1 Samuel 16:14-23

New King James Version

A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul

^14 (A)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^(B)a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. ¹⁶ Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will ^(C)play it with his hand when the ^[a]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ^[b]“Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”

¹⁸ Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and ^(D)the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰ And Jesse ^(E)took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹ So David came to Saul and ^(F)stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. ²² Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.