CAN you see what has happened? The boy has saved this little lamb from the bear. The bear came and carried off the lamb and was going to eat it. But the boy ran after them, and saved the lamb from the bear’s mouth. And when the bear rose up, the boy grabbed the bear and struck it down dead! At another time he saved one of the sheep from a lion. Isn’t he a brave boy? Do you know who he is?

This is young David. He lives in the town of Bethʹle·hem. His grandfather was Oʹbed, the son of Ruth and Boʹaz. Do you remember them? And David’s father is Jesʹse. David takes care of his father’s sheep. David was born 10 years after Jehovah chose Saul to be king.

The time comes when Jehovah says to Samuel: ‘Take some special oil and go to the house of Jesʹse in Bethʹle·hem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king.’ When Samuel sees Jesʹse’s oldest son E·liʹab, he says to himself: ‘This is surely the one that Jehovah has chosen.’ But Jehovah tells him: ‘Do not look at how tall and handsome he is. I have not chosen him to be king.’

So Jesʹse calls his son A·binʹa·dab and brings him to Samuel. But Samuel says: ‘No, Jehovah hasn’t chosen him either.’ Next, Jesʹse brings his son Shamʹmah. ‘No, Jehovah hasn’t chosen him either,’ Samuel says. Jesʹse brings seven of his sons to Samuel, but Jehovah doesn’t choose any of them. ‘Are these all the boys?’ Samuel asks.

‘There is still the youngest,’ Jesʹse says. ‘But he is out taking care of the sheep.’ When David is brought in, Samuel can see that he is a good-looking boy. ‘This is the one,’ Jehovah says. ‘Pour the oil on him.’ And this is what Samuel does. The time will come when David will become king of Israel.

THE Phi·lisʹtines again come to fight against Israel. David’s three oldest brothers are now in Saul’s army. So one day Jesʹse tells David: ‘Take some grain and loaves of bread to your brothers. Find out how they are getting along.’

When David arrives at the army camp, he runs to the battle line to look for his brothers. The Phi·lisʹtine giant Go·liʹath comes out to make fun of the Israelites. He has been doing this every morning and evening for 40 days. He yells: ‘Choose one of your men to fight me. If he wins and kills me, we will be your slaves. But if I win and kill him, you will be our slaves. I dare you to pick someone to fight me.’

David asks some of the soldiers: ‘What will the man get who kills this Phi·lisʹtine and frees Israel from this shame?’

‘Saul will give the man many riches,’ the soldier says. ‘And he will give him his own daughter to be his wife.’

But all the Israelites are afraid of Go·liʹath because he is so big. He is more than 9 feet (about 3 meters) tall, and he has another soldier carrying his shield for him.

Some soldiers go and tell King Saul that David wants to fight Go·liʹath. But Saul tells David: ‘You can’t fight this Phi·lisʹtine. You are just a boy, and he has been a soldier all his life.’ David answers: ‘I killed a bear and a lion that carried off my father’s sheep. And this Phi·lisʹtine will become like one of them. Jehovah will help me.’ So Saul says: ‘Go, and may Jehovah be with you.’

David goes down by a stream and gets five smooth stones, and puts them into his bag. Then he takes his sling and goes out to meet the giant. When Go·liʹath sees him, he can’t believe it. He thinks it will be so easy to kill David.

‘Just come to me,’ Go·liʹath says, ‘and I will give your body to the birds and animals to eat.’ But David says: ‘You come to me with a sword, a spear and a javelin, but I am coming to you with the name of Jehovah. This day Jehovah will give you into my hands and I will strike you down.’

At that David runs toward Go·liʹath. He takes a stone from his bag, puts it into his sling, and throws it with all his might. The stone flies straight into Go·liʹath’s head, and he falls down dead! When the Phi·lisʹtines see that their champion has fallen, they all turn and run. The Israelites run after them and win the battle.

AFTER David kills Go·liʹath, Israel’s army chief Abʹner brings him to Saul. Saul is very pleased with David. He makes him a chief in his army and takes him to live at the king’s house.

Later, when the army returns from fighting the Phi·lisʹtines, the women sing: ‘Saul has killed thousands, but David tens of thousands.’ This makes Saul jealous, because David is given more honor than Saul is. But Saul’s son Jonʹa·than is not jealous. He loves David very much, and David loves Jonʹa·than too. So the two make a promise to each other that they will always be friends.

David is a very good player of the harp, and Saul likes the music that he plays. But one day Saul’s jealousy causes him to do a terrible thing. While David is playing the harp, Saul takes his spear and throws it, saying: ‘I will pin David to the wall!’ But David dodges, and the spear misses. Later Saul misses David again with his spear. So David knows now that he must be very careful.

Do you remember the promise that Saul made? He said that he would give his daughter to be the wife of the man who killed Go·liʹath. Saul at last tells David that he can have his daughter Miʹchal, but first he must kill 100 of the enemy Phi·lisʹtines. Think of that! Saul really hopes that the Phi·lisʹtines will kill David. But they don’t, and so Saul gives his daughter to be David’s wife.

One day Saul tells Jonʹa·than and all his servants that he wants to kill David. But Jonʹa·than says to his father: ‘Don’t hurt David. He has never done anything wrong to you. Rather, everything he has done has been a great help to you. He risked his life when he killed Go·liʹath, and when you saw it, you were glad.’

Saul listens to his son, and he promises not to hurt David. David is brought back, and he serves Saul in his house again just as he did before. One day, however, while David is playing music, Saul again throws his spear at David. David dodges, and the spear hits the wall. This is the third time! David knows now that he must run away!

That night David goes to his own house. But Saul sends some men to kill him. Miʹchal knows what her father plans to do. So she tells her husband: ‘If you don’t get away tonight, tomorrow you will be dead.’ That night Miʹchal helps David to escape through a window. For about seven years David must hide in one place after another so that Saul cannot find him.

DO YOU know the pretty woman who is coming to meet David? Her name is Abʹi·gail. She has good sense, and she keeps David from doing a bad thing. But before learning about that, let’s see what has been happening to David.

After David runs away from Saul, he hides in a cave. His brothers and the rest of his family join him there. About 400 men in all come to him, and David becomes their leader. David then goes to the king of Moʹab and says: ‘Please let my father and mother stay with you until I see what happens to me.’ Later David and his men begin hiding in the hills.

It is after this that David meets Abʹi·gail. Her husband Naʹbal is a rich landowner. He has 3,000 sheep and 1,000 goats. Naʹbal is a mean man. But his wife Abʹi·gail is very beautiful. Also, she knows how to do what is right. Once she even saves her family. Let’s see how.

David and his men have been kind to Naʹbal. They have helped to protect his sheep. So one day David sends some of his men to ask Naʹbal for a favor. David’s men come to Naʹbal while he and his helpers are cutting the wool off the sheep. It is a feast day, and Naʹbal has many good things to eat. So this is what David’s men say: ‘We have been kind to you. We have not stolen any of your sheep, but have helped to look after them. Now, please, give us some food.’

‘I won’t give my food to men like you,’ Naʹbal says. He speaks in a very mean way, and says bad things about David. When the men return and tell David about it, David is very angry. ‘Put on your swords!’ he tells his men. And they start on their way to kill Naʹbal and his men.

One of Naʹbal’s men, who heard the mean words that Naʹbal spoke, tells Abʹi·gail what happened. Right away Abʹi·gail gets some food ready. She loads it on some donkeys and starts on her way. When she meets David, she gets off her donkey, bows down and says: ‘Please, sir, pay no attention to my husband Naʹbal. He is a fool, and he does foolish things. Here is a gift. Please take it, and forgive us for what happened.’

‘You are a wise woman,’ David answers. ‘You have kept me from killing Naʹbal to pay him back for his meanness. Go home now in peace.’ Later, when Naʹbal dies, Abʹi·gail becomes one of David’s wives.

SAUL again tries to capture David. He takes 3,000 of his best soldiers and goes looking for him. When David learns about this, he sends spies out to learn where Saul and his men have camped for the night. Then David asks two of his men: ‘Which of you will go to Saul’s camp with me?’

‘I will,’ A·bishʹai answers. A·bishʹai is the son of David’s sister Ze·ruʹiah. While Saul and his men are sleeping, David and A·bishʹai creep silently into the camp. They pick up Saul’s spear and his water jug, which is lying right beside Saul’s head. No one sees or hears them because they are all fast asleep.

See David and A·bishʹai now. They have gotten away, and are safely on top of a hill. David shouts down to Israel’s army chief: ‘Abʹner, why aren’t you protecting your master, the king? Look! Where are his spear and his water jug?’

Saul wakes up. He recognizes David’s voice, and asks: ‘Is that you, David?’ Can you see Saul and Abʹner down there?

‘Yes, my lord the king,’ David replies to Saul. And David asks: ‘Why are you trying to capture me? What bad thing have I done? Here is your spear, O king. Let one of your men come and get it.’

‘I have done wrong,’ Saul admits. ‘I have acted foolishly.’ At that David goes his way, and Saul returns home. But David says to himself: ‘One of these days Saul will kill me. I should escape to the land of the Phi·lisʹtines.’ And that is what he does. David is able to fool the Phi·lisʹtines and make them believe that he is now on their side.

Some time later the Phi·lisʹtines go up to fight against Israel. In the battle, both Saul and Jonʹa·than are killed. This makes David very sad, and he writes a beautiful song, in which he sings: ‘I feel sad for you, my brother Jonʹa·than. How dear you were to me!’

After this David returns to Israel to the city of Heʹbron. There is a war between the men who choose Saul’s son Ish-boʹsheth to be king and the other men who want David to be king. But finally David’s men win. David is 30 years old when he is made king. For seven and a half years he rules in Heʹbron. Some of the sons born to him there are named Amʹnon, Abʹsa·lom and Ad·o·niʹjah.

The time comes when David and his men go up to capture a beautiful city called Jerusalem. Joʹab, another son of David’s sister Ze·ruʹiah, takes the lead in the fight. So David rewards Joʹab by making him the chief of his army. Now David begins ruling in the city of Jerusalem.

AFTER David begins ruling in Jerusalem, Jehovah gives his army many victories over their enemies. Jehovah had promised to give the land of Caʹnaan to the Israelites. And now, with Jehovah’s help, all the land that was promised to them finally becomes theirs.

David is a good ruler. He loves Jehovah. So one of the first things that he does after capturing Jerusalem is to bring Jehovah’s ark of the covenant there. And he wants to build a temple in which to put it.

When David grows older, he makes a bad mistake. David knows that it is wrong to take something that belongs to someone else. But one evening, when he is on the roof of his palace, he looks down and sees a very beautiful woman. Her name is Bath-sheʹba, and her husband is one of his soldiers named U·riʹah.

David wants Bath-sheʹba so much that he has her brought to his palace. Her husband is away fighting. Well, David makes love to her and later she finds she is going to have a baby. David is very worried and sends word to his army chief Joʹab to have U·riʹah put in the front of the battle where he will be killed. When U·riʹah is dead, David marries Bath-sheʹba.

Jehovah is very angry with David. So he sends his servant Nathan to tell him about his sins. You can see Nathan there talking to David. David is very sorry for what he has done, and so Jehovah does not put him to death. But Jehovah says: ‘Because you have done these bad things, you will have a lot of trouble in your house.’ And what trouble David has!

First, Bath-sheʹba’s son dies. Then David’s firstborn son Amʹnon gets his sister Taʹmar alone and forces his love on her. David’s son Abʹsa·lom is so angry about this that he kills Amʹnon. Later, Abʹsa·lom wins the favor of many of the people, and he has himself made king. Finally, David wins the war against Abʹsa·lom, who is killed. Yes, David has a lot of trouble.

In between all of this, Bath-sheʹba gives birth to a son named Solomon. When David is old and sick, his son Ad·o·niʹjah tries to make himself king. At that David has a priest named Zaʹdok pour oil on Solomon’s head to show that Solomon will be king. Soon afterward David dies at 70 years of age. He ruled for 40 years, but now Solomon is the king of Israel.