1 Samuel 16
16
David Anointed King
1The Lord said to Samuel, #ch. 15:35 “How long will you grieve over Saul, since #ch. 15:23, 26 I have rejected him from being king over Israel? #See ch. 10:1 Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, #Ps. 78:70; 89:19, 20; Acts 13:22for 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, #[ch. 9:12; 20:29]‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. #ch. 9:16And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” 4Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city #ch. 21:1 came to meet him trembling and said, #1 Kgs. 2:13; [2 Kgs. 9:22]“Do you come peaceably?” 5And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. #Josh. 3:5Consecrate 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 #ch. 17:13Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.” 7But the Lord said to Samuel, #Ps. 147:10, 11 “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, #1 Kgs. 8:39; 1 Chr. 28:9; Ps. 7:9; Jer. 11:20; 17:10; 20:12; [Acts 1:24]but the Lord looks on the heart.” 8Then Jesse called #ch. 17:13Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 9Then Jesse made #[See ver. 8 above]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.” 11Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, #ch. 17:13; [2 Sam. 13:3; 1 Chr. 2:13] “There remains yet the youngest,#16:11 Or smallest but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, #[2 Sam. 7:8; Ps. 78:70, 71]“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” 12And he sent and brought him in. Now he was #ch. 17:42 ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, #[ch. 9:17]“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” 13Then Samuel took #ver. 1 the horn of oil #[ch. 10:1; Ps. 89:20] and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. #ch. 10:6, 10; 11:6; See Judg. 3:10And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.
David in Saul’s Service
14 # ch. 18:12; 28:15, 16; [Judg. 16:20] Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, #ch. 18:10; 19:9; [Judg. 9:23]and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Let our lord now command your servants #ver. 21, 22; 1 Kgs. 10:8 who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will #ch. 18:10; 19:9; [2 Kgs. 3:15]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 skillful in playing, #See ch. 17:32, 34-36 a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, #ch. 3:19; 18:12, 14and the Lord is with him.” 19Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, #ver. 11; ch. 17:15, 34who is with the sheep.” 20#[ch. 17:18]And 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. 21And David came to Saul #See ver. 16and 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 #ver. 14, 16 whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre #[See ver. 16 above]and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 16
16
David Chosen to Be King
1The Lord asked Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul now that I have rejected him as king of Israel? Fill a flask with olive oil and go. I’m sending you to Jesse in Bethlehem because I’ve selected one of his sons to be king.”
2“How can I go?” Samuel asked. “When Saul hears about it, he’ll kill me.”
The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice. I will reveal to you what you should do, and you will anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
4Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he came to Bethlehem, the leaders of the city, trembling with fear, greeted him and said, “May peace be with you.”
5“Greetings,” he replied, “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Perform the ceremonies to make yourselves holy, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He performed the ceremonies for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. 6When they came, he saw Eliab and thought, “Certainly, here in the Lord’s presence is his anointed king.”
7But the Lord told Samuel, “Don’t look at his appearance or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. God does not see as humans see.#16:7 Greek; Masoretic Text “Not that which humans see.” Humans look at outward appearances, but the Lord looks into the heart.”
8Then Jesse called Abinadab and brought him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one either.”
9Then Jesse had Shammah come to Samuel. “The Lord has not chosen this one either,” Samuel said. 10So Jesse brought seven ⌞more⌟ of his sons to Samuel, but Samuel told Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen ⌞any of⌟ these. 11Are these all the sons you have?”
“There’s still the youngest one,” Jesse answered. “He’s tending the sheep.”
Samuel told Jesse, “Send someone to get him. We won’t continue until he gets here.”
12So Jesse sent for him. He had a healthy complexion, attractive eyes, and a handsome appearance. The Lord said, “Go ahead, anoint him. He is the one.” 13Samuel took the flask of olive oil and anointed David in the presence of his brothers. The Lord’s Spirit came over David and stayed with him from that day on. Then Samuel left for Ramah.
David Plays the Lyre for Saul
14Now, the Lord’s Spirit had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15Saul’s officials told him, “An evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16Your Majesty, why don’t you command us to look for a man who can play the lyre well? When the evil spirit from God comes to you, he’ll strum a tune, and you’ll feel better.”
17Saul told his officials, “Please find me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”
18One 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.”
19Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
20Jesse took six bushels of bread, a full wineskin, and a young goat and sent them with his son David to Saul. 21David came to Saul and served him. Saul loved him very much and made David his armorbearer. 22Saul sent ⌞this message⌟ to Jesse, “Please let David stay with me because I have grown fond of him.”
23Whenever 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.
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