bronze helmet on his head. ³⁹ David put on Saul’s sword over his clothes. He walked around for a while in all that armor because he wasn’t used to it.

“I can’t go out there in all this armor,” he said to Saul. “I’m not used to it.” So he took it off. ⁴⁰ Then David picked up his wooden staff. He went down to a stream and chose five smooth stones. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd’s bag. Then he took his sling in his hand and approached Goliath.

⁴¹ At that same time, the Philistine kept coming closer to David. The man carrying Goliath’s shield walked along in front of him. ⁴² Goliath looked David over. He saw how young he was. He also saw how healthy and handsome he was. And he hated him. ⁴³ He said to David, “Why are you coming at me with sticks? Do you think I’m only a dog?” The Philistine cursed David in the name of his gods. ⁴⁴ “Come over here,” he said. “I’ll feed your body to the birds and wild animals!”

⁴⁵ David said to Goliath, “You are coming to fight against me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming against you in the name of the Lord who rules over all. He is the God of the armies of Israel. He’s the one you have dared to fight against. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will give me the victory over you. I’ll strike you down. I’ll cut your head off. This day I’ll feed the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and wild animals. Then the whole world will know there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷ The Lord doesn’t rescue people by using a sword or a spear. And everyone here will know it. The battle belongs to the Lord. He will hand all of you over to us.”

⁴⁸ As the Philistine moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly to the battle line to meet him. ⁴⁹ He reached into his bag. He took out a stone. He put it in his sling. He slung it at Goliath. The stone hit him on the forehead and sank into it. He fell to the ground on his face.

⁵⁰ So David won the fight against Goliath with a sling and a stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. He did it without even using a sword.

For the director of music. A psalm of David when the prophet Nathan came to him. Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.