1 Samuel 15
1 Samuel said to Saul, "YHWH sent me to anoint you to be king over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the words of YHWH.
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:
2 Thus says YHWH 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.
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.
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.'"
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.
4 Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah.
So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
5 Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.
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.
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.
7 Saul struck Amalek, from Havilah as you go to Shur, that is before Egypt.
And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
8 He took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
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.
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.
10 Then the word of YHWH came to Samuel, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
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 YHWH all night.
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.
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 YHWH, the best of the spoils which he had brought from Amalek.
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.
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, "You are blessed by YHWH. I have performed the commandment of YHWH."
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.
14 Samuel said, "Then what does this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear mean?"
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?
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 YHWH your God, and I have utterly destroyed the rest."
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.
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Stay, and I will tell you what YHWH has said to me last night." He said to him, "Say on."
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.
17 Samuel said, "Though you were little in your own sight, weren't you made the head of the tribes of Israel? YHWH anointed you king over Israel;
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.
18 and YHWH 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 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.
19 Why then did you not obey the voice of YHWH, but took the spoils, and did that which was evil in the sight of YHWH?"
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.
20 Saul said to Samuel, "But I have obeyed the voice of YHWH, and have gone the way which YHWH sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed Amalek.
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.
21 But the people took of the spoil, sheep and cattle, the chief of the devoted things, to sacrifice to YHWH your God in Gilgal."
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.
22 Samuel said, "Has YHWH as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of YHWH? Look, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.
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.
23 For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of YHWH, he has also rejected you from being king."
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.
24 Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of YHWH, and your words, because I feared the people, and obeyed their voice.
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.
25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship YHWH."
But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin, and return with me, that I may adore the Lord.
26 Samuel said to Saul, "I will not return with you; for you have rejected the word of YHWH, and YHWH has rejected you from being king over Israel."
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.
27 As Samuel turned about to go away, he grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
And Samuel turned about to go away: but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28 Samuel said to him, "YHWH has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
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.
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."
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.
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 YHWH your God."
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.
31 So Samuel went back with Saul; and he worshiped YHWH.
So Samuel turned again after Saul: and Saul adored the Lord.
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."
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?
33 Samuel said, "As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women." Samuel cut Agag in pieces before YHWH in Gilgal.
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.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah.
And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.
35 And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned for Saul. And YHWH grieved that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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.
