1 Samuel 17:32-50

32David said to King Saul, ‘We should not be afraid of this Philistine! I am your servant. I am ready to go and fight against him.’

33Saul replied, ‘You could not fight against this strong Philistine. You are only a boy! He has been a brave soldier since he was a young man.’

34But David said to Saul, ‘Sir, I have been a shepherd who takes care of his father's sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come to take a lamb from among the sheep.

35Then I would chase after the lion or the bear. I would knock it down and I would save the lamb from its mouth. If the wild animal turned to attack me, I would take hold of its neck. Then I would hit it and kill it.

36I have killed lions and bears like that. I will do the same to this unclean Philistine. He has insulted the army of our God, who lives for ever.

37The Lord has kept me safe from lions and bears. He will also save me from the power of this Philistine soldier.’ So Saul said to David, ‘Then do it! I pray that the Lord will help you.’

38Saul took his own clothes and armour and he put them on David. He put his bronze helmet on David's head.

39David tied Saul's sword on top of the armour. Then he tried to walk. But he had not worn heavy armour like that before. So David said to Saul, ‘I cannot wear all this armour to fight. I have not used armour before.’ So David took it all off.

40Instead, David picked up his shepherd's stick. He picked up five round stones from the stream. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd's bag. He held his sling in his hand. Then he walked towards the Philistine soldier.

41The Philistine slowly walked towards David. The man who was carrying his shield walked in front of him.

42As he came nearer, the Philistine looked carefully at David. He saw that David was no more than a healthy, handsome boy. That made him laugh at David.

43He said to David, ‘Do you think that I am just a dog? Can you knock me down with a little stick?’ Then he prayed to his gods that they would curse David.

44The Philistine said to David, ‘Come nearer to me. I will feed the birds and the wild animals with your dead body.’

45David said to him, ‘You have come to fight against me with a sword, a knife and a spear. But I come to fight against you with the authority of the Lord Almighty. He is the God who leads Israel's army, and you have insulted him!

46Today the Lord will make me strong to win against you. I will knock you down and I will cut off your head. Today I will feed the birds and the wild animals with the dead bodies of the Philistine soldiers. Then everyone on the earth will know that there is a God who takes care of Israel.

47The Lord does not need swords or spears to save his people. Everyone here will soon know that! The Lord is the one who fights our battles. He will put you under our power.’

48The Philistine soldier started to move nearer to David to attack him. David ran forward quickly to fight against him.

49David reached into his bag and he took out a stone. He put the stone into his sling and he threw it. The stone hit the Philistine man's head, above his eyes. It went in very deep. Goliath fell down with his face on the ground.

50In that way, David used a sling and a stone to win against the Philistine soldier. He knocked down the Philistine and he killed him. And David did not even hold a sword in his hand!