¹² Now David was the son of an Ephrathite^(A) named Jesse,^(B) who was from Bethlehem^(C) in Judah. Jesse had eight^(D) sons, and in Saul’s time he was very old. ¹³ Jesse’s three oldest sons had followed Saul to the war: The firstborn was Eliab;^(E) the second, Abinadab;^(F) and the third, Shammah.^{(G) 14} David was the youngest. The three oldest followed Saul,

¹⁰ Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said to him, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ So he asked Jesse, “Are these all^(A) the sons you have?”

“There is still the youngest,” Jesse answered. “He is tending the sheep.”^(B)

Samuel said, “Send for him; we will not sit down until he arrives.”