David Anointed King

16 The Lord said to Samuel, ^(A)“How long will you grieve over Saul, since ^(B)I have rejected him from being king over Israel? ^(C)Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, ^(D)for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” 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, ^(E)‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ ³ And invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. ^(F)And you shall anoint for me him whom I declare to you.” ⁴ Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city ^(G)came to meet him trembling and said, ^(H)“Do you come peaceably?” ⁵ And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. ^(I)Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

⁶ When they came, he looked on ^(J)Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord's anointed is before him.” ⁷ But the Lord said to Samuel, ^(K)“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, ^(L)but the Lord looks on the heart.” ⁸ Then Jesse called ^(M)Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ⁹ Then Jesse made ^(N)Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.” ¹⁰ And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” ¹¹ Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, ^(O)“There remains yet the youngest,^[a] but behold, he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, ^(P)“Send and get him, for we will not sit down till he comes here.” ¹² And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ^(Q)ruddy and had beautiful eyes and was handsome. And the Lord said, ^(R)“Arise, anoint him, for this is he.” ¹³ Then Samuel took ^(S)the horn of oil ^(T)and anointed him in the midst of his brothers. ^(U)And the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.

²⁴ All the men of Israel, when they saw the man, fled from him and were much afraid.

⁴⁰ Then he took his staff in his hand and chose five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd's pouch. His sling was in his hand, and he approached the Philistine.

⁴¹ And the Philistine moved forward and came near to David, ^(A)with his shield-bearer in front of him. ⁴² And when the Philistine looked and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but a youth, ^(B)ruddy and handsome in appearance. ⁴³ And the Philistine said to David, “Am I ^(C)a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh ^(D)to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field.” ⁴⁵ Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with ^(E)a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, ^(F)whom you have defied. ⁴⁶ This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you down and cut off your head. ^(G)And I will give the dead bodies of the host of the Philistines this day ^(H)to the birds of the air and to the wild beasts of the earth, ^(I)that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel, ⁴⁷ and that all this assembly may know that ^(J)the Lord saves not with sword and spear. ^(K)For the battle is the Lord's, and he will give you into our hand.”

⁴⁸ When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine. ⁴⁹ And David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone and slung it and struck the Philistine on his forehead. The stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the ground.

⁵⁰ So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. There was no sword in the hand of David. ⁵¹ Then David ran and stood over the Philistine ^(L)and took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him and cut off his head with it. When the Philistines saw that their champion was dead, ^(M)they fled.

David and Bathsheba

11 ^(A)(B)In the spring of the year, the time when kings go out to battle, David sent Joab, and his servants with him, and all Israel. And they ravaged the Ammonites and besieged ^(C)Rabbah. But David remained at Jerusalem.

² It happened, late one afternoon, when David arose from his couch and was walking on ^(D)the roof of the king's house, that he saw from the roof a woman bathing; and the woman was very beautiful. ³ And David sent and inquired about the woman. And one said, “Is not this ^(E)Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of ^(F)Uriah the Hittite?” ⁴ So David sent messengers and took her, and she came to him, and he lay with her. (^(G)Now she had been purifying herself from her uncleanness.) Then she returned to her house. ⁵ And the woman conceived, and she sent and told David, “I am pregnant.”

Joab Rebukes David

19 It was told Joab, “Behold, the king is weeping and mourning for Absalom.” ² So the victory that day was turned into mourning for all the people, for the people heard that day, “The king is grieving for his son.” ³ And the people stole into the city that day as people steal in who are ashamed when they flee in battle. ⁴ The king ^(A)covered his face, and the king cried with a loud voice, ^(B)“O my son Absalom, O Absalom, my son, my son!” ⁵ Then Joab came into the house to the king and said, “You have today covered with shame the faces of all your servants, who have this day saved your life and the lives of your sons and your daughters and the lives of your wives and your concubines, ⁶ because you love those who hate you and hate those who love you. For you have made it clear today that commanders and servants are nothing to you, for today I know that if Absalom were alive and all of us were dead today, then you would be pleased. ⁷ Now therefore arise, go out and speak ^(C)kindly to your servants, for I swear by the Lord, if you do not go, not a man will stay with you this night, and this will be worse for you than all the evil that has come upon you from your youth until now.” ⁸ Then the king arose and took his ^(D)seat in the gate. And the people were all told, “Behold, the king is sitting in the gate.” And all the people came before the king.

David Returns to Jerusalem

Now Israel had ^(E)fled every man to his own home.