1 Kingdoms 16

¹ And the Lord said to Samuel, How long dost thou mourn for Saul, whereas I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil, and come, I will send thee to Jesse, to Bethlehem; for I have seen among his sons a king for me. ² And Samuel said, How can I go? whereas Saul will hear of it, and slay me: and the Lord said, Take a heifer in thy hand and thou shalt say, I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. ³ And thou shalt call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will make known to thee what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall mention to thee.

⁴ And Samuel did all that the Lord told him; and he came to Bethlehem: and the elders of the city were amazed at meeting him, and said, ^[1]Dost thou come peaceably, thou Seer? ⁵ And he said, ^[2]Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and rejoice with me this day: and he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and he called them to the sacrifice. ⁶ And it came to pass when they came in, that he saw Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, Look not on his ^[3]appearance, nor on his stature, for I have rejected him; for God ^[4]seeth not as a man looketh; for man looketh at the outward appearance, but God looketh at the heart. ⁸ And Jesse called Aminadab, and he passed before Samuel: and he said, Neither hath God chosen this one. ⁹ And Jesse caused Sama to pass by: and he said, Neither hath God chosen ^[5]this one. ¹⁰ And Jesse caused his seven sons to pass before Samuel: and Samuel said, The Lord hath not chosen these.

¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, ^[6]Hast thou no more sons? And Jesse said, There is yet ^[7]a little one; behold, he tendeth the flock. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and fetch him, for we may not sit down till he cometh. ¹² And he sent and fetched him: and he was ruddy, with beauty of eyes, and ^[8]very goodly to behold. And the Lord said to Samuel, Arise, and anoint David, for he is good. ¹³ And Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the Lord ^[9]came upon David from that day forward: and Samuel arose, and departed to Armathaim.

¹⁴ And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord ^[10]tormented him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said to him, Behold now, an evil spirit from the Lord tormenteth thee. ¹⁶ Let now thy servants speak before thee, and let them seek for our lord a man skilled to play on the harp; and it shall come to pass when an evil spirit cometh upon thee and he shall play on his harp, that thou shalt be well, and he shall refresh thee. ¹⁷ And Saul said to his servants, Look now out for me a ^[11]skilful player, and bring him to me. ¹⁸ And one of his servants answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethleemite, and ^[12]he understandeth playing on the harp, and the man is prudent, and a warrior, and wise in speech, and the man is handsome, and the Lord is with him. ¹⁹ And Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying, Send to me thy son David who is with thy flock. ²⁰ And Jesse took a homer of bread, and a bottle of wine, and one kid of the goats, and sent them by the hand of his son David to Saul.

²¹ And David went in to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly; and he became his armour-bearer. ²² And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he hath found grace in mine eyes. ²³ And it came to pass when the evil spirit was upon Saul, that David took his harp, and played with his hand: and Saul was refreshed, and it was well with him, and the evil spirit departed from him.

Notes

16:4 Dost thou come peaceably: Gr. is thy coming in peace ↩
16:5 Peaceably: Gr. peace ↩
16:7 his appearance: or, his face ↩
16:7 seeth not: Gr. will not see ↩
16:9 this one: Gr. in this one ↩
16:11 Hast thou no more sons: Gr. Are thy sons come to an end? ↩
16:11 a little one: or, the youngest ↩
16:12 very goodly to behold: Gr. goodly in the sight of the Lord ↩
16:13 came upon: Gr. leapt upon ↩
16:14 tormented him: Gr. choked him ↩
16:17 skilful player: Gr. man playing skilfully ↩
16:18 he understandeth: Gr. him understanding ↩