Samuel anoints David
1 Samuel 16:1-13
God sent Samuel to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse, to anoint a new king. He did not choose the tallest son or the oldest, but David, the youngest, who was taking care of the sheep: God looks at the heart. 1 Samuel 16:1-13
The story, in plain words
The Lord asked Samuel to fill his horn with oil and go to Bethlehem, to the house of Jesse. God had chosen one of Jesse’s sons as king. 1 Samuel 16:1
Samuel answered that if King Saul found out, he would kill him. 1 Samuel 16:2
So the Lord told him to take a calf with him and go to offer a sacrifice. 1 Samuel 16:2
Samuel invited Jesse and his sons to the sacrifice. 1 Samuel 16:5 When he saw Eliab, the first of the sons, Samuel thought that he was the Lord’s chosen one.…
The rest of the story is part of the subscription.
See the mapWhat the Bible says
1 Samuel 16:1-13
1And the Lord said to Samuel. How It long wilt thou mourn for Saul, whom I have rejected from reigning over Israel? fill thy horn with oil, and come, that I may send thee to Isai the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. 2And Samuel said: How shall I go? for Saul will hear of it, and he will kill me. And the Lord said: Thou shalt take with thee a calf of the herd, and thou shalt say: I am come to sacrifice to the Lord. 3And thou shalt call Isai to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou art to do, and thou shalt anoint him whom I shall shew to thee. 4Then Samuel did as the Lord had said to him. And he came to Bethlehem, and the ancients of the city wondered, and meeting him, they said: Is thy coming hither peaceable? 5And he said: It is peaceable: I am come to offer sacrifice to the Lord, be ye sanctified, and come with me to the sacrifice. And he sanctified Isai and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice. 6And when they were come in, he saw Eliab, and said: Is the Lord’s anointed before him? 7And the Lord said to Samuel: Look not on his countenance, nor on the height of his stature: because I have rejected him, nor do I judge according to the look of man: for man seeth those things that appear, but the Lord beholdeth the heart. 8And Isai called Abinadab, and brought him before Samuel. And he said: Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 9And Isai brought Samma, and he said of him: Neither hath the Lord chosen this. 10Isai therefore brought his seven sons before Samuel: and Samuel said to Isai: The Lord hath not chosen any one of these. 11And Samuel said to Isai: Are here all thy sons? He answered: There remaineth yet a young one, who keepeth the sheep. And Samuel said to Isai: Send, and fetch him, for we will not sit down till he come hither. 12He sent therefore and brought him Now he was ruddy and beautiful to behold, and of a comely face. And the Lord said: Arise, and anoint him, for this is he. 13Then 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: and Samuel rose up, and went to Ramatha.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.
To talk about together
- Samuel first noticed the tall, good-looking son. What do we notice first when we meet someone?
- No one had called David: he was out with the sheep. What do you think he thought when they sent for him?
- For the child: God looks at the heart. What do you think God saw in David’s heart?