³⁹ Then David strapped on his sword over his fighting attire, but he tried in vain to walk around, for he was not trained to use them. So David said to Saul, “I am not able to walk with these, because I am not trained to use them.” So David removed them. ⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand, picked out for himself five smooth stones from the wadi,^[a] and he put them in his shepherd’s bag, in the pouch. And with his sling in his hand, he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ Then the Philistine came on, getting nearer and nearer^[b] to David, with his shield bearer^[c] in front of him.