1 Samuel 15
15
The Lord Is Sad That He Made Saul King
1Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So listen now to a message from him. 2The Lord who rules over all says, ‘I will punish the Amalekites because of what they did to Israel. As the Israelites came up from Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them. 3Now go. Attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare the Amalekites. Put the men and women to death. Put the children and babies to death. Also kill the cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys.’ ”
4So Saul brought his men together at Telaim. The total number was 200,000 soldiers on foot from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5Saul went to the city of Amalek. Then Saul had some of his men hide and wait in the valley. 6Then Saul said to the Kenites, “You were kind to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Get away from the Amalekites. Then I won’t have to destroy you along with them.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7Saul attacked the Amalekites. He struck them down all the way from Havilah to Shur. Shur was near the eastern border of Egypt. 8Saul captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites. But he and his men totally destroyed with their swords all Agag’s people. 9So Saul and the army spared Agag. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They spared the fat calves and lambs. They spared everything that was valuable. They weren’t willing to completely destroy any of those things. But they totally destroyed everything that was worthless and weak.
10Then the Lord gave Samuel a message. He said, 11“I am very sad I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I directed him to do.” When Samuel heard that, he was angry. He cried out to the Lord during that whole night.
12Early the next morning Samuel got up. He went to see Saul. But Samuel was told, “Saul went to Carmel. There he set up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone on down to Gilgal.”
13When Samuel got there, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you. I’ve done what he directed me to do.”
14But Samuel said, “Then why do I hear the baaing of sheep? Why do I hear the mooing of cattle?”
15Saul answered, “The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They did it to sacrifice them to the Lord your God. But we totally destroyed everything else.”
16“That’s enough!” Samuel said to Saul. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17Samuel said, “There was a time when you didn’t think you were important. But you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord anointed you to be king over Israel. 18He sent you to do something for him. He said, ‘Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.’ 19Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you keep for yourselves what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20“But I did obey the Lord,” Saul said. “I went to do what he sent me to do. I completely destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king. 21The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22But Samuel replied,
“What pleases the Lord more?
Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying the Lord?
It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice.
It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams.
23Refusing to obey the Lord is as sinful as using evil magic.
Being proud is as evil as worshiping statues of gods.
You have refused to do what the Lord told you to do.
So he has refused to have you as king.”
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I’ve broken the Lord’s command. I haven’t done what you directed me to do. I was afraid of the men. So I did what they said I should do. 25Now I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back into town with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to him, “I won’t go back with you. You have refused to do what the Lord told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king over Israel!”
27Samuel turned to leave. But Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors. He has given it to someone better than you. 29The God who is the Glory of Israel does not lie. He doesn’t change his mind. That’s because he isn’t a mere human being. If he were, he might change his mind.”
30Saul replied, “I have sinned. But please honor me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. Come back with me so I can worship the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel went back with Saul. And Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.”
Agag was in chains when he came to Samuel. Agag thought, “The time for me to be put to death must have passed by now.”
33But Samuel said,
“Your sword has killed the children of other women.
So the child of your mother will be killed.”
Samuel put Agag to death at Gilgal in front of the Lord.
34Then Samuel left to go to Ramah. But Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35Until the day Samuel died, he didn’t go to see Saul again. Samuel was filled with sorrow because of Saul. And the Lord was very sad he had made Saul king over Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: NIrV
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Holy Bible, New International Reader’s Version®, NIrV®
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1 Samuel 15
15
1 And Samuel said to Saul: "The Lord sent me, so that I would anoint you as king over his people Israel. Now therefore, listen to the voice of the Lord.
2 'Thus says the Lord of hosts: I have taken account of all that Amalek has done to Israel, how he stood against him in the way, when he ascended from Egypt.
3 Now therefore, go and strike Amalek, and demolish all that is his. You shall not spare him, and you shall not covet anything out of the things that are his. Instead, kill from man even to woman, and little ones as well as infants, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.' "
4 And so, Saul instructed the people, and he numbered them like lambs: two hundred thousand foot soldiers, and ten thousand men of Judah.
5 And when Saul had arrived as far as the city of Amalek, he placed ambushes at the torrent.
6 And Saul said to the Kenite: "Go away, withdraw, and descend from Amalek. Otherwise, I will include you with him. For you showed mercy to all the sons of Israel, when they ascended from Egypt." And so the Kenite withdrew from the midst of Amalek.
7 And Saul struck down Amalek, from Havilah even until you arrive at Shur, which is opposite the region of Egypt.
8 And he apprehended Agag, the king of Amalek, alive. But all the common people he put to death with the edge of the sword.
9 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 they were not willing to destroy them. Yet truly, whatever was vile or worthless, these they demolished.
10 Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying
11 "It displeases me that I have appointed Saul as king. For he has forsaken me, and he has not fulfilled the work of my words." And Samuel was greatly saddened, and he cried out to the Lord, all night long
12 And when Samuel had risen while it was still dark, so that he might go to Saul in the morning, it was reported to Samuel that Saul had arrived at Carmel, and that he had erected for himself a triumphant arch. And, while returning, he had continued on and descended to Gilgal. Therefore, Samuel went to Saul. And Saul was offering a holocaust to the Lord, from the best of the spoils, which he had brought from Amalek.
13 And when Samuel had gone to Saul, Saul said to him: "You are the blessed of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord."
14 And Samuel said, "Then what is this voice of the flocks, which resounds in my ears, and of the herds, which I am hearing?"
15 And Saul said: "They have brought these from Amalek. For the people spared the best of the sheep and of the herds, so that they might be immolated to the Lord your God. Yet truly, the remainder we have slain."
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, "Permit me, and I will reveal to you what the Lord has said to me this night." And he said to him, "Speak."
17 And Samuel said: "Was it not when you were little in your own eyes that you were made the head of the tribes of Israel? And the Lord anointed you as king over Israel.
18 And the Lord sent you on the way, and he said: 'Go and put to death the sinners of Amalek. And you shall fight against them, even unto utter annihilation.'
19 Why then, did you not listen to the voice of the Lord? Instead, you turned to the spoils, and you did evil in the eyes of the Lord."
20 And Saul said to Samuel: "On the contrary, I did listen to the voice of the Lord, and I walked in the way along which the Lord sent me, and I led back Agag, the king of Amalek, and I put to death Amalek.
21 But the people took some of the spoils, sheep and oxen, as the first-fruits of those things that were slain, to immolate to the Lord their God at Gilgal."
22 And Samuel said: "Does the Lord want holocausts and victims, and not instead that the voice of the Lord should be obeyed? For obedience is better than sacrifice. And to heed is greater than to offer the fat of rams.
23 Therefore, it is like the sin of paganism to rebel. And it is like the crime of idolatry to refuse to obey. For this reason, therefore, because you have rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord has also rejected you from being king."
24 And Saul said to Samuel: "I have sinned, for I have transgressed the word of the Lord, and your words, by fearing the people and obeying their voice.
25 But now, I beg you, to bear my sin, and to return with me, so that I may adore the Lord."
26 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 And Samuel turned away, so that he might depart. But Saul took hold of the edge of his cloak, and it tore.
28 And Samuel said to him: "The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you this day. And he has delivered it to your neighbor, who is better than you are.
29 Moreover, the One who triumphs within Israel will not spare, and he will not be moved to repentance. For he is not a man, that he should repent."
30 Then he said: "I have sinned. But now, honor me before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and return with me, so that I may adore the Lord your God."
31 Therefore, Samuel turned again after Saul. And Saul adored the Lord.
32 And Samuel said, "Bring near to me Agag, the king of Amalek." And Agag, very fat and trembling, was presented to him. And Agag said, "Does bitter death separate in this manner?"
33 And Samuel said, "Just as your sword caused women to be without their children, so will your mother be without her children among women." And Samuel cut him into pieces, before the Lord at Gilgal.
34 Then Samuel went away to Ramah. But Saul ascended to his house at Gibeah.
35 And Samuel did not see Saul any more, until the day of his death. Yet truly, Samuel mourned for Saul, because the Lord regretted that he had appointed him as king over Israel.
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