VERSE STUDY • KJV

1 Samuel 16:14-19

¹⁴ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command thy servants, [which are] before thee, to seek out a man, [who is] a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷ And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring [him] to me. ¹⁸ Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, [that is] cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD [is] with him. ¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which [is] with the sheep.

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹⁴ But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command thy servants, [which are] before thee, to seek out a man, [who is] a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷ And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring [him] to me. ¹⁸ Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, [that is] cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD [is] with him. ¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which [is] with the sheep.

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and a spirit of distress from the LORD began to torment him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants said to him, “Surely a spirit of distress from God is tormenting you. ¹⁶ Let our lord command your servants here to seek out someone who can skillfully play the harp. Whenever the spirit of distress from God is upon you, he is to play it, and you will be well.” ¹⁷ And Saul commanded his servants, “Find me someone who plays well, and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ One of the servants answered, “I have seen a son of Jesse of Bethlehem who knows how to play the harp. He is a mighty man of valor, a warrior, eloquent and handsome, and the LORD is with him.” ¹⁹ So Saul sent messengers to Jesse and said, “Send me your son David, who is with the sheep.”

WEB World English Bible

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Yahweh departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Yahweh troubled him. ¹⁵ Saul’s servants said to him, “See now, an evil spirit from God troubles you. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command your servants who are before you, to seek out a man who is a skillful player on the harp. It shall happen, when the evil spirit from God is on you, that he shall play with his hand, and you shall be well.” ¹⁷ Saul said to his servants, “Provide me now a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” ¹⁸ Then one of the young men answered, and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, who is skillful in playing, a mighty man of valor, a man of war, prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Yahweh is with him.” ¹⁹ Therefore Saul sent messengers to Jesse, and said, “Send me David your son, who is with the sheep.”

ASV American Standard Version

¹⁴ Now the Spirit of Jehovah departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from Jehovah troubled him. ¹⁵ And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee. ¹⁶ Let our lord now command thy servants, that are before thee, to seek out a man who is a skilful player on the harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well. ¹⁷ And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me. ¹⁸ Then answered one of the young men, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-lehemite, that is skilful in playing, and a mighty man of valor, and a man of war, and prudent in speech, and a comely person; and Jehovah is with him. ¹⁹ Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, who is with the sheep.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹⁴ And the Spirit of Jehovah turned aside from Saul, and a spirit of sadness from Jehovah terrified him; ¹⁵ and the servants of Saul say unto him, ‘Lo, we pray thee, a spirit of sadness from God is terrifying thee; ¹⁶ let our lord command, we pray thee, thy servants before thee, they seek a skilful man, playing on a harp, and it hath come to pass, in the spirit of sadness from God being upon thee, that he hath played with his hand, and it is well with thee.’ ¹⁷ And Saul saith unto his servants, ‘Provide, I pray you, for me a man playing well—then ye have brought him in unto me.’ ¹⁸ And one of the servants answereth and saith, ‘Lo, I have seen a son of Jesse the Beth-Lehemite, skilful in playing, and a mighty virtuous man, and a man of battle, and intelligent in word, and a man of form, and Jehovah is with him.’ ¹⁹ And Saul sendeth messengers unto Jesse, and saith, ‘Send unto me David thy son, who is with the flock.’

Surrounding context — 1 Samuel 16

11 And Samuel said unto Jesse, Are here all [thy] children? And he said, There remaineth yet the youngest, and, behold, he keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said unto Jesse, Send and fetch him: for we will not sit down till he come hither.

12 And he sent, and brought him in. Now he [was] ruddy, [and] withal of a beautiful countenance, and goodly to look to. And the LORD said, Arise, anoint him: for this [is] he.

13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel rose up, and went to Ramah.

14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.

15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.

16 Let our lord now command thy servants, [which are] before thee, to seek out a man, [who is] a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.

17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring [him] to me.

18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, [that is] cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD [is] with him.

19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son, which [is] with the sheep.

20 And Jesse took an ass [laden] with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent [them] by David his son unto Saul.

21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

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