<p class="bodytext">Then Samuel said to Saul, &#8220;Wait a minute!<n id="1" /> Let me tell you what the <sc>Lordsc> said to me last night.&#8221; Saul<n id="2" /> said to him, &#8220;Tell me.&#8221;

<p class="poetry">For rebellion is like the sin of divination,p> <p class="poetry">and presumption is like the evil of idolatry.p> <p class="poetry">Because you have rejected the word of the <sc>Lordsc>,p> <p class="poetry">he has rejected you as<n id="1" /> king.&#8221;p>

<p class="bodytext">Samuel said to Saul, &#8220;I will not go back with you, for you have rejected the word of the <sc>Lordsc>, and the <sc>Lordsc> has rejected you from being king over Israel!&#8221;p>

Samuel said to him, &#8220;The <sc>Lordsc> has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to one of your colleagues who is better than you!

<t /><p class="bodytext">Then Samuel said, &#8220;Bring me King Agag of the Amalekites.&#8221; So Agag came to him trembling,<n id="1" /> thinking to himself,<n id="2" /> &#8220;Surely death is bitter!&#8221;<n id="3" />

Samuel said, &#8220;Just as your sword left women childless, so your mother will be the most bereaved among women!&#8221; Then Samuel hacked Agag to pieces there in Gilgal before the <sc>Lordsc>.p>

<p class="bodytext">Samuel did what the <sc>Lordsc> told him.<n id="1" /> When he arrived in Bethlehem,<n id="2" /> the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They<n id="3" /> said, &#8220;Do you come in peace?&#8221;

<p class="bodytext">So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, &#8220;Send me your son David, who is out with the sheep.

<t /><n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">The Philistines gathered their troops<n id="2" /> for battle. They assembled at Socoh in Judah. They camped in Ephes Dammim, between Socoh and Azekah.

If he is able to fight with me and strike me down, we will become your servants. But if I prevail against him and strike him down, you will become our servants and will serve us.&#8221;

Then the Philistine said, &#8220;I defy Israel&#8217;s troops this day! Give me a man so we can fight<n id="1" /> each other!&#8221;

After David had entrusted his cargo to the care of the supply officer,<n id="1" /> he ran to the battlefront. When he arrived, he asked his brothers how they were doing.

<p class="bodytext">David replied to Saul, &#8220;Your servant has been a shepherd for his father&#8217;s flock. Whenever a lion or bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock,

Your servant has struck down both the lion and the bear. This uncircumcised Philistine will be just like one of them.<n id="1" /> For he has defied the armies of the living God!&#8221;

When the Philistine looked carefully at David, he despised him, for he was only a ruddy and handsome boy.

The Philistine said to David, &#8220;Am I a dog, that you are coming after me with sticks?&#8221;<n id="1" /> Then the Philistine cursed David by his gods.

The Philistine said to David, &#8220;Come here to me, so I can give your flesh to the birds of the sky and the wild animals of the field!&#8221;<n id="1" />p>

and all this assembly will know that it is not by sword or spear that the <sc>Lordsc> saves! For the battle is the <sc>Lordsc>&#8217;s, and he will deliver you into our hand.&#8221;p>

<n id="1" /><p class="bodytext">David prevailed over the Philistine with just the sling and the stone. He struck down the Philistine and killed him. David did not even have a sword in his hand.<n id="2" />

Jonathan took off the robe he was wearing and gave it to David, along with the rest of his gear, including his sword, his bow, and even his belt.p>