1 Samuel 15
1 Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you to be king over his people, over Israel. Now therefore listen to the voice of the LORD’s words.
And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over Israel: and now hear the voice of the Lord.
2 The LORD of Hosts says, ‘I remember what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up out of 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 Now go and strike Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and don’t spare them; but kill both man and woman, infant and nursing baby, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
And now go, and thou shalt smite Amalec and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and thou shalt not save anything of him alive, but thou shalt utterly destroy him: and thou shalt devote him and all his to [destruction], and thou shalt spare nothing belonging to him; and thou shalt slay both man and woman, and infant and suckling, and calf and sheep, and camel and ass.
4 Saul summoned the people, and counted them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of 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 came to the city of Amalek, and set an ambush in the valley.
And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley.
6 Saul said to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go 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.
And Saul said to the Kinite, Go, and depart out of the midst of the Amalekites, lest I put thee with them; for thou dealedst mercifully with the children of Israel when they went up out of Egypt. So the Kinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
7 Saul struck the Amalekites, from Havilah as you go to Shur, which is before Egypt.
And Saul smote Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
8 He took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword.
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he slew all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, of the cattle, of the fat calves, of the lambs, and all that was good, and were not willing to utterly destroy them; but everything that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
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 Then the LORD’s word came to Samuel, saying,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11 “It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” Samuel was angry; and he cried to the LORD all 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 rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and Samuel was told, saying, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself, turned, passed on, and went 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 Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, “You are blessed by the LORD! I have performed the commandment of the LORD.”
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed [art] thou of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.
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 then [is] the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15 Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the cattle, to sacrifice to the LORD your God. We have utterly 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 thy God, and the rest have I utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stay, and I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.” He said to him, “Say on.”
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night: and he said to him, Say on.
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;
And Samuel said to Saul, Art thou not little in his eyes, [though] a leader of one of the tribes of Israel? and [yet] the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
18 and the LORD sent you on a journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said to thee, Go, and utterly destroy: thou shalt slay the sinners against me, [even] the Amalekites; and thou shalt war against them until thou have consumed them.
19 Why then didn’t you obey the LORD’s voice, but took the plunder, and did that which was evil in the LORD’s sight?”
And why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 Saul said to Samuel, “But I have obeyed the LORD’s voice, and have gone the way which the LORD sent me, and have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and have utterly 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 But the people took of the plunder, sheep and cattle, the best of the devoted things, to sacrifice 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 Samuel said, “Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the LORD’s voice? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than 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 For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as idolatry and teraphim. Because you have rejected the LORD’s word, he has also rejected you from being king.”
For sin is [as] divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject thee from being king over Israel.
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.
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and thy direction; for I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.
25 Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship the LORD.”
And now remove, I pray thee, my sin, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God.
26 Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you; for you have rejected the LORD’s word, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn back with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord will reject thee from being king over Israel.
27 As Samuel turned around to go away, Saul grabbed the skirt of his robe, and it tore.
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 torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours who is better than you.
And Samuel said to him, The Lord has rent thy kingdom from Israel out of thy hand this day, and will give it to thy neighbour who is better than thou.
29 Also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.”
And Israel shall be divided to two: and [God] will not turn nor repent, for he is not as a man to 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 the LORD your God.”
And Saul said, I have sinned; yet honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of Israel, and before my people; and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God.
31 So Samuel went back with Saul; and Saul worshiped the LORD.
So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshipped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, “Bring Agag the king of the Amalekites here to me!” Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
And Samuel said, Bring me Agag the king of Amalec: and Agag came to him trembling; and Agag said Is death thus bitter?
33 Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so your mother will be childless among women!” Then Samuel cut Agag in pieces before the LORD in Gilgal.
And Samuel said to Agag, As thy sword has bereaved women of their children, so shall thy mother be made childless among women: and Samuel slew Agag before the Lord in Galgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul.
And Samuel departed to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gabaa.
35 Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death, but Samuel mourned for Saul. The LORD grieved that he had made Saul king over 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.
