David Anointed King

16 Now the Lord said to Samuel, ^(A)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? ^(B)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to ^(C)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For ^(D)I have ^[a]provided Myself a king among his sons.”

² And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ^(E)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

⁴ So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town ^(F)trembled at his coming, and said, ^(G)“Do you come peaceably?”

⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(H)Sanctify^[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ So it was, when they came, that he looked at ^(I)Eliab and ^(J)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(K)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[c]refused him. ^(L)For^[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man ^(M)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the ^(N)heart.”

⁸ So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” 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 ^(O)sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not ^[e]sit down till he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(P)ruddy, ^(Q)with ^[f]bright eyes, and good-looking. ^(R)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 ^(S)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 (T)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^(U)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 ^(V)play it with his hand when the ^[g]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, ^[h]“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 ^(W)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 ^(X)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 ^(Y)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.

Elihu Contradicts Job

The Mighty Angel with the Little Book

10 I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud. ^(A)And a rainbow was on ^(B)his head, his face was like the sun, and ^(C)his feet like pillars of fire. ² He had a little book open in his hand. ^(D)And he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land, ³ and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars. When he cried out, ^(E)seven thunders uttered their voices. ⁴ Now when the seven thunders ^[a]uttered their voices, I was about to write; but I heard a voice from heaven saying ^[b]to me, ^(F)“Seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them.”

⁵ The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land ^(G)raised up his ^[c]hand to heaven ⁶ and swore by Him who lives forever and ever, ^(H)who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, and the sea and the things that are in it, ^(I)that there should be delay no longer, ⁷ but ^(J)in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.

John Eats the Little Book

⁸ Then the voice which I heard from heaven spoke to me again and said, “Go, take the little book which is open in the hand of the angel who stands on the sea and on the earth.”

⁹ So I went to the angel and said to him, “Give me the little book.”

And he said to me, ^(K)“Take and eat it; and it will make your stomach bitter, but it will be as sweet as honey in your mouth.”

¹⁰ Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, ^(L)and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, ^(M)my stomach became bitter. ¹¹ And ^[d]he said to me, “You must prophesy again about many peoples, nations, tongues, and kings.”