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David Anointed King

¹ The Lord said to Samuel, ^(a)"How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^(b)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(c)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^(d)for I have provided for myself a king among his sons." ² And 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, ^(e)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.' ³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^(f)And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you." ⁴ Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^(g)came to meet him trembling and said, ^(h)"Do you come peaceably?" ⁵ And he said, "Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ⁽ⁱ⁾Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they came, he looked on ^(j)Eliab and thought, "Surely the Lord's anointed is before him." ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(k)"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, ^(l)but the Lord looks on the heart." ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(m)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." ⁹ Then Jesse made ⁽ⁿ⁾Shammah pass by. And he said, "Neither has the Lord chosen this one." ¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, "The Lord has not chosen these." ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, "Are all your sons here?" And he said, ^(o)"There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep." And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(p)"Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here." ¹² And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(q)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(r)"Arise, anoint him, for this is he." ¹³ Then Samuel took ^(s)the horn of oil ^(t)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(u)And 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 (v)Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, ^(w)and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. ¹⁵ And Saul's servants said to him, "Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command your servants ^(x)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 ^(y)play it, and you will be well." ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, "Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me." ¹⁸ One of the young men answered, "Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, ^(z)a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, ^(aa)and the Lord is with him." ¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, "Send me David your son, ^(ab)who is with the sheep." ^20 (ac)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. ²¹ And David came to Saul ^(ad)and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. ²² And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, "Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight." ²³ And ^(ae)whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre ^(af)and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.