David in Saul's Service

14 (A)Now the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, (B)and a harmful spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 And Saul's servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants (C)who are before you to seek out a man who is skillful in playing the lyre, and when the harmful spirit from God is upon you, he will (D)play it, and you will be well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.” 18 One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, (E)a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, (F)and the Lord is with him.” 19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, (G)who is with the sheep.” 20 (H)And Jesse took a donkey laden with bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 And David came to Saul (I)and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer. 22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And (J)whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre (K)and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.

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David is introduced to Saul

14 Now the Lord’s spirit had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord tormented him. 15 Saul’s servants said to him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 If our master just says the word, your servants will search for someone who knows how to play the lyre. The musician can play whenever the evil spirit from God is affecting you, and then you’ll feel better.”

17 Saul said to his servants, “Find me a good musician and bring him to me.”

18 One of the servants responded, “I know that one of Jesse’s sons from Bethlehem is a good musician. He’s a strong man and heroic, a warrior who speaks well and is good-looking too. The Lord is with him.”

19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, the one who keeps the sheep.”

20 Jesse then took a donkey and loaded it with a homer of bread,[a] a jar of wine, and a young goat, and he sent it along with his son David to Saul. 21 That is how David came to Saul and entered his service. Saul liked David very much,[b] and David became his armor-bearer. 22 Saul sent a message to Jesse: “Please allow David to remain in my service because I am pleased with him.” 23 Whenever the evil spirit from God affected Saul, David would take the lyre and play it. Then Saul would relax and feel better, and the evil spirit would leave him alone.

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Notas al pie

  1. 1 Samuel 16:20 LXX
  2. 1 Samuel 16:21 Or David liked Saul very much.