1 Samuel 15
1 And Samuel said unto Saul, Me did the Lord send to anoint thee as king over his people, over Israel; and now hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.
[One day] Samuel said to Saul, “Yahweh sent me to appoint you to be the king of the Israeli people. So now listen to this message from Yahweh:
2 Thus hath said the Lord of hosts, I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he lay in wait for him on the way, when he came up from Egypt.
Yahweh, [the commander] of the armies [of angels] has declared this: ‘I am going to punish [the descendants of] Amalek for [attacking] the Israeli people after the Israelis left Egypt.
3 Now go and smite 'Amalek, and devote all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and lamb, camel and ass.
So now go [with your army] and attack the Amalek people-group. Destroy them completely—destroy them and everything that belongs to them—the men and women, their children and infants, their cattle and sheep and camels and donkeys. Do not (spare any of them/allow any of them to remain alive)!’”
4 And Saul ordered the people to assemble, and he numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand of the men of Judah.
So Saul summoned the army, and they gathered at Telaim [town]. There were 200,000 soldiers. 10,000 of them were from Judah, [and the others were from the other Israeli tribes].
5 And Saul came to the city of 'Amalek, and he fought in the valley.
Then Saul went [with his army] to a town where some of the Amalek people-group lived. [His army prepared to attack them suddenly by] hiding in the valley.
6 And Saul said unto the Kenites, Go, depart, get you down from the midst of the 'Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; whereas ye acted kindly with all the children of Israel, at their coming up out of Egypt. And the Kenites departed from the midst of the 'Amalekites.
Then Saul sent this message to the Ken people-group [who lived in that area]: “You acted kindly toward all our Israeli [ancestors] when they left Egypt. But we are going to kill all of the Amalek people-group, [because they opposed/attacked our ancestors]. So move away from where the Amalek people-group live. [If you do not move away], you will be killed when they are killed.” So [when] the Ken people-group [heard that, they immediately] left that area.
7 And Saul smote the 'Amalekites from Chavilah until thou comest to Shur, that is before Egypt.
Then Saul’s [army] slaughtered the Amalek people-group, from Havilah [town in the east] to Shur [town in the west]. Shur was at the border [between Israel and] Egypt.
8 And he caught Agag the king of the 'Amalekites alive, and all the people he devoted to the edge of the sword.
Saul’s army captured Agag, the king of the Amalek people-group, but they killed everyone else.
9 But Saul together with the people had pity on Agag, and on the best of the flocks, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the fat lambs, and all that was good, and they would not destroy them; but all the cattle that was of little value and weak, that they destroyed.
They not only (spared/did not kill) Agag, but they also took the best sheep and goats and cattle. They took everything that was good. They destroyed only the animals that they considered to be worthless.
10 And the word of the Lord came unto Samuel, saying,
Then Yahweh said to Samuel,
11 I repent that I have set up Saul as king; for he hath turned back from following me, and my word hath he not performed: and it displeased Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all the night.
“I am sorry that I appointed Saul to be your king, because he has turned away from me and has not obeyed what I commanded him to do.” Samuel was very disturbed/upset [when he heard that], and he cried out to Yahweh all that night.
12 And Samuel rose up early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told to Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set himself up a monument, and then went about, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.
Early the next morning, Samuel got up and went to talk with Saul. But someone told Samuel, “Saul went to Camel [city], where he has set up a monument to honor himself. Now he has left there and gone down to Gilgal.”
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou unto the Lord, I have performed the word of the Lord.
When Samuel arrived [at Gilgal] he approached Saul, and Saul said to him, “I wish/desire that Yahweh will bless you! I have obeyed what Yahweh told me to do.”
14 And Samuel said, What is then this bleating of the flocks in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”
15 And Saul said, From the 'Amalekites have they brought them; because the people had pity on the best of the flocks and of the oxen, in order to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God; and the rest have we destroyed.
Saul replied, “The soldiers took them from the Amalek people-group. They saved the best sheep and cattle, in order to offer them as sacrifices to Yahweh, your God. But we have completely destroyed all the others.”
16 And Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord said to me this night: and he said unto him, Speak.
Samuel said to Saul, “Stop [talking]! Allow me to tell you what Yahweh said to me last night.” Saul replied, “Tell me [what he said].”
17 And Samuel said, Is it not that, however little thou wast in thy own eyes, thou art the head of the tribes of Israel? and the Lord anointed thee as king over Israel?
Samuel said, “Previously you did not think that you were important. But now you have become [RHQ] the leader of the tribes of Israel. Yahweh appointed you to be their king.
18 And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said, Go and destroy the sinners, the 'Amalekites, and thou shalt fight against them until they be consumed.
And Yahweh sent you to do something [for him]. He said to you, ‘Go and get rid of all those sinful people, the Amalek people-group. Attack them and kill all of them.’
19 Wherefore then didst thou not hearken unto the voice of the Lord, and didst fly upon the spoil, and didst the evil in the eyes of the Lord?
So why did you not obey Yahweh [RHQ]? Why did your men take the best animals [RHQ]? Why did you do what Yahweh said was evil?” [RHQ]
20 And Saul said unto Samuel, Yea, I have fully hearkened unto the voice of the Lord; and I went on the way which the Lord had sent me; and I have brought Agag the king of 'Amalek; and the 'Amalekites have I destroyed.
Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else!
21 And the people took of the spoil, of the flocks and oxen, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
My men brought back only the best sheep and cattle and other things, in order to sacrifice them to Yahweh your God here at Gilgal.”
22 And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as much delight in burnt-offerings and in sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to attend more than the fat of the rams.
But Samuel replied, “Which [do you think] pleases Yahweh more, animals that are completely burned [on the altar] and other sacrifices, or people obeying him [SYN]? It is better to obey [Yahweh] than [to offer] sacrifices [to him]. It is better to pay attention to what he says than [to burn] the fat of rams, [even though God said they should be sacrificed to him].
23 For the sin of witchcraft is rebellion, and idolatry and image-worship, stubbornness; inasmuch as thou hast despised the word of the Lord, he hath also despised thee that thou shalt not be king.
To rebel [against God] is as sinful as doing sorcery/black magic, and being stubborn is as sinful as worshiping idols. So, because you disobeyed what Yahweh told you to do, he has declared that you will no longer be king.”
24 And Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the will of the Lord, and thy words; because I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.
Then Saul said to Samuel, “[Yes], I have sinned. I disobeyed what you told me to do, which is what Yahweh commanded. I did that because I was (afraid of/worried about) what my men would say [if I did not do what they wanted]. So I did what they demanded.
25 And now, I pray thee, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may prostrate myself to the Lord.
But now, please forgive me for having sinned. And come back with me [to where the people are] in order that I may worship Yahweh.”
26 And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee; for thou didst despise the word of the Lord, and the Lord hath despised thee, that thou shalt not be king over Israel.
But Samuel replied, “No, I will not go back with you. You have rejected/disobeyed what Yahweh commanded you to do. So he has rejected you, [and declared that you will no longer] be the king of Israel. [So I do not want to talk any more with you].”
27 And Samuel turned about to go: and he laid hold on the corner of his mantle, and it was rent.
As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel’s robe, and it tore.
28 And Samuel said unto him, The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from off thee this day, and hath given it to thy associate, who is better than thou.
Samuel said to him, “[You tore my robe! And] today Yahweh has torn away from you the kingdom of Israel! He will appoint someone else to be king, someone who is a better man than you are.
29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.
And since the one who is the glorious [God] of the Israeli people does not lie, he will not change (his mind/what he has said). Humans sometimes change their minds, but God does not do that, because he is not a human.”
30 And he said, I have sinned; [yet] honor me now, I pray thee, in the presence of the elders of my people, and in the presence of Israel, and return with me, that I may prostrate myself unto the Lord thy God.
Then Saul [pleaded again. He] said, “I know that I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the leaders of the Israeli people and in front of all the other Israeli people by coming back [to them] with me in order that I may worship Yahweh your God.”
31 So Samuel returned, following Saul; and Saul prostrated himself to the Lord.
So Samuel finally agreed to do that, and they went together back [to where the people were], and Saul worshiped Yahweh there.
32 And Samuel said, Bring ye hither unto me Agag the king of the 'Amalekites: and Agag came unto him cheerfully; and Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past.
Then Samuel said, “Bring King Agag to me.” So they brought Agag to him. Agag was confidently expecting that they would spare him/not kill him. He was thinking, “Surely I will not have to endure an agonizing death!”
33 And Samuel said, As thy sword did make women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women; and Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
But Samuel said to him, “You have killed the sons of many women with your sword, so now your mother will no longer have a son.” And Samuel cut Agag into pieces [with his sword], there at Gilgal, in the presence of Yahweh.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house at Gib'ah of Saul.
Then Samuel left there and returned to his home in Ramah, and Saul went to his home in Gibeah.
35 And Samuel did not see Saul any more until the day of his death; because Samuel mourned for Saul; and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
Samuel never saw Saul again, but he was very sad about [what] Saul [had done]. And Yahweh was very sorry that he had appointed Saul to be the king of Israel.
