1 Samuel 16 Bishops' Bible 1568
From Textus Receptus
1Sa 16:1 The Lorde sayd vnto Samuel: Howe long wilt thou mourne for Saul, seing I haue cast him away from raigning ouer Israel? Fill thyne horne with oyntment, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlemite: for I haue prouided me a king among his sonnes.
1Sa 16:2 And Samuel sayd: How can I go? For if Saul heare it, he will kill me. The Lord aunswered: Take an heyfer with thee, and saye: I am come to offer to the Lorde.
1Sa 16:3 And call Isai to the offering, and I will shewe thee what thou shalt do: And thou shalt annoynt vnto me him whom I name vnto thee.
1Sa 16:4 And so Samuel did as the Lord bade him, and came to Bethlehem: and the elders of the towne were astonyed at his comming, and saide: Commest thou peaceably?
1Sa 16:5 He aunswered: Yea, I am come to offer vnto the Lorde: Sanctifie your selues, and come with me to the offering. And he sanctified Isai and his sonnes, and bade them to the offering.
1Sa 16:6 And when they were come, he loked on Eliab, & saide: Surelye the Lordes annoynted is before him.
1Sa 16:7 But the Lorde sayde vnto Samuel: Loke not on his fashion, or on ye height of his stature, because I haue refused him: For [God seeth] not as man seeth. For man loketh on the outward appearaunce, but the Lorde beholdeth the heart.
1Sa 16:8 Then Isai called Abinadab, & made him come before Samuel, and he sayd: Neither hath the Lorde chosen this.
1Sa 16:9 Then Isai made Samma come, and he sayd: Neither yet hath the Lorde chosen him.
1Sa 16:10 Againe Isai made seuen of his sonnes to come before Samuel, and Samuel sayd vnto Isai: The Lorde hath chosen none of these.
1Sa 16:11 And Samuel sayde vnto Isai: Are heare all thy children? He sayde: There is, yet a litle one behind, that kepeth the sheepe. And Samuel said vnto Isai, Sende and fet him: for we will not syt downe, till he be come hyther.
1Sa 16:12 And he sent, and brought him in: And he was ruddie, and of an excellet beawtie, and wel fauoured in sight. And the Lorde said, Aryse & annoynt him: For this is he.
1Sa 16:13 Therefore Samuel toke the horne with the annoyntment, and annoynted him in the middes of his brethren. And the spirite of the Lorde came vpon Dauid from that daye forwarde: And Samuel rose vp, and went to Rama.
1Sa 16:14 But the spirite of the Lorde departed from Saul, and an euill spirite [sent] of the Lord vexed him.
1Sa 16:15 And Sauls seruauntes said vnto him: Beholde, an euill spirite [sent] of God vexeth thee.
1Sa 16:16 Let our Lorde therefore commaunde thy seruauntes (that are before thee) to seeke a man that is a cunnyng player with an harpe: that when the euill spirite of God commeth vpon thee, he may play with his hande, & thou shalt be eased.
1Sa 16:17 Saul sayd vnto his seruauntes: Prouide me a man then that can play well, and bring him to me.
1Sa 16:18 The aunswered one of his seruauntes and said: Beholde, I haue seene a sonne of Isai the Bethlehemite, that can play vpon instrumentes, and is strong, valiaunt, and a man of warre, and prudent in doing of feates, and well made, and the Lorde is with him.
1Sa 16:19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers vnto Isai, and said: Sende me Dauid thy sonne, which is with the sheepe.
1Sa 16:20 And Isai tooke an asse [laden] with bread, and a flacket of wine, and a kyd, and sent them by Dauid his sonne vnto Saul.
1Sa 16:21 And Dauid came to Saul, and stoode before him, and he loued him very well, & he was made his harnesse bearer.
1Sa 16:22 And Saul sent to Isai, saying: Let Dauid nowe remaine with me, for he hath founde fauour in my sight.
1Sa 16:23 And so when the [euill] spirite of God came vpon Saul, Dauid toke an harpe and played with his hand: and so Saul was refreshed, & did amende, and the euyll spirite departed from him.
