1 Samuel 16:14-23
Lexham English Bible
Saul in Torment
14 Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul and an evil spirit from Yahweh tormented him. 15 So the servants of Saul said to him, “Look please, an evil spirit from God is tormenting you. 16 Please, let our lord command your servants who are before you! Let them seek a man skilled in playing on the lyre. When[a] the evil spirit from God is upon you, he can play on it[b] and you will feel better.”[c] 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Please select a man who plays a stringed instrument well[d] and bring him to me.”
18 One of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skillful in playing a stringed instrument, a brave man, a warrior, prudent in speech, and handsome.[e] And Yahweh is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a skin of wine and one young goat[f] and sent them to Saul by the hand of David his son. 21 So David came to Saul and entered his service.[g] He[h] loved him greatly and he became Saul’s armor bearer.[i] 22 Then Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, because he has found favor in my sight.”[j] 23 So whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the stringed instrument and play it with his hand. Then it would bring relief[k] for Saul; he would feel better[l] and the evil spirit would depart from him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Literally “And it will happen that”
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Literally “with his hand”
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Literally “and it will be good for you”
- 1 Samuel 16:17 Literally “doing well to play a stringed instrument”
- 1 Samuel 16:18 Literally “a hero of ability, a man of war, discerning of word, and a man of appearance”
- 1 Samuel 16:20 Literally “kid of a goat”
- 1 Samuel 16:21 Literally “stood before him”
- 1 Samuel 16:21 That is, Saul
- 1 Samuel 16:21 Literally “he became for him a carrier of weapons”
- 1 Samuel 16:22 Literally “in my eyes”
- 1 Samuel 16:23 Literally “it would be relieved”
- 1 Samuel 16:23 Literally “it would be good for him”
1 Samuel 16:14-23
International Standard Version
14 The Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15 Saul’s servants told him, “Look, an evil spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our lord order his servants who attend you[a] to look for a man who is skilled in playing the lyre. And then when an evil spirit from God comes on you, he will play[b] and you will be better.”
17 Saul told his servants, “Find[c] a man for me who can play well and bring him to me.”
18 One of the young men answered: “Look, I’ve seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is skilled in playing. The man is a valiant soldier, gifted in speech, and handsome. And the Lord is with him.”
19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”
20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, a container of wine, and one kid, and sent them to Saul along with his son David. 21 David went to Saul and began to serve him.[d] Saul loved him very much, and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent a messenger[e] to Jesse to tell him, “Allow David to serve me, because I’m pleased with him.”[f] 23 Whenever an evil[g] spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the lyre and play it.[h] Relief would come to Saul and he would be better, because the evil spirit would leave him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Lit. who are before you
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Lit. play with his hand
- 1 Samuel 16:17 Lit. Provide
- 1 Samuel 16:21 Lit. stood before him
- 1 Samuel 16:22 The Heb. lacks a messenger
- 1 Samuel 16:22 Lit. because he has found favor in my sight
- 1 Samuel 16:23 The Heb. lacks evil
- 1 Samuel 16:23 Lit. play with his hand
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