1 Samuel 16:14–23

David Becomes Saul’s Armor Bearer

^14aNow the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and ^ban evil spirit from Yahweh terrorized him.

¹⁵Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you.

¹⁶“Let our lord now speak to your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, ^ahe shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.”

¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.”

¹⁸Then one of the young men answered and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^aa mighty man of valor, a warrior, one who is understanding in speech, and man of fine form; and ^bYahweh is with him.”

¹⁹So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.”

²⁰And Jesse ^atook a donkey loaded with bread and a wineskin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son.

²¹Then David came to Saul and ^astood before him; and ¹Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.

²²So Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.”

²³Thus it happened that whenever ^athe 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.