Bible Gateway passage: 1 Samuel 16 - New King James Version (2024)

David Anointed King

16Now the Lord said to Samuel, ^(A)“How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? ^(B)Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to ^(C)Jesse the Bethlehemite. For ^(D)I have ^[a]provided Myself a king among his sons.”

²And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”

But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ^(E)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; you shall anoint for Me the one I name to you.”

⁴So Samuel did what the Lord said, and went to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town ^(F)trembled at his coming, and said, ^(G)“Do you come peaceably?”

⁵And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(H)Sanctify^[b] yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶So it was, when they came, that he looked at ^(I)Eliab and ^(J)said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before Him!”

⁷But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(K)“Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have ^[c]refused him. ^(L)For^[d] the Lord does not see as man sees; for man ^(M)looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the ^(N)heart.”

⁸So Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all the young men here?” Then he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and there he is, keeping the ^(O)sheep.”

And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him. For we will not ^[e]sit down till he comes here.” ¹²So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(P)ruddy, ^(Q)with ^[f]bright eyes, and good-looking. ^(R)And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!” ¹³Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and ^(S)the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah.

A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul

^14(T)But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and ^(U)a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him. ¹⁵And Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely, a distressing spirit from God is troubling you. ¹⁶Let 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 ^(V)play it with his hand when the ^[g]distressing spirit from God is upon you, and you shall be well.”

¹⁷So Saul said to his servants, ^[h]“Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.”

¹⁸Then 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 ^(W)the Lord is with him.”

¹⁹Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.” ²⁰And Jesse ^(X)took a donkey loaded with bread, a skin of wine, and a young goat, and sent them by his son David to Saul. ²¹So David came to Saul and ^(Y)stood before him. And he loved him greatly, and he became his armorbearer. ²²Then Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Please let David stand before me, for he has found favor in my sight.” ²³And 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.