David Anointed King

16 Then Yahweh said to Samuel, “^(A)How long will you be grieving over Saul? ^(B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel. ^(C)Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to ^(D)Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I ^(E)see among his sons a king for Me.” ² But Samuel said, “How can I go? Saul will hear of it and will kill me.” Then Yahweh said, “^(F)Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh.’ ³ And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and ^(G)I will make you know what you shall do; and ^(H)you shall anoint for Me the one whom I say to you.” ⁴ So Samuel did what Yahweh said and came to ^(I)Bethlehem. And the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “^(J)Do you come in peace?” ⁵ And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to Yahweh. ^(K)Set yourselves apart as holy and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also set apart Jesse and his sons as holy and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ Now it happened, when they entered, he looked at ^(L)Eliab and thought, “Surely the anointed of Yahweh is before Him.” ⁷ But Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for ^[a]God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, ^(M)but Yahweh looks at the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(N)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.” ⁹ Next Jesse made ^[b](O)Shammah pass by. And he said, “Yahweh has not chosen this one either.” ¹⁰ Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “Yahweh has not chosen these.” ¹¹ And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the young men?” And he said, “^(P)There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is shepherding the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and ^[c]bring him, for we will not turn around until he comes here.” ¹² So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with ^(Q)beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And Yahweh said, “^(R)Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³ Then Samuel took the horn of oil and ^(S)anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(T)the Spirit of Yahweh ^[d]came mightily upon David from that day forward. And Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

David Becomes Saul’s Armor Bearer

^14 (U)Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and ^(V)an evil spirit from Yahweh terrorized him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrorizing you. ¹⁶ Let our lord now speak to your servants who are before you. Let them seek a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, ^(W)he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will be well.” ¹⁷ So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me now a man who can play well and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of the young men answered and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, ^(X)a mighty man of valor, a warrior, one who is understanding in speech, and man of fine form; and ^(Y)Yahweh is with him.” ¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David who is with the flock.” ²⁰ And Jesse ^(Z)took a donkey loaded with bread and a wineskin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David his son. ²¹ Then David came to Saul and ^(AA)stood before him; and ^[e]Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor bearer. ²² So Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David now stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³ Thus it happened that whenever ^(AB)the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would be refreshed and be well, and the evil spirit would depart from him.