And Jehovah said to Samuel, How long will you mourn for Saul, though I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and  ¹go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have  ²selected for Myself a king among his sons.

And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me. And Jehovah said, Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to Jehovah.

Then call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make known to you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for Me the one whom I name to you.

So Samuel did what Jehovah said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him, and they said, Do you come peaceably?

And he said, Peaceably. I have come to sacrifice to Jehovah. Sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.

And when they came, he saw Eliab and said, Surely Jehovah's anointed is now before Him.

But Jehovah said to Samuel, Do not regard his appearance and the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For it is not how man sees that matters; for man looks on the outward appearance, but Jehovah looks on the heart.

Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel; and  ¹Samuel said, Jehovah has not chosen this one either.

And Jesse had Shammah pass by; and he said, Jehovah has not chosen this one either.

And Jesse had  ¹seven of his sons pass before Samuel; and Samuel said to Jesse, Jehovah has not chosen these.

Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are these all the young men you have? And he said, There is still the  ¹youngest, but he is now tending the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send for him, and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.

So he sent for him and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And Jehovah said, Arise; anoint him, for this is he.

And Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers, and the Spirit of Jehovah  ¹rushed upon  ²David from that day forward. Then Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

And the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah terrorized him.

And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

Let our lord speak. Your servants are before you; they will seek out a man who is skilled in playing the lyre. And when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it by hand, and you will be well.

And Saul said to his servants, Select for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.

And one of the attendants answered and said, I have just seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing and a mighty man of valor and a man of war and prudent in speech and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him.

So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me  ¹David your son, who is among the sheep.

And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul.

And David came to Saul and  ¹entered his service. And  ²Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.

And Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, Let David enter my service, for he has found favor in my sight.

So whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took his lyre and played it by hand, and Saul was refreshed and was well; and the evil spirit departed from him.

And the Philistines assembled their armies for battle, and they assembled in Socoh, which belongs to Judah. And they encamped between Socoh and Azekah in Ephes-dammim.

And Saul and the men of Israel were assembled, and they encamped in the valley of Elah. And they set the battle in array against the Philistines.

And the Philistines stood on one mountain on one side, and Israel stood on another mountain on the other side; and the valley was between them.

And a champion came forth from the camps of the Philistines. His name was Goliath, from Gath, and he was six cubits and a span tall.

And there was a bronze helmet upon his head; and he was clothed with scaled armor, and the weight of the armor was five thousand bronze shekels.

And he had bronze greaves upon his legs and a bronze javelin slung between his shoulders.

And the shaft of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and the head of his spear weighed six hundred iron shekels; and his shield bearer went before him.

And he stood and called out to the ranks of Israel and said to them, Why do you come out to set the battle in array? Am I not a Philistine, and you, Saul's servants? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me.

If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will be your servants; but if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will be our servants and serve us.

And the Philistine said, I defy the ranks of Israel this day. Give me a man, and let us fight together.

Now when Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Now David was the son of that Ephrathite from Bethlehem-judah, named Jesse, who had eight sons. And the man was an old man in the days of Saul, advanced in years among men.

And the three oldest sons of Jesse had gone after Saul to the battle. And the names of his three sons who had gone into the battle were Eliab the firstborn and the second to him Abinadab and the third Shammah;

And David was the youngest. And the three oldest went after Saul,

But David went back and forth from Saul to tend his father's sheep at Bethlehem.

And the Philistine approached morning and evening, and he presented himself forty days.

And Jesse said to David his son, Take an ephah of this parched grain for your brothers and these ten loaves, and take them quickly to your brothers' camp.

Also bring these ten cheeses to the captain of their thousand; and see how your brothers are doing, and take some token from them.

Now Saul and they and all the men of Israel were in the valley of Elah, fighting with the Philistines.

And David rose early in the morning and left the sheep with a keeper. And he took up the goods and went, as Jesse had commanded him. And he came to the entrenchment as the army was going forth to the battle line and shouting for the battle.

And Israel and the Philistines set the battle in array, array against array.

And David left the things he had in the hand of the keeper of the equipment, and he ran to the array and went and greeted his brothers.

And just as he was speaking with them, the champion, whose name was Goliath, the Philistine from Gath, came up out of the ranks of the Philistines, and he spoke according to the same words; and David heard.

And all the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from before him; and they were very afraid.

And the men of Israel said, Have you seen this man who has come up? Surely he comes up to defy Israel. But as for the man who strikes him down, the king will make him rich with great riches; and he will give him his daughter and make the house of his father  ¹free in Israel.

Then David spoke to the men who were standing with him, saying, What shall be done for the man who strikes down this Philistine and turns away reproach from Israel? For who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the ranks of the living God?

And the people spoke to him according to these words, saying, Thus shall it be done to the man who strikes him down.

And Eliab his oldest brother heard him speaking to the men; and Eliab's anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why have you come down? And with whom have you left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know your pride and the evil of your heart, that you came down to see the battle.

And David said, What have I done now? Is there no cause?

And he turned around from him to another and spoke according to the same words, and the people responded to him according to the first words.

And when the words that David spoke were heard, they were reported to Saul; and he had him brought.

And David said to Saul, Let no man's heart fail because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.

But Saul said to David, You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him, for you are but a youth and he has been a man of war since his youth.

And David said to Saul, Your servant has been tending his father's sheep; and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock,

I would go out after it and strike it and deliver the lamb from its mouth. And when it rose up against me, I would seize it by its beard and strike it and kill it.

Both the lion and the bear did your servant strike; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, for he has defied the ranks of the living God.

And David said, Jehovah, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go, and may Jehovah be with you.

And Saul put his own garment on David, and he placed a bronze helmet on his head and put his armor on him.

And David girded his sword over his garment and tried to go, for he had not tried the armor. Then David said to Saul, I cannot go in these because I have not tried them. And David took them off.

Then he took his staff in his hand, and he chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook and put them into the shepherd's bag that he had, that is, in his pouch; and his sling was in his hand. And he drew near to the Philistine.

And the Philistine came on and approached David, and the man who bore the shield was before him.

And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he scorned him; for he was but a youth and ruddy and handsome in appearance.

And the Philistine said to David, Am I a dog, that you come to me with staves? And the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

And the Philistine said to David, Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of heaven and to the beasts of the field.

Then David said to the Philistine, You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of Jehovah of hosts, the God of the ranks of Israel, whom you have defied.

On this day Jehovah will deliver you up into my hand, and I will strike you and remove your head from you. And I will give the corpses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of heaven and to the animals of the earth on this day. And all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel;

And all this congregation will know that it is not by sword or spear that Jehovah saves, for the battle is Jehovah's and He will deliver you into our hand.

And when the Philistine rose up and came and drew near to meet David, David hurried and ran toward the battle line to meet the Philistine.

And David put forth his hand into his bag and took a stone from there. And he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David's hand.

Then David ran and stood beside the Philistine, and he took  ¹the Philistine's sword and drew it out of its sheath and made certain he was dead by striking off his head with it. And when the Philistines saw that their mighty man was dead, they fled.

And the men of Israel and Judah rose up and shouted and pursued the Philistines until you come to Gai and to the gates of Ekron. And the Philistines lay slain along the way to Shaaraim as far as Gath and Ekron.

And the children of Israel returned from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camps.

And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

Now when Saul saw David going forth to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner the captain of the army, Whose son is this youth, Abner? And Abner said, As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.

And the king said, Inquire whose son this young man is.

So when David returned from striking down the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul; and the Philistine's head was in his hand.

And Saul said to him, Whose son are you, young man? And David said, The son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.

Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan became knit with the soul of David; and Jonathan loved him like his own soul.

And Saul took him that day and would not let him return to his father's house.

Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him like his own soul.

And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and he gave it to David, as well as his armor and even his sword and his bow and his belt.

And David went forth; on every mission that Saul sent him he acted prudently. Therefore Saul set him over the men of battle, and it was good in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul's servants.

But when the men came home, as David returned from striking the Philistines, the women came out of all the towns of Israel singing and dancing to meet Saul the king, with tambourines and joyful songs and stringed instruments.

And the women sang to one another as they played, and they said,
Saul has struck down his thousands;
But David, his ten thousands.

And Saul was very  ¹angry, for this saying displeased him. And he said, They ascribe ten thousands to David, but to me they ascribe only thousands. And what more can he have except the kingdom?

So Saul eyed David from that day on.

Then on the next day an evil spirit from God rushed upon Saul; and he prophesied in the midst of the house while David played the lyre by hand, as he had day by day. And the spear was in Saul's hand.

Then Saul threw the spear; for he said, I will strike David even to the wall. But David  ¹fled from him twice.

And Saul was afraid of David, for Jehovah was with him and had departed from Saul.

So Saul removed him from being with him and made him the captain of a thousand. And he went out and came in before the people.

And David acted prudently in all his campaigns, and Jehovah was with him.

And when Saul saw that he acted very prudently, he stood in awe of him.

And all Israel and Judah loved David, for he went out and came in before them.

And Saul said to David, See, my oldest daughter Merab I will give to you as wife; only be valiant for me and fight Jehovah's battles. For Saul said, Let not my hand be upon him, but let the hand of the Philistines be upon him.

And David said to Saul, Who am I, and what is my life or my father's family in Israel, that I should be a son-in-law to the king?

But at the time when Merab the daughter of Saul was to be given to David, she was given to Adriel the Meholathite as wife.

Now Michal the daughter of Saul loved David, and it was told Saul; and the matter pleased him.

And Saul said, I will give her to him that she may be a snare to him and that the hand of the Philistines may be upon him. Therefore Saul said to David, For the second time, you may be my son-in-law today.

Then Saul commanded his servants, Speak to David privately, saying, See, the king is pleased with you, and all his servants love you. So now become the king's son-in-law.

And Saul's servants spoke these words in David's ears. And David said, Is it such a light thing in your sight for me to become a son-in-law to the king, since I am a poor man and lightly esteemed?

And Saul's servants told him, saying, This is what David said.

Then Saul said, Thus shall you say to David, The king has no desire for a dowry but for a hundred Philistine foreskins, that he may be avenged of the king's enemies. For Saul planned to have David fall by the hand of the Philistines.

So when his servants told David these things, David was pleased to become the king's son-in-law. And when the time had not yet expired,

David rose up and went, he and his men; and he struck down two hundred Philistine men. And David brought their foreskins, and they gave them in full number to the king, that he might become the king's son-in-law. And Saul gave him Michal his daughter as wife.

And Saul saw and knew that Jehovah was with David. And Michal the daughter of Saul loved him.

And Saul was even more afraid of David, and Saul was David's enemy from then on.

Then the princes of the Philistines went forth; and as often as they went forth, David succeeded more than all the servants of Saul. So his name was very highly esteemed.