Study Desk

But the Lord told him, "Samuel, don't think Eliab is the one just because he's tall and handsome. He isn't the one I've chosen. People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts."

Jesse told his son Abinadab to go over to Samuel, but Samuel said, "No, the Lord hasn't chosen him."

If he can kill me, our people will be your slaves. But if I kill him, your people will be our slaves.

Saul and his men heard what Goliath said, but they were so frightened of Goliath that they couldn't do a thing.

But David told him: Your Majesty, I take care of my father's sheep. And when one of them is dragged off by a lion or a bear,

David strapped on a sword and tried to walk around, but he was not used to wearing those things. "I can't move with all this stuff on," David said. "I'm just not used to it." David took off the armor

David answered: You've come out to fight me with a sword and a spear and a dagger. But I've come out to fight you in the name of the Lord All-Powerful. He is the God of Israel's army, and you have insulted him too!

But the soldiers of Israel and Judah let out a battle cry and went after them as far as Gath and Ekron. The bodies of the Philistines were scattered all along the road from Shaaraim to Gath and Ekron.

David took Goliath's head to Jerusalem, but he kept Goliath's weapons in his own tent.

The next day the Lord let an evil spirit take control of Saul, and he began acting like a crazy man inside his house. David came to play the harp for Saul as usual, but this time Saul had a spear in his hand.

Saul thought, "I'll pin David to the wall." He threw the spear at David twice, but David dodged and got away both times.

But everyone else in Judah and Israel was loyal to David, because he led the army in battle.

One day, Saul told David, "If you'll be brave and fight the Lord 's battles for me, I'll let you marry my oldest daughter Merab." But Saul was really thinking, "I don't want to kill David myself, so I'll let the Philistines do it for me."

But when the time came for David to marry Saul's daughter Merab, Saul told her to marry Adriel from the town of Meholah.

and he thought, "I'll tell David he can marry Michal, but I'll set it up so that the Philistines will kill him." He told David, "I'm going to give you a second chance to marry one of my daughters."

But knowing those things made Saul even more afraid of David, and he was David's enemy for the rest of his life.

The Philistine rulers kept coming to fight Israel, but whenever David fought them, he won. He was famous because he won more battles against the Philistines than any of Saul's other officers.

One day, Saul told his son Jonathan and his officers to kill David. But Jonathan liked David a lot,

One night, David was in Saul's home, playing the harp for him. Saul was sitting there, holding a spear, when an evil spirit from the Lord took control of him. Saul tried to pin David to the wall with the spear, but David dodged, and it stuck in the wall. David ran out of the house and escaped.

The next morning, Saul sent guards to arrest David. But Michal told them, "David is sick."