1 Samuel 15
1 Samuel said to Saul, "The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over Israel. Now therefore listen to 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 says the LORD of hosts, 'I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up out of 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 strike Amalek and put them and everything that belongs to them under the ban. And do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.'"
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 Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand 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 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait 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 Saul said to the Kenites, "Go, depart, go down from among Amalek, lest I sweep you away with them; for you showed kindness to the children of Israel, when they came up out of Egypt." So the Kenites departed from among Amalek.
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 Saul struck Amalek, from Havilah as you go 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 He took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with 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 and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and the cattle, and the fat ones and the lambs, and all that was good, and wouldn't utterly destroy them; but everything that was despised and rejected, that they utterly 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 Then the word of the LORD came to Samuel, saying,
Then Yahweh said to Samuel,
11 "It grieves me that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not carried out my commandments." And Samuel was angry; and he cried to the LORD all 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 early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, saying, "Saul came to Carmel, and look, he set up a monument for himself, and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal." And Samuel came to Saul, and look, he was offering up a burnt offering to the LORD, the best of the spoils which he had brought from Amalek.
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 to him, "You are blessed by the LORD. I have performed the commandment 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 Samuel said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"
But Samuel replied, “If that is true, why is it that I hear cattle mooing and I hear sheep bleating?”
15 And Saul said, "I have brought them from Amalek; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle to sacrifice to the LORD your God, and I have utterly destroyed the rest."
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 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stay, and I will tell you what the LORD has said to me last night." He said to him, "Say on."
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 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? The LORD anointed you 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 you on a journey, and said to you, 'Go, and utterly destroy those sinners, Amalek, and fight against them until you have destroyed them.'
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 Why then did you not obey the voice of the LORD, but took the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight 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 Saul said to Samuel, "But 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 Amalek.
Saul replied to Samuel, “Hey, I did what Yahweh sent me to do! I brought back King Agag, but we killed everyone else!
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to the LORD your 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 Samuel said, "Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of 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 rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has also rejected you from being 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 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.
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 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship 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 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."
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 As Samuel turned about to go away, he grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
As Samuel turned to leave, Saul tried to stop him by grabbing the edge of Samuel’s robe, and it tore.
28 Samuel said to him, "The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
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 Eternal One of Israel will not retract or change his mind; for he is not a man that he should change his mind."
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 Then he said, "I have sinned: yet please honor me now before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and come back with me, that I may worship the LORD your 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 went back with Saul; and he worshiped 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 Then Samuel said, "Bring here to me Agag the king of Amalek." And Agag came to him trembling. And Agag said, "Surely death is bitter."
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 Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women." Samuel cut 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 in Gibeah.
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 again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul. And the LORD grieved 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.
