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¹ The Lorde sayd vnto Samuel: Howe long wilt thou mourne for Saul, seing I haue cast him away from raigning ouer Israel? Fill thyne horne with oyntment, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlemite: for I haue prouided me a king among his sonnes.² And Samuel sayd: How can I go? For if Saul heare it, he will kill me. The Lord aunswered: Take an heyfer with thee, and saye: I am come to offer to the Lorde.³ And call Isai to the offering, and I will shewe thee what thou shalt do: And thou shalt annoynt vnto me him whom I name vnto thee.⁴ And so Samuel did as the Lord bade him, and came to Bethlehem: and the elders of the towne were astonyed at his comming, and saide: Commest thou peaceably?⁵ He aunswered: Yea, I am come to offer vnto the Lorde: Sanctifie your selues, and come with me to the offering. And he sanctified Isai and his sonnes, and bade them to the offering.

⁶ And when they were come, he loked on Eliab, & saide: Surelye the Lordes annoynted is before him.⁷ But the Lorde sayde vnto Samuel: Loke not on his fashion, or on ye height of his stature, because I haue refused him: For [God seeth] not as man seeth. For man loketh on the outward appearaunce, but the Lorde beholdeth the heart.⁸ Then Isai called Abinadab, & made him come before Samuel, and he sayd: Neither hath the Lorde chosen this.⁹ Then Isai made Samma come, and he sayd: Neither yet hath the Lorde chosen him.¹⁰ Againe Isai made seuen of his sonnes to come before Samuel, and Samuel sayd vnto Isai: The Lorde hath chosen none of these.¹¹ And Samuel sayde vnto Isai: Are heare all thy children? He sayde: There is, yet a litle one behind, that kepeth the sheepe. And Samuel said vnto Isai, Sende and fet him: for we will not syt downe, till he be come hyther.¹² And he sent, and brought him in: And he was ruddie, and of an excellet beawtie, and wel fauoured in sight. And the Lorde said, Aryse & annoynt him: For this is he.¹³ Therefore Samuel toke the horne with the annoyntment, and annoynted him in the middes of his brethren. And the spirite of the Lorde came vpon Dauid from that daye forwarde: And Samuel rose vp, and went to Rama.

¹⁴ But the spirite of the Lorde departed from Saul, and an euill spirite [sent] of the Lord vexed him.¹⁵ And Sauls seruauntes said vnto him: Beholde, an euill spirite [sent] of God vexeth thee.¹⁶ Let our Lorde therefore commaunde thy seruauntes (that are before thee) to seeke a man that is a cunnyng player with an harpe: that when the euill spirite of God commeth vpon thee, he may play with his hande, & thou shalt be eased.¹⁷ Saul sayd vnto his seruauntes: Prouide me a man then that can play well, and bring him to me.¹⁸ The aunswered one of his seruauntes and said: Beholde, I haue seene a sonne of Isai the Bethlehemite, that can play vpon instrumentes, and is strong, valiaunt, and a man of warre, and prudent in doing of feates, and well made, and the Lorde is with him.¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers vnto Isai, and said: Sende me Dauid thy sonne, which is with the sheepe.²⁰ And Isai tooke an asse [laden] with bread, and a flacket of wine, and a kyd, and sent them by Dauid his sonne vnto Saul.²¹ And Dauid came to Saul, and stoode before him, and he loued him very well, & he was made his harnesse bearer.²² And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let Dauid nowe remaine with me, for he hath founde fauour in my sight.²³ And so when the [euill] spirite of God came vpon Saul, Dauid toke an harpe and played with his hand: and so Saul was refreshed, & did amende, and the euyll spirite departed from him.