1 Samuel 16:11-23

English Standard Version

¹¹Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^(A)“There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(B)“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹²And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(C)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(D)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³Then Samuel took ^(E)the horn of oil ^(F)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(G)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

David in Saul's Service

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