1 Samuel 16
16
1The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, seeing I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 2And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me him whom I name to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” 5And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the Lord sees not as man sees; man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 10And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.
14Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is skilful in playing the lyre; and when the evil spirit from God is upon you, he will play it, and you will be well.” 17So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” 18One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skilful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence; and the Lord is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.” 20And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a skin of wine and a kid, and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21And David came to Saul, and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand; so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
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Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
1 Samuel 16
16
1The Lord asked Samuel, “How long are you going to continue to mourn over Saul because I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill your flask#16:1. “Flask”: literally, “horn.” with olive oil and go. I'm sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem, for I have chosen a king for myself from among his sons.”
2“How can I go and do that?” Samuel asked. “Saul will hear about it and kill me!”
The Lord answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I've come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you have to do. Anoint for me the one I tell you to.”
4Samuel did what the Lord had told him to and went to Bethlehem. When the town elders met him, they were afraid and asked him, “Do you come in peace?”
5“Yes, I come in peace,” he replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He purified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6When they arrived and Samuel saw Eliab, he said to himself, “This has got to be the Lord's anointed!”
7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don't look at his outward appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him, for the Lord does not look as human beings do. Human beings only see with their eyes what's on the outside, but the Lord looks at the way people think deep inside.”
8Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him come before Samuel, who said, “The Lord hasn't chosen this one either.”
9Then Jesse had Shammah come forward. But Samuel said, “The Lord hasn't chosen this one either.”
10Jesse had seven of his sons come before Samuel, but Samuel told him, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.”
11So he asked Jesse, “Don't you have any more sons?”
“Well, there's still the youngest,” Jesse replied, “but he is out looking after the sheep.”
“Send for him and bring him here because we will not sit down and eat#16:11. “Sit down and eat”: literally, “surround.” This is usually thought to mean to surround a table before sitting down, but it could also mean to “surround” an altar, i.e. the beginning of the sacrificial rituals. until he gets here,” Samuel told Jesse.
12So Jesse sent for him and brought him in. He had a red complexion with beautiful eyes, and looked handsome. The Lord said, “Go and anoint him, for he's the one.”
13Samuel took the flask of olive oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and the Spirit of the Lord came on David in power from that day on. Then Samuel left and returned to Ramah.
14The Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him.#16:14. As in other parts of Scripture, God is sometimes presented as doing something he does not actually prevent. The removal of the Spirit of the Lord left Saul open to control by another spirit. The way the servants react shows that this was a common view of the time—God is given responsibility for Saul's problems. 15Saul's servants told him, “It's definitely an evil spirit from God that's tormenting you. 16Give us your servants here the order to find someone who is good at playing the harp so that when the evil spirit from God comes on you, he can play and you'll feel much better.”
17Saul gave the order to his servants, “Find me someone who is good at playing the harp and bring him to me.”
18One of the servants replied, “I know a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who is good at playing the harp. He is a brave man, a good fighter, well-spoken and handsome, and the Lord is with him.”
19Saul sent messengers to Jesse, telling him, “Send me your son David who takes care of the sheep.”
20So Jesse loaded a donkey with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21David came to Saul and began working for him. Saul thought a great deal of him, and David became his armor-bearer.
22Saul sent a message to Jesse, saying, “Please allow David to continue working for me because I am pleased with him.”
23So whenever the spirit from God came on Saul, David would take his harp and play, and Saul would gain relief and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him.
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Dr. Jonathan Gallagher. Released under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 Unported License. Version 4.3. For corrections send email to jonathangallagherfbv@gmail.com