1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill thy horn with oil and go; I will send thee to Jesse of Bethlehem for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? If Saul understands it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take a heifer with thee and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD. 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show thee what thou shalt do, and thou shalt anoint unto me the one whom I name unto thee. 4 And Samuel did as the LORD said and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming and said, Comest thou peaceably? 5 And he said, Peaceably; I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and called them to the sacrifice.
6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab and said, Peradventure is the LORD’s anointed before him? 7 And the LORD replied unto Samuel, Do not look on his countenance or on the height of his stature because I have refused him, for it is not as man sees, for man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart. 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one. 9 Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither has the LORD chosen this one. 10 Again, Jesse made his seven sons pass before Samuel, but Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD has not chosen these. 11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are all thy young men here? And he said, There remains yet the youngest, and, behold, he keeps the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send for him, for we will not sit down to the table until he comes here. 12 And he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy and of a beautiful countenance and handsome. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him, for this is he. 13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him from among his brethren; and the Spirit of the LORD prospered David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up and went to Ramah.