1 Samuel 16:14-23
World English Bible
14 Now Yahweh’s Spirit departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. 15 Saul’s servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. 16 Let our lord now command your servants who are in front of you to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. Then when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will play with his hand, and you will be well.”
17 Saul said to his servants, “Provide 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 skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a handsome person; and Yahweh is with him.”
19 Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”
20 Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread, and a container of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by David his son to Saul. 21 David came to Saul and stood before him. He loved him greatly; and he became his armor bearer. 22 Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 When the spirit from God was on Saul, David took the harp and played with his hand; so Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.
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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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