1. The Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and go. I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem because I have selected a king from his sons.”
2. Samuel asked, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me! ”The Lord answered, “Take a young cow with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
3. Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you are to do. You are to anoint for Me the one I indicate to you.”
4. Samuel did what the Lord directed and went to Bethlehem. When the elders of the town met him, they trembled and asked, “Do you come in peace? ”
5. “In peace,” he replied. “I’ve come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” Then he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6. When they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab and said, “Certainly the Lord’s anointed one is here before Him.”
7. But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or his stature, because I have rejected him. Man does not see what the Lord sees, for man sees what is visible, but the Lord sees the heart.”
8. Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either,” Samuel said.
9. Then Jesse presented Shammah, but Samuel said, “The Lord hasn’t chosen this one either.”