1 Samuel 15
15
Saul Rejected as King
1Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to appoint you king over Israel. Now listen to his message. 2This is what the Lord of heaven’s armies says: ‘The Israelites came out of Egypt. But the Amalekites tried to stop them from going to Canaan. I saw what they did. 3Now go, attack the Amalekites. Destroy everything that belongs to them as an offering to the Lord. Don’t let anything live. Put to death men and women, children and small babies. Kill the cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”
4So Saul called the army together at Telaim. There were 200,000 soldiers and 10,000 men from Judah. 5Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the ravine. 6He said to the Kenites, “Go away. Leave the Amalekites so that I won’t destroy you with them. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites.
7Then Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt. 8He took Agag king of the Amalekites alive. But he killed all of Agag’s army with the sword. 9But Saul and the army let Agag live. They also let the best sheep, fat cattle and lambs live. They let every good animal live. They did not want to destroy them. But when they found an animal that was weak or useless, they killed it.
10Then the Lord spoke his word to Samuel: 11“Saul has stopped following me. And I am sorry I made him king. He has not obeyed my commands.” Samuel was upset, and he cried out to the Lord all night long.
12Early the next morning Samuel got up and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, “Saul has gone to Carmel. He has put up a monument in his own honor. Now he has gone down to Gilgal.”
13Then Samuel came to Saul. And Saul said, “May the Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord’s commands.”
14But Samuel said, “Then why do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?”
15Saul answered, “The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cattle to offer as sacrifices to the Lord your God. But we destroyed all the other animals.”
16Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
Saul answered, “Tell me.”
17Samuel said, “Once you didn’t think much of yourself. But now you have become the leader of the tribes of Israel. The Lord appointed you to be king over Israel. 18And he told you to do something. He said, ‘Go and destroy those evil people, the Amalekites. Make war on them until all of them are dead.’ 19Why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you take the best things? Why did you do what the Lord said was wrong?”
20Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord. I did what the Lord told me to do. I destroyed all the Amalekites. And I brought back Agag their king. 21The soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22But Samuel answered,
“What pleases the Lord more:
burnt offerings and sacrifices or obedience?
It is better to obey God than to offer a sacrifice.
It is better to listen to God than to offer the fat of male sheep.
23Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery.
Being stubborn is as bad as the sin of worshiping idols.
You have rejected the Lord’s command.
For this reason, he now rejects you as king.”
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I didn’t obey the Lord’s commands. I didn’t do what you told me. I was afraid of the people, and I did what they said. 25Now I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back with me so I may worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to Saul, “I won’t go back with you. You refused the Lord’s command. And now he rejects you as king of Israel.”
27As Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught his robe, and it tore. 28Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbors. He has given it to one better than you. 29The Lord is the Eternal One of Israel. He does not lie or change his mind. He is not a man. So he does not change his mind as men do.”
30Saul answered, “I have sinned. But please honor me in front of my people’s elders. Please honor me in front of the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring me Agag king of the Amalekites.”
Agag came to Samuel in chains. Yet Agag thought, “Surely the threat of death has passed.”
33Samuel said to him, “Your sword caused mothers to be without their children. Now your mother will have no children.” And Samuel cut Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34Then Samuel left and went to Ramah. But Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. 35And Samuel never saw Saul again all the rest of his life. But he was sorry for Saul. And the Lord was very sorry he had made Saul king of Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: ICB
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Copyright © 2015 by Tommy Nelson™, a Division of Thomas Nelson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Shemu’ĕl Aleph (1 Samuel) 15
15
1And Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “יהוה sent me to anoint you sovereign over His people, over Yisra’ĕl. And now, listen to the voice of the words of יהוה.
2“Thus said יהוה of hosts, ‘I shall punish Amalĕq for what he did to Yisra’ĕl, how he set himself against him on the way when he came up from Mitsrayim.
3Now go, and you shall strike Amalĕq and put under the ban all that he has, and you shall not spare them, and put to death from man to woman, from infant to nursing child, from ox to sheep, from camel to donkey.’ ”
4Then Sha’ul summoned the people and mustered them in Tela’im, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Yehuḏah.
5And Sha’ul came to a city of Amalĕq, and lay in wait in the wadi.
6And Sha’ul said to the Qĕynites, “Go, turn aside, come down from among the Amalĕqites, lest I destroy you with them. For you did show loving-commitment to all the children of Yisra’ĕl when they came up out of Mitsrayim.” So the Qĕynites turned aside from the midst of the Amalĕqites.
7And Sha’ul struck the Amalĕqites, from Ḥawilah all the way to Shur, which is before Mitsrayim.
8And he caught Aḡaḡ sovereign of the Amalĕqites alive, and put under the ban all the people with the edge of the sword.
9But Sha’ul and the people spared Aḡaḡ and the best of the sheep, and the cattle, and the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not put them under the ban. But all goods despised and worthless, that they put under the ban.
10And the word of יהוה came to Shemu’ĕl, saying,
11“I am grieved that I have set up Sha’ul as sovereign, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My words.” And it displeased Shemu’ĕl, and he cried to יהוה all night.
12And Shemu’ĕl rose early in the morning to meet Sha’ul, and it was told to Shemu’ĕl, saying, “Sha’ul went to Karmel, and see, he set up a monument for himself, then turned and passed over, and went down to Gilgal.”
13And Shemu’ĕl came to Sha’ul, and Sha’ul said to him, “Blessed are you of יהוה! I have performed the word of יהוה.”
14But Shemu’ĕl said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the cattle which I hear?”
15And Sha’ul said, “They have brought them from Amalĕq, because the people spared the best of the sheep and the cattle, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim. And the rest we have put under the ban.”
16And Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “Wait, and let me declare to you what יהוה said to me last night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17And Shemu’ĕl said, “Though you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Yisra’ĕl? And did not יהוה anoint you sovereign over Yisra’ĕl?
18“And יהוה sent you on the way, and said, ‘Go, and you shall put under the ban the sinners, the Amalĕqites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’
19“And why did you not obey the voice of יהוה, but swooped down on the spoil, and did evil in the eyes of יהוה?”
20And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I did obey the voice of יהוה, and I went on the way on which יהוה sent me, and brought back Aḡaḡ sovereign of Amalĕq, and I put Amalĕq under the ban.
21“But the people took of the spoil, of the sheep and cattle, the best of that which should have been put under the ban, to slaughter to יהוה your Elohim in Gilgal.”
22Then Shemu’ĕl said, “Does יהוה delight in ascending offerings and slaughterings, as in obeying the voice of יהוה? Look, to obey is better than a slaughtering, to heed is better than the fat of rams.
23“For rebellion is as the sin of divination, and stubbornness is as wickedness and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of יהוה, He also does reject you as sovereign.”
24And Sha’ul said to Shemu’ĕl, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the mouth of יהוה and your words, because I feared the people and listened to their voice.
25“And now, please pardon my sin, and return with me, and let me bow myself to יהוה.”
26But Shemu’ĕl said to Sha’ul, “I do not return with you, for you have rejected the word of יהוה, and יהוה does reject you from being sovereign over Yisra’ĕl.”
27And as Shemu’ĕl turned around to go away, Sha’ul took hold of the edge of his robe, and it tore.
28And Shemu’ĕl said to him, “יהוה has torn the reign of Yisra’ĕl from you today, and has given it to a neighbour of yours, better than you.
29“Moreover, the Eminence of Yisra’ĕl does not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30Then he said, “I have sinned. But esteem me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Yisra’ĕl, and return with me, and I shall bow myself to יהוה your Elohim.”
31And Shemu’ĕl turned back after Sha’ul, and Sha’ul bowed himself to יהוה.
32And Shemu’ĕl said, “Bring Aḡaḡ sovereign of the Amalĕqites here to me.” So Aḡaḡ came to him delightedly, and Aḡaḡ said, “Truly, the bitterness of death has turned aside.”
33And Shemu’ĕl said, “As your sword bereaved women, let your mother be bereaved among women too.” Shemu’ĕl then hewed Aḡaḡ to pieces before יהוה in Gilgal.
34And Shemu’ĕl went to Ramah, while Sha’ul went up to his house at Giḇ‛ah of Sha’ul.
35And Shemu’ĕl did not see Sha’ul again until the day of his death, for Shemu’ĕl mourned for Sha’ul. And יהוה was grieved that He had made Sha’ul to reign over Yisra’ĕl.
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