1 Samuel 16

1 And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, 'Till when art thou mourning for Saul, and I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I send thee unto Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, for I have seen among his sons for Myself a king.

And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.

2 And Samuel saith, 'How do I go? when Saul hath heard, then he hath slain me.' And Jehovah saith, 'A heifer of the herd thou dost take in thy hand, and hast said, To sacrifice to Jehovah I have come;

And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord.

3 and thou hast called for Jesse in the sacrifice, and I cause thee to know that which thou dost do, and thou hast anointed to Me him of whom I speak unto thee.'

And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you.

4 And Samuel doth that which Jehovah hath spoken, and cometh in to Beth-Lehem, and the elders of the city tremble to meet him, and [one] saith, 'Is thy coming peace?'

And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace?

5 and he saith, 'Peace; to sacrifice to Jehovah I have come, sanctify yourselves, and ye have come in with me to the sacrifice;' and he sanctifieth Jesse and his sons, and calleth them to the sacrifice.

And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering.

6 And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, that he seeth Eliab, and saith, 'Surely, before Jehovah [is] His anointed.'

Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him.

7 And Jehovah saith unto Samuel, 'Look not unto his appearance, and unto the height of his stature, for I have rejected him; for [it is] not as man seeth — for man looketh at the eyes, and Jehovah looketh at the heart.'

But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart.

8 And Jesse calleth unto Abinadab, and causeth him to pass by before Samuel; and he saith, 'Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.'

Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one.

9 And Jesse causeth Shammah to pass by, and he saith, 'Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.'

Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one.

10 And Jesse causeth seven of his sons to pass by before Samuel, and Samuel saith to Jesse, 'Jehovah hath not fixed on these.'

And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these.

11 And Samuel saith unto Jesse, 'Are the young men finished?' and he saith, 'Yet hath been left the youngest; and lo, he delighteth himself among the flock;' and Samuel saith unto Jesse, 'Send and take him, for we do not turn round till his coming in hither.'

Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here.

12 And he sendeth, and bringeth him in, and he [is] ruddy, with beauty of eyes, and of good appearance; and Jehovah saith, 'Rise, anoint him, for this [is] he.'

So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he.

13 And Samuel taketh the horn of oil, and anointeth him in the midst of his brethren, and prosper over David doth the Spirit of Jehovah from that day and onwards; and Samuel riseth and goeth to Ramath.

Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah.

14 And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him;

Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him.

15 and the servants of Saul say unto him, 'Lo, we pray thee, a spirit of sadness [from] God is terrifying thee;

And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you.

16 let our lord command, we pray thee, thy servants before thee, they seek a skilful man, playing on a harp, and it hath come to pass, in the spirit of sadness [from] God being upon thee, that he hath played with his hand, and [it is] well with thee.'

Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well.

17 And Saul saith unto his servants, 'Provide, I pray you, for me a man playing well — then ye have brought [him] in unto me.'

And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me.

18 And one of the servants answereth and saith, 'Lo, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, skilful in playing, and a mighty virtuous man, and a man of battle, and intelligent in word, and a man of form, and Jehovah [is] with him.'

Then one of the servants in answer said, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, who is expert at playing, and a strong man and a man of war; and he is wise in his words, and pleasing in looks, and the Lord is with him.

19 And Saul sendeth messengers unto Jesse, and saith, 'Send unto me David thy son, who [is] with the flock.'

So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep.

20 And Jesse taketh an ass, [with] bread, and a bottle of wine, and one kid of the goats, and sendeth by the hand of David his son unto Saul.

And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David.

21 And David cometh in unto Saul, and standeth before him, and he loveth him greatly; and he is a bearer of his weapons.

And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms.

22 And Saul sendeth unto Jesse, saying, 'Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he hath found grace in mine eyes.'

And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me.

23 And it hath come to pass, in the spirit of [sadness from] God being on Saul, that David hath taken the harp, and played with his hand, and Saul hath refreshment and gladness, and the spirit of sadness hath turned aside from off him.

And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.