1 Samuel 16:17–23
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, pa man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, qand the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, rwho is with the sheep.” 20 sAnd Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul tand entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And uwhenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre oand played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — The New International Version (NIV)
17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is a brave man and a warrior. He speaks well and is a fine-looking man. And the Lord is with him.”
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked him very much, and David became one of his armor-bearers. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Allow David to remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.”
23 Whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take up his lyre and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — King James Version (KJV 1900)
17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the Lord is with him. 19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which is with the sheep. 20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. 21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight. 23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — New Living Translation (NLT)
17 “All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”
18 One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” 20 Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.
21 So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.
22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”
23 And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — The New King James Version (NKJV)
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
18 Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and the Lord is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 So David came to Saul and stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — New Century Version (NCV)
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Find someone who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants said, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem play the harp. He is brave and courageous. He is a good speaker and handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse, saying, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse loaded a donkey with bread, a leather bag full of wine, and a young goat, and he sent them with his son David to Saul.
21 When David came to Saul, he began to serve him. Saul liked David and made him the officer who carried his armor. 22 Saul sent a message to Jesse, saying, “Let David stay and serve me because I like him.”
23 When the evil spirit from God troubled Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then the evil spirit would leave him, and Saul would feel better.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — American Standard Version (ASV)
17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 18 Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Jehovah is with him. 19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. 20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul. 21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armorbearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my sight. 23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — 1890 Darby Bible (DARBY)
17 And Saul said to his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. 18 And one of the young men answered and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilled in playing, and he is a valiant man and a man of war, and skilled in speech, and of good presence, and Jehovah is with him. 19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep. 20 And Jesse took an ass with bread, and a flask of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came 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 has found favour in my sight. 23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; and Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — GOD’S WORD Translation (GW)
17 Saul told his officials, “Please find me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the officials said, “I know one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem who can play well. He’s a courageous man and a warrior. He has a way with words, he is handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
19 Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
20 Jesse took six bushels of bread, a full wineskin, and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and served him. Saul loved him very much and made David his armorbearer. 22 Saul sent ⸤this message⸥ to Jesse, “Please let David stay with me because I have grown fond of him.”
23 Whenever God’s spirit came to Saul, David took the lyre and strummed a tune. Saul got relief ⸤from his terror⸥ and felt better, and the evil spirit left him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — The Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
17 Then Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the young men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the lyre. He is also a valiant man, a warrior, eloquent, handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
19 Then Saul dispatched messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 So Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and one young goat and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 When David came to Saul and entered his service, Saul admired him greatly, and David became his armor-bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse: “Let David remain in my service, for I am pleased with him.” 23 Whenever the spirit from God troubled Saul, David would pick up his lyre and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me someone who can play well, and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a warrior, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David who is with the sheep.” 20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a kid, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul, and entered his service. Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — The Lexham English Bible (LEB)
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Please select a man who plays a stringed instrument well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome. And Yahweh is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a skin of wine and one young goat and sent them to Saul by the hand of David his son. 21 So David came to Saul and entered his service. He loved him greatly and he became Saul’s armor bearer. 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.” 23 So whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then it would bring relief for Saul; he would feel better and the evil spirit would depart from him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — New International Reader’s Version (1998) (NIrV)
17 So Saul said to his attendants, “Find someone who plays the harp well. Bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants said, “I’ve seen someone who knows how to play the harp. He is a son of Jesse from Bethlehem. He’s a brave man. He would make a good soldier. He’s a good speaker. He’s very handsome. And the Lord is with him.”
19 Then Saul sent messengers to Jesse. He said, “Send me your son David, the one who takes care of your sheep.”
20 So Jesse got some bread and a bottle of wine. The bottle was made out of animal skin. He also got a young goat. He loaded everything on the back of a donkey. He sent all of it to Saul with his son David.
21 David went to Saul and began to serve him. Saul liked him very much. David became one of the men who carried Saul’s armor.
22 Saul sent a message to Jesse. It said, “Let David stay here. I want him to serve me. I’m pleased with him.”
23 When the evil spirit that was sent by God would come on Saul, David would get his harp and play it. That would help Saul. He would feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1 Samuel 16:17–23 — New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (NASB95)
17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 Then one of the young men said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.”
20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine and a young goat, and sent them to Saul by David his son.
21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.
22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”
23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.