1And the Lord said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him so as not to reign over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lechemite; for I have selected among his sons unto myself a king.
2And Samuel said, How shall I go? if Saul should hear it, he would kill me. And the Lord said, Take a heifer with thee, and say, To sacrifice unto the Lord am I come.
3And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let thee know what thou shalt do; and thou shalt anoint unto me the one whom I will say unto thee.
4And Samuel did that which the Lord had spoken, and came to Beth-lechem. And the elders of the town came hastily to meet him, and said, Peace to thee at thy coming.
5And he said, Peace: to sacrifice unto the Lord am I come; sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and invited them to the sacrifice.
6And it came to pass, when they came, that he saw Eliab, and said, Surely the Lord's anointed is [here] before him.
7But the Lord said unto Samuel, Regard not his appearance, nor the height of his stature; because I have rejected him; for not what man looketh on;—for man looketh on the eyes, but the Lord looketh on the heart.
8Then Jesse called Abinadab, and caused him to pass before Samuel. And he said, This one also hath the Lord not chosen.
9Then Jesse caused Shammah to pass by. And he said, This one also hath the Lord not chosen.
10And Jesse caused seven of his sons to pass before Samuel: and Samuel said unto Jesse, The Lord hath not made choice of these.
11And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are there not more young men? And he said, There is yet left behind the youngest, and, behold, he is feeding the flocks. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him; for we will not sit down till he have come hither.
12And he sent, and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, having withal handsome eyes, and being of a goodly appearance. And the Lord said, Arise, anoint him; for this is he.
13Then took Samuel the horn of oil, and anointed him from among his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came suddenly upon David from that day and forward. And Samuel then rose up, and went to Ramah.
14And the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and there troubled him an evil spirit from the Lord.
15And Saul's servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16Let our Lord but say [the word], and thy servants, now before thee, will seek out a man, who is skilful as a player on the harp; and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, that thou mayest be well.
17And Saul said unto his servants, Select for me, I pray you, a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
18Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lechemite, who is skilful as a player, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and intelligent in speech, and a person of a good form, and the Lord is with him.
19Thereupon Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the flocks.
20And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them through David his son unto Saul.
21And David came to Saul, and stood before him; and he loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.
22And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favor in my eyes.
23And it came to pass, when the spirit of God was upon Saul, that David took the harp, and played with his hand; so Saul became relieved, and he felt well, and the evil spirit departed from him.