1 Samuel 15
1 And Samuel said to Saul: The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over his People Israel: now therefore hearken thou unto the voice of the Lord:
And Samuel says to Saul, “YHWH sent me to anoint you for king over His people, over Israel; and now, listen to the voice of the words of YHWH.
2 Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel: I how he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.
Thus said YHWH of Hosts: I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt.
3 Now therefore go, and smite Amalec, and utterly destroy all that he hath: spare him not, nor covet any thing that is his: but slay both man and woman, child and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
Now go, and you have struck Amalek, and devoted all that he has, and you have no pity on him, and have put to death from man to woman, from infant to suckling, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.”
4 So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
And Saul summons the people, and inspects them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand [are] men of Judah.
5 And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.
And Saul comes to a city of Amalek, and lays wait in a valley;
6 And Saul said to the Cinite: Go, depart and get ye down from Amalec: lest I destroy thee with him. For thou hast shewn kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. And the Cinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
and Saul says to the Kenite, “Go, turn aside, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I consume you with it, and you did kindness with all the sons of Israel, in their going up out of Egypt”; and the Kenite turns aside from the midst of Amalek.
7 And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
And Saul strikes Amalek from Havilah [to] your going to Shur, which [is] on the front of Egypt,
8 And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
and he catches Agag king of Amalek alive, and he has devoted all the people by the mouth of the sword;
9 And Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the flocks of sheep and of the herds, and the garments and the rams, and all that was beautiful, and would not destroy them: but every thing that was vile and good for nothing, that they destroyed.
and Saul has pity—also the people—on Agag, and on the best of the flock, and of the herd, and of the seconds, and on the lambs, and on all that [is] good, and have not been willing to devote them; and all the work, despised and wasted—it they devoted.
10 And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
And the word of YHWH is to Samuel, saying,
11 It repenteth me that I have made Saul king: for he hath forsaken me, and hath not executed my commandments. And Samuel was grieved, and he cried unto the Lord all night.
“I have regretted that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he has turned back from after Me, and he has not performed My words”; and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he cries to YHWH all the night.
12 And when Samuel rose early, to go to Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, that Saul was come to Carmel, and had erected for himself a triumphant arch, and returning had passed on, and gone down to Galgal. And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord out of the choicest of the spoils which he had brought from Amalec.
And Samuel rises early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, “Saul has come to Carmel, and behold, he is setting up a monument to himself, and goes around, and passes over, and goes down to Gilgal.”
13 And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord, I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.
And Samuel comes to Saul, and Saul says to him, “Blessed [are] you of YHWH; I have performed the word of YHWH.”
14 And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?
And Samuel says, “And what [is] the noise of this flock in my ears—and the noise of the herd which I am hearing?”
15 And Saul said: They have brought them from Amalec: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds that they might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, but the rest we have slain.
And Saul says, “They have brought them from Amalek, because the people had pity on the best of the flock, and of the herd, in order to sacrifice to your God YHWH, and we have devoted the remnant.”
16 And Samuel said to Saul: Suffer me, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said to him: Speak.
And Samuel says to Saul, “Desist, and I declare to you that which YHWH has spoken to me tonight”; and he says to him, “Speak.”
17 And Samuel said: When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
And Samuel says, “Are you not, if you [are] little in your own eyes, head of the tribes of Israel? And YHWH anoints you for king over Israel,
18 And the Lord sent thee on the way, and said: Go, and kill the sinners of Amalec, and thou shalt fight against them until thou hast utterly destroyed them.
and YHWH sends you in the way, and says, Go, and you have devoted the sinners, the Amalekite, and fought against them until they are consumed;
19 Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of the Lord: but hast turned to the prey, and hast done evil in the eyes of the Lord.
and why have you not listened to the voice of YHWH—and fly to the spoil, and do evil in the eyes of YHWH?”
20 And Saul said to Samuel: Yea I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord, and have walked in the way by which the Lord sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalec, and Amalec I have slain.
And Saul says to Samuel, “Because—I have listened to the voice of YHWH, and I go in the way which YHWH has sent me, and bring in Agag king of Amalek, and I have devoted Amalek;
21 But the people took of the spoils sheep and oxen, as the firstfruits of those things that were slain, to offer sacrifice to the Lord their God in Galgal.
and the people take of the spoil of the flock and herd, the first part of the devoted thing, for sacrifice to your God YHWH in Gilgal.”
22 And Samuel said: Doth the Lord desire holocausts and victims, and not rather that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifices: and to hearken rather than to offer the fat of rams.
And Samuel says, “Has YHWH had delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as [in] listening to the voice of YHWH? Behold, listening is better than sacrifice; to give attention than fat of rams;
23 Because it is like the sin of witchcraft, to rebel: and like the crime of idolatry, to refuse to obey. Forasmuch therefore as thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord hath also rejected thee from being king.
for rebellion [is as] a sin of divination, and stubbornness [is as] iniquity and teraphim; because you have rejected the word of YHWH, He also rejects you from [being] king.”
24 And Saul said to Samuel: I have sinned because I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and thy words, fearing the people, and obeying their voice.
And Saul says to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I passed over the command of YHWH, and your words; because I have feared the people, I also listen to their voice;
25 But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord.
and now, please bear with my sin, and return with me, and I bow myself to YHWH.”
26 And Samuel said to Saul: I will not return with thee, because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath rejected thee from being king over Israel.
And Samuel says to Saul, “I do not return with you; for you have rejected the word of YHWH, and YHWH rejects you from being king over Israel.”
27 And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
And Samuel turns around to go, and he lays hold on the skirt of his upper robe—and it is torn!
28 And Samuel said to him: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.
And Samuel says to him, “YHWH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and given it to your neighbor who is better than you;
29 But the triumpher in Israel will riot spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a mail that he should repent.
and also, the Preeminence of Israel does not lie nor relent, for He [is] not a man that He should relent.”
30 Then he said: I have sinned: yet honour me now before the ancients of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord thy God.
And he says, “I have sinned; now please honor me before [the] elderly of my people and before Israel, and return with me; and I have bowed myself to your God YHWH.”
31 So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.
And Samuel turns back after Saul, and Saul bows himself to YHWH;
32 And Samuel said: Bring hitherto me Agag the king of Amalec. And Agag was presented to him very fat, and trembling. And Agag said: Doth bitter death separate in this manner?
and Samuel says, “Bring Agag king of Amalek to me,” and Agag comes to him daintily, and Agag says, “Surely the bitterness of death has turned aside.”
33 And Samuel said: As thy sword hath made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed him in pieces before the Lord in Galgal.
And Samuel says, “As your sword bereaved women—so is your mother bereaved above women”; and Samuel hews Agag in pieces before YHWH in Gilgal.
34 And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.
And Samuel goes to Ramath, and Saul has gone to his house—to Gibeah of Saul.
35 And Samuel saw Saul no more till the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord repented that he had made him king over Israel.
And Samuel has not added to see Saul until the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and YHWH regretted that He had caused Saul to reign over Israel.
