A melee weapon made of pure force springs into existence and attacks opponents at a distance, as the character directs it, dealing 1d8 damage per hit. The weapon takes the shape of a weapon favored by the character's deity or a weapon with some spiritual significance or symbolism to the character and has the same threat range and critical multipliers as a real weapon of its form. It strikes the opponent the character designates, starting with one attack the round the spell is cast and continuing each round thereafter. It uses the character's base attack bonus as its attack bonus (possibly allowing it multiple attacks per round in subsequent rounds). It strikes as a spell, not as a weapon, so, for example, it can strike incorporeal creatures. The weapon always strikes from the character's direction. It does not get a flanking bonus or help a combatant get one. The character's feats (such as Weapon Focus) or combat actions (such as charge) do not affect the weapon. If the weapon goes beyond the spell range, if it goes out of the character's sight, or if the character is not directing it, the weapon returns to the character and hovers.

Each round after the first, the character can use a standard action to switch the weapon to a new target. If the character does not, the weapon continues to attack the previous round’s target. On any round that the weapon switches targets, it gets one attack. Subsequent rounds of attacking that target allow the weapon to make multiple attacks if the character's base attack bonus would allow it to. The spiritual weapon cannot be attacked or damaged.

If an attacked creature has SR, the resistance is checked the first time the spiritual weapon strikes it. If the weapon is successfully resisted, the spell is dispelled. If not, the weapon has its normal full effect on that creature for the duration of the spell.