← 1 Samuel

Chiasm

1 Samuel 16:1–10

1 Samuel 16:1–103 matched frames1 pivot

Read down to the center, where the pattern turns; then rise back out through its mirror.

  • A 1 And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.
    • B 2 And Samuel said, How can I go? if Saul hear it, he will kill me. And the LORD said, Take an heifer with thee, and say, I am come to sacrifice to the LORD.
      • C 3 And call Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will shew thee what thou shalt do:
        • D 3 and thou shalt anoint unto me him whom I name unto thee.
      • C' 4 And Samuel did that which the LORD spake, and came to Bethlehem. And the elders of the town trembled at his coming, and said, Comest thou peaceably?
    • B' 4-5 And he said, Peaceably: I am come to sacrifice unto the LORD: sanctify yourselves, and come with me to the sacrifice.
  • A' 5 And he sanctified Jesse and his sons, and called them to the sacrifice.
  • A 6 And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab, and said, Surely the LORD's anointed is before him.
    • B 7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him:
      • C 7 for the LORD seeth not as man seeth;
    • B' 7 for man looketh on the outward appearance,
      • C' 7 but the LORD looketh on the heart.
  • A' 8-10 Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. Then Jesse made Shammah to pass by. And he said, Neither hath the LORD chosen this. Again, Jesse made seven of his sons to pass before Samuel. And Samuel said unto Jesse, The LORD hath not chosen these.
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