1 Samuel 15
15
Saul Rejected as King
1Samuel told Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel.#1Sm 9:16 Now, listen to the words of the Lord. 2This is what the Lord of Armies says: ‘I witnessed#15:2 LXX reads I will avenge what the Amalekites did to the Israelites when they opposed them along the way as they were coming out of Egypt.#Ex 17:8–16; Nm 24:20; Dt 25:17–19 3Now go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have.#Nm 24:20; Dt 20:16–18 Do not spare them. Kill men and women, infants and nursing babies, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.’”#Jos 6:17–21; 1Sm 22:19
4Then Saul summoned the troops and counted them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men from Judah. 5Saul came to the city of Amalek and set up an ambush in the wadi. 6He warned the Kenites,#Jdg 1:16; 4:11 “Since you showed kindness to all the Israelites when they came out of Egypt,#Ex 18:9–10; Nm 10:29–32 go on and leave! Get away from the Amalekites, or I’ll sweep you away with them.” So the Kenites withdrew from the Amalekites.
7Then Saul struck down the Amalekites#1Sm 14:48 from Havilah#Gn 16:7; 25:17–18 all the way to Shur,#Ex 15:22; 1Sm 27:8 which is next to Egypt. 8He captured King Agag#Nm 24:7; Est 3:1 of Amalek alive, but he completely destroyed all the rest of the people with the sword.#1Sm 27:8; 30:1; 2Sm 8:12 9Saul and the troops spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, goats, cattle, and choice animals,#15:9 Lit and the second ones as well as the young rams and the best of everything else. They were not willing to destroy them, but they did destroy all the worthless and unwanted things.
10Then the word of the Lord came to Samuel, 11“I regret that I made Saul king,#Gn 6:6–7; Ex 32:14; 2Sm 24:16 for he has turned away from following me and has not carried out my instructions.”#1Kg 9:6–7 So Samuel became angry and cried out to the Lord all night.#Ex 32:11–13; Lk 6:12
12Early in the morning Samuel got up to confront Saul, but it was reported to Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel#Jos 15:55; 1Sm 25:2 where he set up a monument for himself. Then he turned around and went down to Gilgal.”#1Sm 13:13–14 13When Samuel came to him, Saul said, “May the Lord bless you.#Gn 14:19; 2Sm 2:5 I have carried out the Lord’s instructions.”
14Samuel replied, “Then what is this sound of sheep, goats, and cattle I hear?”
15Saul answered, “The troops brought them from the Amalekites and spared the best sheep, goats, and cattle in order to offer a sacrifice to the Lord your God,#Gn 3:12–13 but the rest we destroyed.”#Ex 32:21–24
16“Stop!” exclaimed Samuel. “Let me tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” he replied.
17Samuel continued, “Although you once considered yourself unimportant,#1Sm 9:21 haven’t you become the leader of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel 18and then sent you on a mission and said, ‘Go and completely destroy the sinful Amalekites. Fight against them until you have annihilated them.’ 19So why didn’t you obey the Lord? Why did you rush on the plunder#1Sm 14:32 and do what was evil in the Lord’s sight?”
20“But I did obey the Lord!” Saul answered.#15:20 Lit answered Samuel “I went on the mission the Lord gave me: I brought back King Agag of Amalek, and I completely destroyed the Amalekites. 21The troops took sheep, goats, and cattle from the plunder — the best of what was set apart for destruction — to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”#Ex 32:22–23
22Then Samuel said:
Does the Lord#Ps 40:6–8; 51:16–17; Is 1:11–15; Mc 6:6–8 take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices
as much as in obeying the Lord?
Look: to obey is better than sacrifice,
to pay attention is better than the fat of rams.#Heb 10:5–7
23For rebellion is like the sin of divination,#Dt 18:10
and defiance is like wickedness#Gn 31:19,34 and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has rejected you as king.#1Sm 8:7
24Saul answered Samuel, “I have sinned.#Nm 22:34; 2Sm 12:13; Ps 51:3–4 I have transgressed the Lord’s command#Pr 29:25; Is 51:12–13 and your words. Because I was afraid of the people, I obeyed them. 25Now therefore, please forgive my sin#Ex 10:17 and return with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26Samuel replied to Saul, “I will not return with you. Because you rejected the word of the Lord,#1Sm 13:14; 16:1 the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27When Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the corner of his robe, and it tore. 28Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingship of Israel away from you today#1Sm 28:17–18 and has given it to your neighbor who is better than you.#1Kg 11:30–36 29Furthermore, the Eternal One of Israel#1Ch 29:11; Ps 18:1–2 does not lie or change his mind, for he is not man who changes his mind.”#Nm 23:19; Ezk 24:14
30Saul said, “I have sinned. Please honor me#Jn 12:43 now before the elders of my people and before Israel. Come back with me so I can bow in worship to the Lord your God.”#Is 29:13 31Then Samuel went back, following Saul, and Saul bowed down to the Lord.
32Samuel said, “Bring me King Agag of Amalek.”
Agag came to him trembling,#15:32 Hb obscure for he thought, “Certainly the bitterness of death has come.”#15:32 LXX reads “Is death bitter in this way?”#15:32 Lit turned
33Samuel declared:
As your sword has made women childless,
so your mother will be childless among women.#Gn 9:6; Jdg 1:7; Mt 7:2
Then he hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord at Gilgal.
34Samuel went to Ramah,#1Sm 7:17 and Saul went up to his home in Gibeah#1Sm 11:4 of Saul. 35Even to the day of his death, Samuel never saw Saul again.#1Sm 19:24 Samuel mourned for Saul,#1Sm 16:1 and the Lord regretted he had made Saul king over Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: CSB
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© 2017 Holman Bible Publishers
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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