36. I have killed lions and bears, and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them because he has challenged the army of the living God.”
37. David added, “The Lord, who saved me from the lion and the bear, will save me from this Philistine.”“Go,” Saul told David, “and may the Lord be with you.”
38. Saul put his battle tunic on David; he put a bronze helmet on David’s head and dressed him in armor.
39. David fastened Saul’s sword over his clothes and tried to walk, but he had never practiced doing this. “I can’t walk in these things,” David told Saul. “I’ve never had any practice doing this.” So David took all those things off.
40. He took his stick with him, picked out five smooth stones from the riverbed, and put them in his shepherd’s bag. With a sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.
41. The Philistine, preceded by the man carrying his shield, was coming closer and closer to David.
42. When the Philistine got a good look at David, he despised him. After all, David was a young man with a healthy complexion and good looks.
43. The Philistine asked David, “Am I a dog that you come to ⌊attack⌋ me with sticks?” So the Philistine called on his gods to curse David.
44. “Come on,” the Philistine told David, “and I’ll give your body to the birds.”
45. David told the Philistine, “You come to me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Armies, the God of the army of Israel, whom you have insulted.
46. Today the Lord will hand you over to me. I will strike you down and cut off your head. And this day I will give the dead bodies of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals. The whole world will know that Israel has a God.
47. Then everyone gathered here will know that the Lord can save without sword or spear, because the Lord determines every battle’s outcome. He will hand all of you over to us.”
48. When the Philistine moved closer in order to attack, David quickly ran toward the opposing battle line to attack the Philistine.