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The Blue Letter Bible

1 Samuel 16 :: English Standard Version (ESV)

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David Anointed King

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:1

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:1 - The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:2

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:2 - And Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:3

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:3 - And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:4

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:4 - Samuel did what the LORD commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:5

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:5 - And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:6

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:6 - When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is before him.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:7

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:7 - But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:8

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:8 - Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:9

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:9 - Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:10

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:10 - And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:11

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:11 - Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest,[fn] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:12

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:12 - And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the LORD said, “Arise, anoint him, for this is he.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:13

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:13 - Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. 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

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:14

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:14 - Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a harmful spirit from the LORD tormented him.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:15

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:15 - And Saul’s servants said to him, “Behold now, a harmful spirit from God is tormenting you.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:16

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:16 - Let our lord now command your servants 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 play it, and you will be well.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:17

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:17 - So Saul said to his servants, “Provide for me a man who can play well and bring him to me.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:18

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:18 - One of the young men answered, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a man of good presence, and the LORD is with him.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:19

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:19 - Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:20

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:20 - 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.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:21

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:21 - And David came to Saul and entered his service. And Saul loved him greatly, and he became his armor-bearer.

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:22

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:22 - And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, “Let David remain in my service, for he has found favor in my sight.”

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Unchecked Copy Box 1Sa 16:23

Unchecked Copy Box1Sa 16:23 - And whenever the harmful spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the harmful spirit departed from him.
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Books and Bibles, a Publishing Ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

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For more information on this translation, see the ESV Preface.

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1 Samuel Chapter 16 — Additional Translations:

King James Version New King James Version New Living Translation New International Version Christian Standard Bible New American Standard Bible 2020 New American Standard Bible 1995 Legacy Standard Bible Amplified Bible New English Translation Revised Standard Version American Standard Version Young's Literal Translation Darby Translation Webster's Bible Hebrew Names Version Latin Vulgate Westminster Leningrad Codex Septuagint Smith Van Dyck Arabic Bible Open New Arabic Version Brenton's English Septuagint Reina Valera 1909 Reina-Valera 1960 Bible in Basic English Chinese Traditional Union Espanol Moderno Korean Holy Bible Louis Segond German Luther Russian Synodal Translation Sagradas Escrituras