1 Samuel 17:32-50

32David said to Saul, “1Let no man’s heart fail on account of him; 2your servant will go and fight with this Philistine.” 33Then Saul said to David, “3You are not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him; for you are but a youth while he has been a warrior from his youth.” 34But David said to Saul, “Your servant was tending his father’s sheep. When a lion or a bear came and took a lamb from the flock, 35I went out after him and 4attacked him, and 5rescued it from his mouth; and when he rose up against me, I seized him by his beard and 6struck him and killed him. 36Your servant has 7killed both the lion and the bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, since he has taunted the armies of the living God.” 37And David said, “8The Lord 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, “9Go, and may the Lord be with you.” 38Then Saul clothed David with his garments and put a bronze helmet on his head, and he clothed him with armor. 39David girded his sword over his armor and tried to walk, for he had not tested them. So David said to Saul, “I cannot go with these, for I have not tested them.” And David took them 10off. 40He took his stick in his hand and chose for himself five smooth stones from the brook, and put them in the shepherd’s bag which he had, even in his pouch, and 11his sling was in his hand; and he approached the Philistine.

41Then the Philistine came on and approached David, with the shield-bearer in front of him. 42When the Philistine looked and saw David, 12he disdained him; for he was but a youth, and 13ruddy, with a handsome appearance. 43The Philistine said to David, “14Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And 15the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44The Philistine also said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh 16to the birds of the sky and the beasts of the field.” 45Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, a spear, and a javelin, 17but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have taunted. 46This day the Lord will deliver you up into my hands, and I will strike you down and remove your head from you. And I will give the 18dead bodies of the army of the Philistines this day to the birds of the sky and the wild beasts of the earth, 19that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, 47and that all this assembly may know that 20the Lord does not deliver by sword or by spear; 21for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands.”

48Then it happened when the Philistine rose and came and drew near to meet David, that 22David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. 49And David put his hand into his bag and took from it a stone and slung it, and struck the Philistine on his forehead. And the stone sank into his forehead, so that he fell on his face to the ground.

50Thus David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and he struck the Philistine and killed him; but there was no sword in David’s hand.