2 Samuel replied, “How can I go? Saul will hear about it and kill me!” But the Lord said, “Take a heifer with you and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the Lord.’
3 Then invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you should do. You will anoint for me the one I point out to you.”
4 Samuel did what the Lord told him. When he arrived in Bethlehem, the elders of the city were afraid to meet him. They said, “Do you come in peace?”
5 He replied, “Yes, in peace. I have come to sacrifice to the Lord. Consecrate yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” So he consecrated Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice.
6 When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!”
7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
8 Then Jesse called Abinadab and presented him to Samuel. But Samuel said, “The Lord has not chosen this one, either.”