1 Samuel 16
16
1And 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.
2And 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;
3and 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.’
4And 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?’
5and 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.
6And it cometh to pass, in their coming in, that he seeth Eliab, and saith, ‘Surely, before Jehovah [is] His anointed.’
7And 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.’
8And Jesse calleth unto Abinadab, and causeth him to pass by before Samuel; and he saith, ‘Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.’
9And Jesse causeth Shammah to pass by, and he saith, ‘Also on this Jehovah hath not fixed.’
10And Jesse causeth seven of his sons to pass by before Samuel, and Samuel saith to Jesse, ‘Jehovah hath not fixed on these.’
11And 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.’
12And 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.’
13And 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.
14And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him;
15and the servants of Saul say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, a spirit of sadness [from] God is terrifying thee;
16let 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.’
17And Saul saith unto his servants, ‘Provide, I pray you, for me a man playing well — then ye have brought [him] in unto me.’
18And 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.’
19And Saul sendeth messengers unto Jesse, and saith, ‘Send unto me David thy son, who [is] with the flock.’
20And 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.
21And David cometh in unto Saul, and standeth before him, and he loveth him greatly; and he is a bearer of his weapons.
22And Saul sendeth unto Jesse, saying, ‘Let David, I pray thee, stand before me, for he hath found grace in mine eyes.’
23And 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.
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1 Samuel 16: YLT98
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1 Samuel 16
16
Samuel Anoints David as King
1Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”
2But Samuel asked, “How can I do that? If Saul hears about it, he will kill me.”
“Take a heifer with you,” the Lord replied, “and say that you have come to make a sacrifice to the Lord. 3Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you which of his sons to anoint for me.”
4So Samuel did as the Lord instructed. When he arrived at Bethlehem, the elders of the town came trembling to meet him. “What’s wrong?” they asked. “Do you come in peace?”
5“Yes,” Samuel replied. “I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Purify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then Samuel performed the purification rite for Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice, too.
6When they arrived, Samuel took one look at Eliab and thought, “Surely this is the Lord’s anointed!”
7But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8Then Jesse told his son Abinadab to step forward and walk in front of Samuel. But Samuel said, “This is not the one the Lord has chosen.” 9Next Jesse summoned Shimea,#16:9 Hebrew Shammah, a variant spelling of Shimea; compare 1 Chr 2:13; 20:7. but Samuel said, “Neither is this the one the Lord has chosen.” 10In the same way all seven of Jesse’s sons were presented to Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen any of these.” 11Then Samuel asked, “Are these all the sons you have?”
“There is still the youngest,” Jesse replied. “But he’s out in the fields watching the sheep and goats.”
“Send for him at once,” Samuel said. “We will not sit down to eat until he arrives.”
12So Jesse sent for him. He was dark and handsome, with beautiful eyes.
And the Lord said, “This is the one; anoint him.”
13So as David stood there among his brothers, Samuel took the flask of olive oil he had brought and anointed David with the oil. And the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David from that day on. Then Samuel returned to Ramah.
David Serves in Saul’s Court
14Now the Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and the Lord sent a tormenting spirit#16:14 Or an evil spirit; also in 16:15, 16, 23. that filled him with depression and fear.
15Some of Saul’s servants said to him, “A tormenting spirit from God is troubling you. 16Let us find a good musician to play the harp whenever the tormenting spirit troubles you. He will play soothing music, and you will soon be well again.”
17“All right,” Saul said. “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him here.”
18One of the servants said to Saul, “One of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a talented harp player. Not only that—he is a brave warrior, a man of war, and has good judgment. He is also a fine-looking young man, and the Lord is with him.”
19So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the shepherd.” 20Jesse responded by sending David to Saul, along with a young goat, a donkey loaded with bread, and a wineskin full of wine.
21So David went to Saul and began serving him. Saul loved David very much, and David became his armor bearer.
22Then Saul sent word to Jesse asking, “Please let David remain in my service, for I am very pleased with him.”
23And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away.
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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