1 Samuel 16:14–23

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

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

¹⁶“Let our lord now command your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful player on the harp; and it shall come about when the evil spirit from God is on you, that ^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 said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^aa mighty man of valor, a warrior, one prudent in speech, and a handsome man; and ^bthe Lord is with him.”

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

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

²¹Then David came to Saul and ^1aattended him; and ²Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer.

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

²³So it came about 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.