1 Samuel 16 God tells Samuel to anoint David

 1 Samuel 16

God tells Samuel to anoint David

1 Then the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you have pity on Saul, having rejected him, lest he reign over Israel? fill your vessel with oil, and come, I will send Jesse the Belemite to you; because among his sons I have provided myself with a king.

2 But Samuel said, How can I go? for when Saul hears it, he will kill me. And the Lord said, Take a calf of the cows in your hands, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.

3 And you will invite Jesse to sacrifice: and I will make known to you what you will do, and you will anoint me to whomever I tell you.

4 So he did what the Lord said, and came to Bethlehem: then the elders of the city went out to meet with trembling, and said, Peace is your coming?

5 And he said, It is peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord; sanctify yourselves and come with me to sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and invited them to sacrifice.

6 And it came to pass, when they came in, that he saw Eliab, and said, Surely the anointed one is before the Lord.

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Pay no attention to his appearance, nor to the height of his stature, because I have rejected him, because the Lord does not see how man sees, because man sees what is before the eyes, but the Lord looks at the heart.

8 Then he called Jesse to Abinadab: and made him pass before Samuel, who said, Nor has the Lord chosen him.

9 Then Jesse sent Sama over: but he said, Nor has he chosen the Lord.

10 So Jesse made his seven sons pass over before Samuel: but Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not chosen these.

11 And Samuel said to Jesse, Are the young men finished? And he said, The little one is still missing, and, behold, she feed the sheep. Samuel said to Jesse, "Send and send for him, because we will not sit around the table until he comes here."

12 Then he sent for him and brought him (and he was red-haired and handsome in appearance and in good standing): and the Lord said, Arise, and anoint him, because he himself is.

13 Then Samuel took the vessel of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brothers: and from that day on the spirit of the Lord came upon David: then Samuel arose, and became Ramah.