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
New King James Version
A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul
14 (A)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and (B)a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. 15 And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. 16 Let our master now command your servants, who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. And it shall be that he will (C)play it with his hand when the [a]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”
17 So Saul said to his servants, [b]“Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”
18 Then one of the servants answered and said, “Look, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and (D)the Lord is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” 20 And Jesse (E)took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. 21 So David came to Saul and (F)stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. 22 Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Samuel 16:16 Lit. evil
- 1 Samuel 16:17 Lit. Look now for a man for me
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
