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
1 # Ps 151.4. One day he said, “Samuel, I've rejected Saul, and I refuse to let him be king any longer. Stop feeling sad about him. Put some olive oil#16.1 olive oil: See the note at 9.16. in a small container#16.1 small container: Hebrew “horn”; animal horns were sometimes hollowed out and used as containers. and go visit a man named Jesse, who lives in Bethlehem. I've chosen one of his sons to be my king.”
2Samuel answered, “If I do that, Saul will find out and have me killed.”
“Take a calf with you,” the Lord replied. “Tell everyone that you've come to offer it as a sacrifice to me, 3then invite Jesse to the sacrifice.#16.3 sacrifice: A sacrifice often involved a dinner where the meat from the sacrificed animal would be served. When I show you which one of his sons I have chosen, pour the olive oil on his head.”
4Samuel did what the Lord told him and went to Bethlehem. The town leaders went to meet him, but they were terribly afraid and asked, “Is this a friendly visit?”
5“Yes, it is!” Samuel answered. “I've come to offer a sacrifice to the Lord. Get yourselves ready#16.5 Get yourselves ready: The people of Israel sometimes had to perform certain ceremonies to make themselves acceptable to God. to take part in the sacrifice and come with me.” Samuel also invited Jesse and his sons to come to the sacrifice, and he got them ready to take part.
6When Jesse and his sons arrived, Samuel noticed Jesse's oldest son, Eliab. “He has to be the one the Lord has chosen,” Samuel said to himself.
7 # Ps 151.5. But the Lord told him, “Samuel, don't think Eliab is the one just because he's tall and handsome. He isn't the one I've chosen. People judge others by what they look like, but I judge people by what is in their hearts.”
8Jesse told his son Abinadab to go over to Samuel, but Samuel said, “No, the Lord hasn't chosen him.”
9Next, Jesse sent his son Shammah to him, and Samuel said, “The Lord hasn't chosen him either.”
10One by one, Jesse told all seven of his sons to go over to Samuel. Finally, Samuel said, “Jesse, the Lord hasn't chosen any of these young men. 11#Ps 151.1. Do you have any other sons?”
“Yes,” Jesse answered. “My youngest son David is out taking care of the sheep.”
“Send for him!” Samuel said. “We won't start the ceremony until he gets here.”
12Jesse sent for David. He was a healthy, good-looking boy with a sparkle in his eyes. As soon as David came, the Lord told Samuel, “He's the one! Get up and pour the olive oil on his head.”#16.12 olive oil on his head: See the note at 9.16.
13Samuel poured the oil on David's head while his brothers watched. At that moment, the Spirit of the Lord took control of David and stayed with him from then on.
Samuel returned home to Ramah.
David Plays the Harp for Saul
14The Spirit of the Lord had left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was terrifying him. 15“It's an evil spirit from God that's frightening you,” Saul's officials told him. 16“Your Majesty, let us go and look for someone who is good at playing the harp. He can play for you whenever the evil spirit from God bothers you, and you'll feel better.”
17“All right,” Saul answered. “Find me someone who is good at playing the harp and bring him here.”
18“A man named Jesse who lives in Bethlehem has a son who can play the harp,” one official said. “He's a brave warrior, he's good-looking, he can speak well, and the Lord is with him.”
19Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Tell your son David to leave your sheep and come here to me.”
20Jesse loaded a donkey with bread and a goatskin full of wine,#16.20 wine: Wine was sometimes kept in bottles made of goatskin sewn up with the fur on the outside. then he told David to take the donkey and a young goat to Saul. 21David went to Saul and started working for him. Saul liked him so much that he put David in charge of carrying his weapons. 22Not long after this, Saul sent another message to Jesse: “I really like David. Please let him stay with me.”
23 # Ps 151.2. Whenever the evil spirit from God bothered Saul, David would play his harp. Saul would relax and feel better, and the evil spirit would go away.
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
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