28. David's oldest brother Eliab heard him speaking with the men. So he burned with anger at him. He asked him, "Why have you come down here? Who did you leave those few sheep in the desert with? I know how proud you are. I know how evil your heart is. The only reason you came down here was to watch the battle."
29. "What have I done now?" said David. "Can't I even speak?"
30. Then he turned away to speak to some other men. He asked them the same question he had asked before. And they gave him the same answer.
31. Someone heard what David said and reported it to Saul. So Saul sent for him.
32. David said to Saul, "Don't let anyone lose hope because of that Philistine. I'll go out and fight him."
33. Saul replied, "You aren't able to go out there and fight that Philistine. You are too young. He's been a fighting man ever since he was a boy."
34. But David said to Saul, "I've been taking care of my father's sheep. Sometimes a lion or a bear would come and carry off a sheep from the flock.
35. Then I would go after it and hit it. I would save the sheep it was carrying in its mouth. If it turned around to attack me, I would grab hold of its hair. I would strike it down and kill it.
36. In fact, I've killed both a lion and a bear. I'll do the same thing to this Philistine. He isn't even circumcised. He has dared the armies of the living God to fight him.
37. "The Lord saved me from the paw of the lion. He saved me from the paw of the bear. And he'll save me from the powerful hand of this Philistine too." Saul said to David, "Go. And may the Lord be with you."
38. Then Saul dressed David in his own military clothes. He put a coat of armor on him. He put a bronze helmet on his head.
39. David put on Saul's sword over his clothes. He walked around for a while in all of that armor because he wasn't used to it. "I can't go out there in all of this armor," he said to Saul. "I'm not used to it." So he took it off.
40. Then David picked up his wooden staff. He went down to a stream and chose five smooth stones. He put them in the pocket of his shepherd's bag. Then he took his sling in his hand and approached Goliath.
41. At that same time, the Philistine kept coming closer to David. The man who was carrying Goliath's shield walked along in front of him.