Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

³² David said to Sha’ul, “No one should lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight this P’lishti.” ³³ Sha’ul said to David, “You can’t go to fight this P’lishti — you’re just a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth!” ³⁴ David answered Sha’ul, “Your servant used to guard his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear would come and grab a lamb from the flock, ³⁵ I would go after it, hit it, and snatch the lamb from its mouth; and if it turned on me, I would catch it by the jaw, smack it and kill it. ³⁶ Your servant has defeated both lions and bears, and this uncircumcised P’lishti will be like one of them, because he has challenged the armies of the living God.” ³⁷ Then David said, “Adonai, who rescued me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, will rescue me from the paw of this P’lishti!” Sha’ul said to David, “Go; may Adonai be with you.”

³⁸ Sha’ul dressed David in his own armor — he put a bronze helmet on his head and gave him armor plate to wear. ³⁹ David buckled his sword on his armor and tried to walk, but he wasn’t used to such equipment. David said to Sha’ul, “I can’t move wearing these things, because I’m not used to them.” So David took them off. ⁴⁰ Then he took his stick in his hand and picked five smooth stones from the riverbed, putting them in his shepherd’s bag, in his pouch. Then, with his sling in his hand, he approached the P’lishti. ⁴¹ The P’lishti, with his shield-bearer ahead of him, came nearer and nearer to David. ⁴² The P’lishti looked David up and down and had nothing but scorn for what he saw — a boy with ruddy cheeks, red hair and good looks. ⁴³ The P’lishti said to David, “Am I a dog? Is that why you’re coming at me with sticks?” — and the P’lishti cursed David by his god. ⁴⁴ Then the P’lishti said to David, “Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds in the air and the wild animals.” ⁴⁵ David answered the P’lishti, “You’re coming at me with a sword, a spear and a javelin. But I’m coming at you in the name of Adonai-Tzva’ot, the God of the armies of Isra’el, whom you have challenged. ⁴⁶ Today Adonai will hand you over to me. I will attack you, lop your head off, and give the carcasses of the army of the P’lishtim to the birds in the air and the animals in the land. Then all the land will know that there is a God in Isra’el, ⁴⁷ and everyone assembled here will know that Adonai does not save by sword or spear. For this is Adonai’s battle, and he will hand you over to us.” ⁴⁸ When the P’lishti got up, approached and came close to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the P’lishti. ⁴⁹ David put his hand in his bag, took out a stone, and hurled it with his sling. It struck the P’lishti in his forehead and buried itself in his forehead, so that he fell face down on the ground. ⁵⁰ Thus David defeated the P’lishti with a sling and a stone, striking the P’lishti and killing him; but David had no sword in his hand. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the P’lishti, took his sword, drew it out of its sheath, and finished killing him, cutting off his head with it.

When the P’lishtim saw that their hero was dead, they fled.

³⁶ They were still talking about it when — there he was, standing among them! ³⁷ Startled and terrified, they thought they were seeing a ghost. ³⁸ But he said to them, “Why are you so upset? Why are these doubts welling up inside you? ³⁹ Look at my hands and my feet — it is I, myself! Touch me and see — a ghost doesn’t have flesh and bones, as you can see I do.” ⁴⁰ As he said this, he showed them his hands and feet.