⁴⁰Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, hwith his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴²And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, iruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ja dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh kto the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with la javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ewhom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. mAnd I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day nto the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, othat all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷and that all this assembly may know that pthe Lord saves not with sword and spear. qFor the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹Then David ran and stood over the Philistine rand took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, sthey fled. ⁵²And the men of Israel and Judah rose with a shout and pursued the Philistines as far as Gath6 and the gates of tEkron, so that the wounded Philistines fell on the way from uShaaraim as far as vGath and Ekron. ⁵³And the people of Israel came back from chasing the Philistines, and they plundered their camp. ⁵⁴And David took wthe head of the Philistine xand brought it to Jerusalem, but he put his armor in his tent.

⁵⁵As soon as Saul saw David go out against the Philistine, he said to Abner, ythe commander of the army, “Abner, zwhose son is this youth?” And Abner said, a“As your soul lives, O king, I do not know.” ⁵⁶And the king said, “Inquire whose son the boy is.” ⁵⁷And as soon as David returned from the striking down of the Philistine, Abner took him, and brought him before Saul bwith the head of the Philistine in his hand. ⁵⁸And Saul said to him, “Whose son are you, young man?” And David answered, c“I am the son of your servant Jesse the Bethlehemite.”

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