1. The Lord said to Samuel, “How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him from being king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go. I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite; for I have provided a king for myself among his sons.”
2. Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears it, he will kill me.”The Lord said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.
3. Call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do. You shall anoint to me him whom I name to you.”
4. Samuel did that which the Lord spoke, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?”
5. He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” He sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
6. When they had come, he looked at Eliab, and said, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”
7. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t look on his face, or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for I don’t see as man sees. For man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8. Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “the Lord has not chosen this one, either.”
9. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. He said, “the Lord has not chosen this one, either.”
10. Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”