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.
Samuel also said to Saul, The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel: now therefore listen you to the voice of the words 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 says the LORD of hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way, when he came up from 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.”
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, 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 gathered the people together, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 Saul advanced on the town of Amalek and set up an ambush in the valley.
And Saul came to a city of Amalek, 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 Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them: for you showed kindness to all the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites.
7 Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, to the east of Egypt.
And Saul smote the Amalekites from Havilah until you come to Shur, that is over against Egypt.
8 He captured Agag, king of Amalek, alive, but exterminated all the people by the sword.
And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people 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.
But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatted calves, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10 The Lord sent a message to Samuel, saying,
Then came the word of the LORD 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.
It repents me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he 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 when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set him up a place, and is gone about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal.
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 be you of the LORD: I have performed the commandment of the LORD.
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 means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing 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, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the LORD your God; and the rest we have 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.
Then 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, When you were little in your own sight, were you not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the LORD anointed you 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, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed.
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?”
Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but did fly on the spoil, and did 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, Yes, I have obeyed the voice of the LORD, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
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 spoil, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the LORD your God in Gilgal.
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, Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen 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 rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being king.
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: for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD, and your words: because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
25 So please forgive my sin and come back with me, so I can worship the Lord.”
Now therefore, I pray you, pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.
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 return with you: for you have rejected the word of the LORD, and the LORD has rejected 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 as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold on the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
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 rent the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, that 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 also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent: for he is not a man, that he should 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.”
Then he said, I have sinned: yet honor me now, I pray you, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD your God.
31 So Samuel went back with Saul after all, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul 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.”
Then said Samuel, Bring you here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites. And Agag came to him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
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, As the sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
34 Samuel left for Ramah, and Saul went home to Gibeah of Saul.
Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
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 came no more to see Saul until the day of his death: nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul: and the LORD repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
