< 1 Samuel 15 >

1 Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king of his people Israel. So now pay attention to what the Lord has to say.
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 Almighty says: I observed what the Amalekites did to Israel when they ambushed them on their way 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 Go and attack the Amalekites and exterminate all of them. Don't spare anyone, but kill every man, woman, child, and baby; every ox, sheep, camel, and donkey.”
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 Saul called up his army at Telem. There were 200,000 Israelite infantry and 10,000 men from 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 advanced on the town of Amalek and set up an ambush in the valley.
And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley.
6 Saul sent a message to warn the Kenites, “Move out of the area and leave the Amalekites so that I don't destroy you with them, because you showed kindness to all the people of Israel on their way from Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away and left 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 Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, to the east of Egypt.
And Saul struck Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
8 He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but exterminated all the people by 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 army spared Agag, together with the best sheep and cattle, the fat calves and lambs, and everything else that was any good. They didn't want to destroy those, but they completely destroyed all that was unwanted 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 The Lord sent a message to Samuel, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11 “I'm sorry I made Saul king, for he has given up following me and hasn't done as I ordered.” Samuel was upset, and he cried out to the Lord all through the 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 Samuel got up early in the morning and went to meet Saul, but he was told, “Saul's gone to Carmel. There he's even erected a monument to honor himself, and now he's left 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 caught up with him, Saul said, “The Lord bless you! I have done what the Lord ordered.”
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 “So what's this bleating of sheep my ears are picking up? What's this lowing of cattle that I'm hearing?” Samuel asked.
And Samuel said, What then [is] the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15 “The army brought them from the Amalekites,” Saul replied. “They spared the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God, but we completely destroyed the rest.”
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 “Oh, be quiet!” Samuel told Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord told me last night.” “Tell me what he said,” 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 “Once you didn't use to think much of yourself, but haven't you become the leader of the tribes of Israel?” Samuel asked. “The Lord anointed you king of 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 Then he sent you out to do something, telling you, ‘Go and exterminate those sinners, the Amalekites. Attack them until they're all destroyed.’
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 Why didn't you do what the Lord ordered? Why did you swoop down on the plunder and do what was evil in the Lord's sight?”
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 do what the Lord ordered!” Saul replied. “I went and did what the Lord sent me to do. I brought back Agag, king of Amalek, and completely destroyed the Amalekites.
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 army took sheep and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was consecrated to God, to sacrifice them to the Lord your God in 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 “Does the Lord prefer burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obedience to what he says?” Samuel asked. “Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice. Paying attention is more important than offering 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 Rebellion is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as bad as the sin of idolatry. Because you have rejected the Lord's commands, 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 “I have sinned,” Saul confessed to Samuel. “I disobeyed the Lord's orders and your instructions, because I was afraid of the people and followed what they said.
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 So please forgive my sin and come back 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 But Samuel told him, “I'm not going back with you. You have rejected the Lord's orders, and the Lord has rejected you as king of 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 away to leave, Saul grabbed hold of the hem of his robe, and it ripped.
And Samuel turned his face to depart, and Saul caught hold of the skirt of his garment, and tore it.
28 Samuel said to him, “The Lord has ripped the kingdom of Israel away from you today and has given it to your neighbor—someone 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 neighbour who is better than you.
29 In addition, the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind, for he is not a human being who changes 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 “Yes, 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 honour 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 after all, 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 confidently, for he thought, “The threat of death of being killed must have passed.”
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 said, “In the same way that your sword has made women childless, so too your mother will be childless among women.” Samuel cut 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 amongst women: and Samuel killed Agag before the Lord in Galgal.
34 Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went home to Gibeah of Saul.
And Samuel departed to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gabaa.
35 Until the day of his death, Samuel never visited Saul again. Samuel mourned over Saul, and the Lord regretted he had made Saul the king of 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.

< 1 Samuel 15 >