²⁴ Saul said to Samuel, ^(A)“I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice. ²⁵ Now therefore, please pardon my sin and ^(B)return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” ²⁶ And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. ^(C)For you have rejected the word of the Lord, ^(D)and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” ^27 (E)As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. ²⁸ And Samuel said to him, ^(F)“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. ²⁹ And also the Glory of Israel ^(G)will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” ³⁰ Then he said, “I have sinned; yet ^(H)honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, ^(I)and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” ³¹ So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.

³² Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.^[a] Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” ³³ And Samuel said, ^(J)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord ^(K)in Gilgal.

³⁴ Then Samuel went ^(L)to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in ^(M)Gibeah of Saul. ^35 (N)And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, ^(O)but Samuel grieved over Saul. ^(P)And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.

David Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, ^(Q)“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^(R)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(S)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^(T)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, ^(U)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^(V)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 ^(W)came to meet him trembling and said, ^(X)“Do you come peaceably?” ⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(Y)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 ^(Z)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(AA)“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, ^(AB)but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(AC)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made ^(AD)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, ^(AE)“There remains yet the youngest,^[b] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(AF)“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 ^(AG)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(AH)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³ Then Samuel took ^(AI)the horn of oil ^(AJ)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(AK)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.