1 Samuel 15
1 Then Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over His people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the words of the LORD.
And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint you king over Israel: and now hear the voice of the Lord.
2 This is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘I witnessed what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they ambushed them on their way up from Egypt.
Thus said the Lord of hosts, Now will I take vengeance for what Amalec did to Israel, when he met him in the way as he came up out of Egypt.
3 Now go and attack the Amalekites and devote to destruction all that belongs to them. Do not spare them, but put to death men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
And now go, and you shall strike Amalec and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and you shall not save anything of him alive, but you shall utterly destroy him: and you shall devote him and all his to [destruction], and you shall spare nothing belonging to him; and you shall kill both man and woman, and infant and suckling, and calf and sheep, and camel and ass.
4 So Saul summoned the troops and numbered them at Telaim—200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 men of Judah.
And Saul summoned the people, and he numbered them in Galgala, four hundred thousand regular troops, and Juda thirty thousand regular troops.
5 Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley.
And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And he warned the Kenites, “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt, go on and get away from the Amalekites. Otherwise I will sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
And Saul said to the Kinite, Go, and depart out of the midst of the Amalekites, lest I put you with them; for you dealt mercifully with the children of Israel when they went up out of Egypt. So the Kinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
7 Then Saul struck down the Amalekites all the way from Havilah to Shur, which is east of Egypt.
And Saul struck Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
8 He captured Agag king of Amalek alive, but devoted all the others to destruction with the sword.
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he killed all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.
9 Saul and his troops spared Agag, along with the best of the sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and the best of everything else. They were unwilling to destroy them, but they devoted to destruction all that was despised and worthless.
And Saul and all the people saved Agag alive, and the best of the flocks, and of the herds, and of the fruits, of the vineyards, and of all the good things; and they would not destroy them: but every worthless and refuse thing they destroyed.
10 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11 “I regret that I have made Saul king, for he has turned away from following Me and has not carried out My instructions.” And Samuel was distressed and cried out to the LORD all that night.
I have repented that I have made Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not kept my word. And Samuel was grieved, and cried to the Lord all night.
12 Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but he was told, “Saul has gone to Carmel, and behold, he has set up a monument for himself and has turned and gone down to Gilgal.”
And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning, and it was told Saul, saying, Samuel has come to Carmel, and he has raised up help for himself: and he turned his chariot, and came down to Galgala to Saul; and, behold, he was offering up a whole burnt offering to the Lord, the chief of the spoils which he brought out of Amalec.
13 When Samuel reached him, Saul said to him, “May the LORD bless you. I have carried out the LORD’s instructions.”
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed [are] you of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.
14 But Samuel replied, “Then what is this bleating of sheep and lowing of cattle that I hear?”
And Samuel said, What then [is] the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15 Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites; they spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, but the rest we devoted to destruction.”
And Saul said, I have brought them out of Amalec, that which the people preserved, even the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, that it might be sacrificed to the Lord your God, and the rest have I utterly destroyed.
16 “Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” “Tell me,” Saul replied.
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell you what the Lord has said to me this night: and he said to him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, “Although you were once small in your own eyes, have you not become the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you king over Israel
And Samuel said to Saul, Are you not little in his eyes, [though] a leader of one of the tribes of Israel? and [yet] the Lord anointed you to be king over Israel.
18 and sent you on a mission, saying, ‘Go and devote to destruction the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’
And the Lord sent you on a journey, and said to you, Go, and utterly destroy: you shall kill the sinners against me, [even] the Amalekites; and you shall war against them until you have consumed them.
19 So why did you not obey the LORD? Why did you rush upon the plunder and do evil in the sight of the LORD?”
And why did not you listen to the voice of the Lord, but did haste to fasten upon the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 “But I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went on the mission that the LORD gave me. I brought back Agag king of Amalek and devoted the Amalekites to destruction.
And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.
21 The troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of the things devoted to destruction, in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds [out] of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.
22 But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of rams.
And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience [is] better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance is like the wickedness of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He has rejected you as king.”
For sin is [as] divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject you from being king over Israel.
24 Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned; I have transgressed the LORD’s commandment and your instructions, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and your direction; for I feared the people, and I listened to their voice.
25 Now therefore, please forgive my sin and return with me so I can worship the LORD.”
And now remove, I pray you, my sin, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.
26 “I will not return with you,” Samuel replied. “For you have rejected the word of the LORD, and He has rejected you as king over Israel.”
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn back with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord will reject you from being king over Israel.
27 As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore.
And Samuel turned his face to depart, and Saul caught hold of the skirt of his garment, and tore it.
28 So Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.
And Samuel said to him, The Lord has tore your kingdom from Israel out of your hand this day, and will give it to your neighbor who is better than you.
29 Moreover, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind, for He is not a man, that He should change His mind.”
And Israel shall be divided to two: and [God] will not turn nor repent, for he is not as a man to repent.
30 “I have sinned,” Saul replied. “Please honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me, so that I may worship the LORD your God.”
And Saul said, I have sinned; yet honor me, I pray you, before the elders of Israel, and before my people; and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord your God.
31 So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the LORD.
So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshipped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.” Agag came to him cheerfully, for he thought, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
And Samuel said, Bring me Agag the king of Amalec: and Agag came to him trembling; and Agag said Is death thus bitter?
33 But Samuel declared: “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the LORD at Gilgal.
And Samuel said to Agag, As your sword has bereaved women of their children, so shall your mother be made childless among women: and Samuel killed Agag before the Lord in Galgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul.
And Samuel departed to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gabaa.
35 And to the day of his death, Samuel never again visited Saul. Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
And Samuel did not see Saul again till the day of his death, for Samuel mourned after Saul, and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
