Jehovah took me from following the flock, and Jehovah said to me: 'Go prophesy to my people Israel.'

Say this to my servant David: 'This is what Jehovah of Hosts says: I took you from the pasture where you followed sheep so that you could be the leader of my people Israel.

He chose his servant David. He took him from the sheep pens.

David obeyed his father. He got up early the next morning and left someone else in charge of the sheep. He loaded the supplies and started off. He reached the army camp just as the soldiers were taking their places and shouting the battle cry.

Eliab, David's oldest brother, heard David talking to the men. Then Eliab became angry with David. Why did you come here, he asked him, and with whom did you leave those few sheep in the wilderness? I know how overconfident and headstrong you are. You came here just to see the battle.

The fig tree will not flourish. There will be no fruit on the vines. The labor of the olive will fail and the fields will yield no food! The flock will be cut off from the fold and there will be no herd in the stalls.

It will never be inhabited or lived in from generation to generation! Nor will the Arab pitch his tent there. Nor will shepherds take their flocks there.

They will devour your harvest and your food. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They will devour your flocks and your herds. They will devour your vines and your fig trees. They will demolish with the sword your fortified cities in which you trust.

Where there are no cattle the crib is clean. The crop is abundant because of the strength of the bull.