1 Samuel 16:10-18

New King James Version

¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the ^(A)sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not ^[a]sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(B)ruddy, ^(C)with ^[b]bright eyes, and good-looking. ^(D)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(E)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul

^14 (F)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^(G)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 ^(H)play it with his hand when the ^[c]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ^[d]“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 ^(I)the Lord is with him.”