1 Samuel 16

1 And the Lord said to Samuel, How long will you go on sorrowing for Saul, seeing that I have put him from his place as king over Israel? Take oil in your vessel and go; I will send you to Jesse, the Beth-lehemite: for I have got a king for myself among his sons.

L’Eterno disse a Samuele: “Fino a quando farai tu cordoglio per Saul, mentre io l’ho rigettato perché non regni più sopra Israele? Empi d’olio il tuo corno, e va’; io ti manderò da Isai di Bethlehem, perché mi son provveduto di un re tra i suoi figliuoli”.

2 And Samuel said, How is it possible for me to go? If Saul gets news of it he will put me to death. And the Lord said, Take a young cow with you and say, I have come to make an offering to the Lord.

E Samuele rispose: “Come andrò io? Saul lo verrà a sapere, e mi ucciderà”. L’Eterno disse: “Prenderai teco una giovenca, e dirai: Son venuto ad offrire un sacrifizio all’Eterno.

3 And send for Jesse to be present at the offering, and I will make clear to you what you are to do: and you are to put the holy oil on him whose name I give you.

Inviterai Isai al sacrifizio; io ti farò sapere quello che dovrai fare, e mi ungerai colui che ti dirò”.

4 And Samuel did as the Lord said and came to Beth-lehem. And the responsible men of the town came out to him in fear and said, Do you come in peace?

Samuele dunque fece quello che l’Eterno gli avea detto; si recò a Bethlehem, e gli anziani della città gli si fecero incontro tutti turbati, e gli dissero: “Porti tu pace?”

5 And he said, In peace: I have come to make an offering to the Lord: make yourselves clean and come with me to make the offering. And he made Jesse and his sons clean, and sent for them to be present at the offering.

Ed egli rispose: “Porto pace; vengo ad offrire un sacrifizio all’Eterno; purificatevi, e venite meco al sacrifizio”. Fece anche purificare Isai e i suoi figliuoli, e li invitò al sacrifizio.

6 Now when they came, looking at Eliab, he said, Clearly the man of the Lord's selection is before him.

Mentre entravano, egli scòrse Eliab, e disse: “Certo, ecco l’unto dell’Eterno davanti a lui”.

7 But the Lord said to Samuel, Do not take note of his face or how tall he is, because I will not have him: for the Lord's view is not man's; man takes note of the outer form, but the Lord sees the heart.

Ma l’Eterno disse a Samuele: “Non badare al suo aspetto né all’altezza della sua statura, perché io l’ho scartato; giacché l’Eterno non guarda a quello a cui guarda l’uomo: l’uomo riguarda all’apparenza, ma l’Eterno riguarda al cuore”.

8 Then Jesse sent for Abinadab and made him come before Samuel. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one.

Allora Isai chiamò Abinadab, e lo fece passare davanti a Samuele; ma Samuele disse: “L’Eterno non s’è scelto neppur questo”.

9 Then Jesse made Shammah come before him. And he said, The Lord has not taken this one.

Isai fece passare Shamma, ma Samuele disse: “L’Eterno non s’è scelto neppur questo”.

10 And Jesse made his seven sons come before Samuel. And Samuel said to Jesse, The Lord has not taken any of these.

Isai fece passar così sette de’ suoi figliuoli davanti a Samuele; ma Samuele disse ad Isai: “L’Eterno non s’è scelto questi”.

11 Then Samuel said to Jesse, Are all your children here? And he said, There is still the youngest, and he is looking after the sheep. And Samuel said to Jesse, Send and make him come here: for we will not take our seats till he is here.

Poi Samuele disse ad Isai: “Sono questi tutti i tuoi figli?” Isai rispose: “Resta ancora il più giovane, ma è a pascere le pecore”.

12 So he sent and made him come in. Now he had red hair and beautiful eyes and pleasing looks. And the Lord said, Come, put the oil on him, for this is he.

E Samuele disse ad Isai: “Mandalo a cercare, perché non ci metteremo a tavola prima che sia arrivato qua”. Isai dunque lo mandò a cercare, e lo fece venire. Or egli era biondo, avea de’ begli occhi e un bell’aspetto. E l’Eterno disse a Samuele: “Lèvati, ungilo, perch’egli è desso”.

13 Then Samuel took the bottle of oil, and put the oil on him there among his brothers: and from that day the spirit of the Lord came on David with power. So Samuel went back to Ramah.

Allora Samuele prese il corno dell’olio, e l’unse in mezzo ai suoi fratelli; e, da quel giorno in poi, lo spirito dell’Eterno investì Davide. E Samuele si levò e se ne andò a Rama.

14 Now the spirit of the Lord had gone from Saul, and an evil spirit from the Lord was troubling him.

Or lo spirito dell’Eterno s’era ritirato da Saul, ch’era turbato da un cattivo spirito suscitato dall’Eterno.

15 And Saul's servants said to him, See now, an evil spirit from God is troubling you.

I servitori di Saul gli dissero: “Ecco, un cattivo spirito suscitato da Dio, ti turba.

16 Now give orders to your servants who are here before you to go in search of a man who is an expert player on a corded instrument: and it will be that when the evil spirit from God is on you, he will make music for you on his instrument, and you will get well.

Ordini ora il nostro signore ai tuoi servi che ti stanno dinanzi, di cercar un uomo che sappia sonar l’arpa; e quando il cattivo spirito suscitato da Dio t’investirà, quegli si metterà a sonare e tu ne sarai sollevato”.

17 And Saul said to his servants, Then get me a man who is an expert player, and make him come to me.

Saul disse ai suoi servitori: “Trovatemi un uomo che suoni bene e conducetemelo”.

18 Then one of the servants in answer said, I have seen a son of Jesse, the Beth-lehemite, who is expert at playing, and a strong man and a man of war; and he is wise in his words, and pleasing in looks, and the Lord is with him.

Allora uno de’ domestici prese a dire: “Ecco io ho veduto un figliuolo di Isai, il Bethlehemita, che sa sonar bene; è un uomo forte, valoroso, un guerriero, parla bene, è di bell’aspetto, e l’Eterno è con lui”.

19 So Saul sent his servants to Jesse and said, Send me your son David who is with the sheep.

Saul dunque inviò de’ messi a Isai per dirgli: “Mandami Davide, tuo figliuolo, che è col gregge”.

20 And Jesse took five cakes of bread and a skin of wine and a young goat and sent them to Saul by David.

Ed Isai prese un asino carico di pane, un otre di vino, un capretto, e mandò tutto a Saul per mezzo di Davide suo figliuolo.

21 And David came to Saul, waiting before him: and he became very dear to Saul, who made him his servant, giving him the care of his arms.

Davide arrivò da Saul e si presentò a lui; ed ei gli pose grande affetto e lo fece suo scudiero.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse saying, Let David be with me, for he is pleasing to me.

E Saul mandò a dire ad Isai: “Ti prego, lascia Davide al mio servizio, poich’egli ha trovato grazia agli occhi miei”.

23 And whenever the evil spirit from God came on Saul, David took his instrument and made music: so new life came to Saul, and he got well, and the evil spirit went away from him.

Or quando il cattivo spirito suscitato da Dio investiva Saul, Davide pigliava l’arpa e si metteva a sonare; Saul si sentiva sollevato, stava meglio, e il cattivo spirito se n’andava da lui.