31The things David said were overheard and were reported to Saul, who had him brought over. 32David said to Saul, “Let f-no man’s-f courage fail him. Your servant will go and fight that Philistine!” 33But Saul said to David, “You cannot go to that Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a warrior from his youth!” 34David replied to Saul, “Your servant has been tending his father’s sheep, and if a lion orb a bear came and carried off an animal from the flock, 35I would go after it and fight it and rescue it from its mouth. And if it attacked me, I would seize it by the beard and strike it down and kill it. 36Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and that uncircumcised Philistine shall end up like one of them, for he has defied the ranks of the living God. 37The LORD,” David went on, “who saved me from lion and bear will also save me from that Philistine.” “Then go,” Saul said to David, “and may the LORD be with you!”
38Saul clothed David in his own garment; he placed a bronze helmet on his head and fastened g-a breastplate on him.-g 39David girded his sword over his garment. Then he h-tried to walk; but-h he was not used to it. And David said to Saul, “I cannot walk in these, for I am not used to them.” So David took them off. 40He took his stick, picked a fewi smooth stones from the wadi, put them in the pocketb of his shepherd’s bag and, sling in hand, he went toward the Philistine.
41The Philistine, meanwhile, was coming closer to David, preceded by his shield-bearer. 42When the Philistine caught sight of David, he scorned him, for he was but a boy, ruddy and handsome. 43And the Philistine called out to David, “Am I a dog that you come against me with sticks?” The Philistine cursed David by his gods; 44and the Philistine said to David, “Come here, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.”
45David replied to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin; but I come against you in the name of the LORD of Hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied. 46This very day the LORD will deliver you into my hands. I will kill you and cut off your head; and I will give j-the carcasses-j of the Philistine camp to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth. All the earth shall know that there is a God ink Israel. 47And this whole assembly shall know that the LORD can give victory without sword or spear. For the battle is the LORD’s, and He will deliver you into our hands.”
48When the Philistine began to advance toward him again, David quickly ran up to the battle line to face the Philistine. 49David put his hand into the bag; he took out a stone and slung it. It struck the Philistine in the forehead; the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. 50Thus David bested the Philistine with sling and stone; he struck him down and killed him. David had no sword; 51so David ran up and stood over the Philistine, grasped his sword and pulled it from its sheath; and with it he dispatched him and cut off his head.
When the Philistines saw that their warrior was dead, they ran. 52The men of Israel and Judah rose up with a war cry and they pursued the Philistines all the way to Gail and up to the gates of Ekron; the Philistines fell mortally wounded along the road to Shaarim up to Gath and Ekron. 53Then the Israelites returned from chasing the Philistines and looted their camp.
54David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem;m and he put his weapons in his own tent.
55When Saul saw David going out to assault the Philistine, he asked his army commander Abner, “Whose son is that boy, Abner?” And Abner replied, “By your life, Your Majesty, I do not know.” 56“Then find out whose son that young fellow is,” the king ordered. 57So when David returned after killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him to Saul, with the head of the Philistine still in his hand. 58Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, my boy?” And David answered, “The son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”
18 When [David] finished speaking with Saul, Jonathan’s soul became bound up with the soul of David; Jonathan loved David as himself. 2Saul took him [into his service] that day and would not let him return to his father’s house.—3Jonathan and David made a pact, because [Jonathan] loved him as himself. 4Jonathan took off the cloak and tunic he was wearing and gave them to David, together with his sword, bow, and belt. 5David went out [with the troops], and he was successful in every mission on which Saul sent him, and Saul put him in command of all the soldiers; this pleased all the troops and Saul’s courtiers as well. 6When the [troops] came home [and] David returned from killing the Philistine, a-the women of all the towns of Israel came out singing and dancing to greet King Saul-a with timbrels, shouting, and sistrums.b 7The women sang as they danced, and they chanted:
Saul has slain his thousands;
David, his tens of thousands!
8Saul was much distressed and greatly vexed about the matter. For he said, “To David they have given tens of thousands, and to me they have given thousands. All that he lacks is the kingship!” 9From that day on Saul kept a jealous eye on David. 10The next day an evil spirit of God gripped Saul and he began to rave in the house, while David was playing [the lyre], as he did daily. Saul had a spear in his hand, 11and Saul threwc the spear, thinking to pin David to the wall. But David eluded him twice. 12Saul was afraid of David, for the LORD was with him and had turned away from Saul. 13So Saul removed him from his presence and appointed him chief of a thousand, d-to march at the head of the troops.-d 14 David was successful in all his undertakings, for the LORD was with him; 15and when Saul saw that he was successful, he dreaded him. 16All Israel and Judah loved David, for he marched at their head.
17Saul said to David, “Here is my older daughter, Merab; I will give her to you in marriage; in return, you be my warrior and fight the battles of the LORD.” Saul thought: “Let not my hand strike him; let the hand of the Philistines strike him.” 18David replied to Saul, “Who am I and e-what is my life-e—my father’s family in Israel—that I should become Your Majesty’s son-in-law?” 19But at the time that Merab, daughter of Saul, should have been given to David, she was given in marriage to Adriel the Meholathite. 20Now Michal daughter of Saul had fallen in love with David; and when this was reported to Saul, he was pleased.
21Saul thought: “I will give her to him, and she can serve as a snare for him, so that the Philistines may kill him.” So Saul said to David, b-“You can become my son-in-law even now through the second one.”-b 22And Saul instructed his courtiers to say to David privately, “The king is fond of you and all his courtiers like you. So why not become the king’s son-in-law?” 23When the king’s courtiers repeated these words to David, David replied, “Do you think that becoming the son-in-law of a king is a small matter, when I am but a poor man of no consequence?”
24Saul’s courtiers reported to him, “This is what David answered.” 25And Saul said, “Say this to David: ‘The king desires no other bride-price than the foreskins of a hundred Philistines, as vengeance on the king’s enemies.”’—Saul intended to bring about David’s death at the hands of the Philistines.— 26When his courtiers told this to David, David was pleased with the idea of becoming the king’s son-in-law. b-Before the time had expired,-b 27David went out with his men and killed two hundredf Philistines; David brought their foreskins and b-they were counted out-b for the king, that he might become the king’s son-in-law. Saul then gave him his daughter Michal in marriage. 28When Saul realized that the LORD was with David g-and that Michal daughter of Saul loved him,-g 29Saul grew still more afraid of David; and Saul was David’s enemy ever after.
30The Philistine chiefs marched out [to battle]; and every time they marched out, David was more successful than all the other officers of Saul. His reputation soared.
19 Saul urged his son Jonathan and all his courtiers to kill David. But Saul’s son Jonathan was very fond of David, 2and Jonathan told David, “My father Saul is bent on killing you. Be on your guard tomorrow morning; get to a secret place and remain in hiding. 3I will go out and stand next to my father in the field where you will be, and I will speak to my father about you. If I learn anything, I will tell you.” 4So Jonathan
