1 Samuel 16

And the Lord said unto Samuel, ^aHow long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing ^bI have rejected him from reigning over Israel? ^cfill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for ^dI have provided me a king among his sons. ²And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, ^eI am come to sacrifice to the Lord. ³And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^fI will shew thee what thou shalt do: and ^gthou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee. ⁴And Samuel did that which the Lord spake, and came to Beth-lehem. And the elders of the town ^htrembled at his coming, and said, ⁱComest thou peaceably? ⁵And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the Lord: ^ksanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. ⁶And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and ^lsaid, Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him. ⁷But the Lord said unto Samuel, Look not on ^mhis countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the ⁿheart. ⁸Then Jesse called ^oAbinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ⁹Then Jesse made ^oShammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the Lord chosen this. ¹⁰Again, Jesse made ^pseven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not chosen these. ¹¹And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all thy children? And he said, ^pThere remaineth yet the youngest, and behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, ^qSend and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither. ¹²And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ^rruddy, and withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And ^sthe Lord said, Arise, anoint him: for this is he. ¹³Then Samuel took ^tthe horn of oil, and ^uanointed him in the midst of his brethren; and ^xthe spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to ^yRamah.

¹⁴But ^zthe spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^aan evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. ¹⁶Let our lord now command thy servants which are ^bbefore thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on a harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall ^cplay with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. ¹⁸Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and ^da mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and ^ethe Lord is with him. ¹⁹Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, ^fwhich is with the sheep. ²⁰And Jesse ^gtook an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. ²¹And David came to Saul, and ^hstood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. ²²And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight. ²³And it came to pass, when ⁱthe evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was ^krefreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

XVII.