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.

³ For ^(A)we ourselves were also once foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving various lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful and hating one another. ⁴ But when ^(B)the kindness and the love of ^(C)God our Savior toward man appeared, ^5 (D)not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through ^(E)the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, ^6 (F)whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ that having been justified by His grace ^(G)we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

^8 (H)This is a faithful saying, and these things I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain good works. These things are good and profitable to men.

¹⁵ Now as the people were in expectation, and all reasoned in their hearts about John, whether he was the Christ or not, ¹⁶ John answered, saying to all, ^(A)“I indeed baptize you with water; but One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will ^(B)baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. ¹⁷ His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and ^(C)gather the wheat into His barn; but the chaff He will burn with unquenchable fire.”

¹⁸ And with many other exhortations he preached to the people. ^19 (D)But Herod the tetrarch, being rebuked by him concerning Herodias, his ^[a]brother Philip’s wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, ²⁰ also added this, above all, that he shut John up in prison.

John Baptizes Jesus^(E)

²¹ When all the people were baptized, ^(F)it came to pass that Jesus also was baptized; and while He prayed, the heaven was opened. ²² And the Holy Spirit descended in bodily form like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven which said, “You are My beloved Son; in You I am ^(G)well pleased.”