English Standard Version

1 Samuel 16:4-10 English Standard Version (ESV)

4. Samuel did what the Lord commanded and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling and said, “Do you come peaceably?”

5. And he said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.

6. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is before him.”

7. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: 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 pass by. And he said, “Neither has the Lord chosen this one.”

10. And Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.”