God

Now, please, pardon my sin; and come back with me, so that I can worship ADONAI."

But Sh'mu'el said to Sha'ul, "I will not go back with you, because you have rejected the word of ADONAI, and ADONAI has rejected you as king over Isra'el."

Sh'mu'el said to him, "ADONAI has torn the kingdom of Isra'el away from you today and given it to a fellow countryman of yours who is better than you.

Then Sha'ul said, "I have sinned; but in spite of that, please show me respect now before the leaders of my people and before Isra'el by coming back with me, so that I can worship ADONAI your God."

So Sh'mu'el followed Sha'ul back, and Sha'ul worshipped ADONAI.

Sh'mu'el said, "Just as your sword has left women childless, so will your mother be left childless among women." Then Sh'mu'el cut Agag in pieces before ADONAI in Gilgal.

Never again did Sh'mu'el see Sha'ul, until the day he died. But Sh'mu'el grieved over Sha'ul, and ADONAI regretted that he had made Sha'ul king over Isra'el.

ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, "How much longer are you going to go on grieving for Sha'ul, now that I have rejected him as king over Isra'el? Fill your horn with oil, and set out; I will send you to Yishai the Beit-Lachmi, because I have chosen myself a king from among his sons."

Sh'mu'el said, "How can I go? If Sha'ul hears of it, he will have me killed."ADONAI said, "Take a female cow with you and say, 'I have come to sacrifice to ADONAI.'

Summon Yishai to the sacrifice. I will tell you what to do, and you are to anoint for me the person I point out to you."

Sh'mu'el did what ADONAI said and arrived at Beit-Lechem. The leaders of the city came trembling to meet him and asked, "Are you coming in peace?"

He answered, "In peace. I have come to sacrifice to ADONAI. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice." He consecrated Yishai and his sons and summoned them to the sacrifice.

When they had come, he looked at Eli'av and said, "This has to be ADONAI's anointed one, here before him."

But ADONAI said to Sh'mu'el, "Don't pay attention to how he looks or how tall he is, because I have rejected him. ADONAI doesn't see the way humans see - humans look at the outward appearance, but ADONAI looks at the heart."

Then Yishai called Avinadav and presented him to Sh'mu'el; but he said, "ADONAI hasn't chosen this one either."

Yishai presented Shammah; again Sh'mu'el said, "ADONAI hasn't chosen this one either."

Yishai presented seven of his sons to Sh'mu'el; but Sh'mu'el told Yishai, "ADONAI has not chosen these.

He sent and brought him in. With ruddy cheeks, red hair and bright eyes, he was a good-looking fellow. ADONAI said, "Stand up and anoint him; he's the one."

Sh'mu'el took the horn of oil and anointed him there in his brothers' presence. From that day on, the Spirit of ADONAI would fall upon David with power. So Sh'mu'el set out and went to Ramah.

Now the Spirit of ADONAI had left Sha'ul; instead, an evil spirit from ADONAI would suddenly come over him.

Sha'ul's servants said to him, "Do you notice that there's an evil spirit from God that suddenly comes over you?

Let our lord now command your servants who are here with you to look for a man who knows how to play the lyre. Then, if the evil spirit from God comes over you, he will play; and it will do you good."

One of the young men answered, "Here, I've seen one of the sons of Yishai the Beit-Lachmi who knows how to play. He's a brave soldier, he can fight, he chooses his words carefully and he's pleasant-looking. Besides, ADONAI is with him."

So it was that whenever the [evil] spirit from God came over Sha'ul, David would take the lyre and play it, with the result that Sha'ul would find relief and feel better, as the evil spirit left him.

David said to the men standing with him, "What reward will be given to the man who kills this P'lishti and removes this disgrace from Isra'el? Who is this uncircumcised P'lishti anyway, that he challenges the armies of the living God?"