1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “How long are you going to 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, because I have chosen a king for Myself among his sons.” 2 But Samuel said, “How can I go? When Saul hears about it, he will kill me.” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’ 3 And you shall invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will let you know what you shall do; and you shall anoint for Me the one whom I designate to you.” 4 So Samuel did what the Lord told him, and he came to Bethlehem. Then the elders of the city came trembling to meet him and said, “Do you come in peace?” 5 And he said, “In peace; I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” He also consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they entered, he looked at Eliab and thought, “Surely the Lord’s anointed is standing before Him.” 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for God does not see as man sees, since man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and had him pass before Samuel. But he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” 9 Next Jesse had Shammah pass by. And he said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.” 10 So Jesse had seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The Lord has not chosen these.” 11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the boys?” And he said, “The youngest is still left, but behold, he is tending the sheep.” So Samuel said to Jesse, “Send word and bring him; for we will not take our places at the table until he comes here.”
12 So he sent word and brought him in. Now he was reddish, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance. And the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him; for this is he.” 13 So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord rushed upon David from that day forward. And Samuel set out and went to Ramah.
14 Now the Spirit of the Lord left Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord terrified him. 15 Saul’s servants then said to him, “Behold now, an evil spirit from God is terrifying you. 16 May our lord now command your servants who are before you. Have them search for a man who is a skillful musician on the harp; and it shall come about whenever the evil spirit from God is upon you, that he shall play the harp with his hand, and you will become well.” 17 So Saul said to his servants, “Now select for me a man who can play well, and bring him to me.” 18 Then one of the young men responded and said, “Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite who is a skillful musician, a valiant mighty man, a warrior, skillful in speech, and a handsome man; and the Lord is with him.” 19 So Saul sent messengers to Jesse to say, “Send me your son David, who is with the flock.” 20 And Jesse took a donkey loaded with bread and a jug of wine, and he took a young goat, and sent them to Saul by his son David. 21 Then David came to Saul and attended him; and Saul greatly loved him, and he became his armor bearer. 22 So Saul sent word to Jesse, saying, “Let David now be my attendant for he has found favor in my sight.” 23 So it came about whenever the evil spirit from God came to Saul, David would take the harp and play it with his hand; and Saul would feel relieved and become well, and the evil spirit would leave him.
1 Now accept the one who is weak in faith, but not to have quarrels over opinions. 2 One person has faith that he may eat all things, but the one who is weak eats only vegetables. 3 The one who eats is not to regard with contempt the one who does not eat, and the one who does not eat is not to judge the one who eats, for God has accepted him. 4 Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.
5 One person values one day over another, another values every day the same. Each person must be fully convinced in his own mind. 6 The one who observes the day, observes it for the Lord, and the one who eats, does so with regard to the Lord, for he gives thanks to God; and the one who does not eat, it is for the Lord that he does not eat, and he gives thanks to God. 7 For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself; 8 for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. 9 For to this end Christ died and lived again, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living.
10 But as for you, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or you as well, why do you regard your brother or sister with contempt? For we will all appear before the judgment seat of God. 11 For it is written:
“As I live, says the Lord, to Me every knee will bow,
And every tongue will give praise to God.”
12 So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God.
13 Therefore let’s not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this: not to put an obstacle or a stumbling block in a brother’s or sister’s way. 14 I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to the one who thinks something is unclean, to that person it is unclean. 15 For if because of food your brother or sister is hurt, you are no longer walking in accordance with love. Do not destroy with your choice of food that person for whom Christ died. 16 Therefore do not let what is for you a good thing be spoken of as evil; 17 for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. 18 For the one who serves Christ in this way is acceptable to God and approved by other people. 19 So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another. 20 Do not tear down the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are clean, but they are evil for the person who eats and causes offense. 21 It is good not to eat meat or to drink wine, or to do anything by which your brother or sister stumbles. 22 The faith which you have, have as your own conviction before God. Happy is the one who does not condemn himself in what he approves. 23 But the one who doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and whatever is not from faith is sin.
1 How lonely sits the city
That once had many people!
She has become like a widow
Who was once great among the nations!
She who was a princess among the provinces
Has become a forced laborer!
2 She weeps bitterly in the night,
And her tears are on her cheeks;
She has no one to comfort her
Among all her lovers.
All her friends have dealt treacherously with her;
They have become her enemies.
3 Judah has gone into exile out of affliction
And harsh servitude;
She lives among the nations,
But she has not found a resting place;
All those who pursued her have overtaken her
In the midst of distress.
4 The roads of Zion are in mourning
Because no one comes to an appointed feast.
All her gates are deserted;
Her priests groan,
Her virgins are worried,
And as for Zion herself, it is bitter for her.
5 Her adversaries have become her masters,
Her enemies are secure;
For the Lord has caused her grief
Because of the multitude of her wrongdoings;
Her little ones have gone away
As captives led by the enemy.
6 All of her splendor
Is gone from the daughter of Zion;
Her leaders have become like deer
That have found no pasture,
And they have fled without strength
From the pursuer.
7 In the days of her affliction and homelessness
Jerusalem remembers all her treasures
That were hers since the days of old,
When her people fell into the hand of the adversary
And no one helped her.
The adversaries saw her,
They laughed at her ruin.
8 Jerusalem sinned greatly,
Therefore she has become an object of ridicule.
All who honored her despise her
Because they have seen her nakedness;
Even she herself groans and turns away.
9 Her uncleanness was in her garment’s seams;
She did not think of her future.
So she has fallen in an astonishing way;
She has no comforter.
“See, Lord, my affliction,
For the enemy has honored himself!”
10 The adversary has stretched out his hand
Over all her precious things,
For she has seen the nations enter her sanctuary,
The ones whom You commanded
That they were not to enter Your congregation.
11 All her people groan, seeking bread;
They have given their treasures for food
To restore their lives.
“See, Lord, and look,
For I am despised.”
12 “Is it nothing to all you who pass this way?
Look and see if there is any pain like my pain
Which was inflicted on me,
With which the Lord tormented me on the day of His fierce anger.
13 From the height He sent fire into my bones,
And it dominated them.
He has spread a net for my feet;
He has turned me back;
He has made me desolate,
Faint all day long.
14 The yoke of my wrongdoings is bound;
By His hand they are woven together.
They have come upon my neck;
He has made my strength fail.
The Lord has handed me over
To those against whom I am not able to stand.
15 The Lord has thrown away all my strong men
In my midst;
He has called an appointed time against me
To crush my young men;
The Lord has trodden as in a wine press
The virgin daughter of Judah.
16 For these things I weep;
My eyes run down with water;
Because far from me is a comforter,
One to restore my soul.
My children are desolate
Because the enemy has prevailed.”
17 Zion stretches out with her hands;
There is no one to comfort her;
The Lord has commanded regarding Jacob
That those around him become his adversaries;
Jerusalem has become a filthy thing among them.
18 “The Lord is righteous,
For I have rebelled against His command;
Hear now, all peoples,
And see my pain;
My virgins and my young men
Have gone into captivity.
19 I called to my lovers, but they deserted me;
My priests and my elders perished in the city
While they sought food to restore their strength themselves.
20 See, Lord, for I am in distress;
My spirit is greatly troubled;
My heart is overturned within me,
For I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword has made women childless;
In the house it is like death.
21 They have heard that I groan;
There is no one to comfort me,
All my enemies have heard of my disaster;
They are joyful that You have done it.
Oh, that You would bring the day which You have proclaimed,
So that they will become like me.
22 May all their wickedness come before You;
And deal with them just as You have dealt with me
For all my wrongdoings.
For my groans are many and my heart is faint.”
1 How blessed is he whose wrongdoing is forgiven,
Whose sin is covered!
2 How blessed is a person whose guilt the Lord does not take into account,
And in whose spirit there is no deceit!
3 When I kept silent about my sin, my body wasted away
Through my groaning all day long.
4 For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me;
My vitality failed as with the dry heat of summer. Selah
5 I acknowledged my sin to You,
And I did not hide my guilt;
I said, “I will confess my wrongdoings to the Lord”;
And You forgave the guilt of my sin. Selah
6 Therefore, let everyone who is godly pray to You in a time when You may be found;
Certainly in a flood of great waters, they will not reach him.
7 You are my hiding place; You keep me from trouble;
You surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah
8 I will instruct you and teach you in the way which you should go;
I will advise you with My eye upon you.
9 Do not be like the horse or like the mule, which have no understanding,
Whose trappings include bit and bridle to hold them in check,
Otherwise they will not come near to you.
10 The sorrows of the wicked are many,
But the one who trusts in the Lord, goodness will surround him.
11 Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.