1 Samuel 17:11   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

On hearing the Philistine's words, Saul and all the Israelites were dismayed and terrified.

1 Samuel 17:12   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

Now David was the son of an Ephrathite named Jesse, who was from Bethlehem in Judah. Jesse had eight sons, and in Saul's time he was very old.

1 Samuel 17:13   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

Jesse's three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab; the second, Abinadab; and the third, Shammah.

1 Samuel 17:14   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,

1 Samuel 17:15   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

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

1 Samuel 17:19   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

They are with Saul and all the men of Israel in the Valley of Elah, fighting against the Philistines."

1 Samuel 17:31   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

What David said was overheard and reported to Saul, and Saul sent for him.

1 Samuel 17:32   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him."

1 Samuel 17:33   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a young man, and he has been a warrior from his youth."

1 Samuel 17:34   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,

1 Samuel 17:37   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

The Lord who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the Lord be with you."

1 Samuel 17:38   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head.

1 Samuel 17:39   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them. "I cannot go in these," he said to Saul, "because I am not used to them." So he took them off.

1 Samuel 17:55   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

As Saul watched David going out to meet the Philistine, he said to Abner, commander of the army, "Abner, whose son is that young man?" Abner replied, "As surely as you live, Your Majesty, I don't know."

1 Samuel 17:57   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine's head.

1 Samuel 17:58   (Read all of 1 Samuel 17)

"Whose son are you, young man?" Saul asked him. David said, "I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem."

1 Samuel 18:1   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

After David had finished talking with Saul, Jonathan became one in spirit with David, and he loved him as himself.

1 Samuel 18:2   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

From that day Saul kept David with him and did not let him return home to his family.

1 Samuel 18:5   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

Whatever mission Saul sent him on, David was so successful that Saul gave him a high rank in the army. This pleased all the troops, and Saul's officers as well.

1 Samuel 18:6   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with timbrels and lyres.

1 Samuel 18:7   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands."

1 Samuel 18:8   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

Saul was very angry; this refrain displeased him greatly. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?"

1 Samuel 18:9   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

And from that time on Saul kept a close eye on David.

1 Samuel 18:10   (Read all of 1 Samuel 18)

The next day an evil spirit from God came forcefully on Saul. He was prophesying in his house, while David was playing the lyre, as he usually did. Saul had a spear in his hand