1 Samuel 15
15
War against the Amalekites
1 #
1 Sam 10.1
Samuel said to Saul, “I am the one whom the LORD sent to anoint you king of his people Israel. Now listen to what the LORD Almighty says. 2#Ex 17.8–14; Deut 25.17–19He is going to punish the people of Amalek because their ancestors opposed the Israelites when they were coming from Egypt. 3Go and attack the Amalekites and completely destroy everything they have. Don't leave a thing; kill all the men, women, children, and babies; the cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.”
4Saul called his forces together and inspected them at Telem: there were 200,000 soldiers from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5Then he and his men went to the city of Amalek and waited in ambush in a dry riverbed. 6He sent a warning to the Kenites, a people whose ancestors had been kind to the Israelites when they came from Egypt: “Go away and leave the Amalekites, so that I won't kill you along with them.” So the Kenites left.
7Saul defeated the Amalekites, fighting all the way from Havilah to Shur, east of Egypt; 8he captured King Agag of Amalek alive and killed all the people. 9But Saul and his men spared Agag's life and did not kill the best sheep and cattle, the best calves and lambs,#15.9 One ancient translation the best calves and lambs; Hebrew unclear. or anything else that was good; they destroyed only what was useless or worthless.#15.9 Some ancient translations useless or worthless; Hebrew unclear.
Saul is Rejected as King
10The LORD said to Samuel, 11“I am sorry that I made Saul king; he has turned away from me and disobeyed my commands.” Samuel was angry, and all night long he pleaded with the LORD. 12Early the following morning he went off to find Saul. He heard that Saul had gone to the town of Carmel, where he had built a monument to himself, and then had gone on to Gilgal. 13Samuel went up to Saul, who greeted him, saying, “The LORD bless you, Samuel! I have obeyed the LORD's command.”
14Samuel asked, “Why, then, do I hear cattle mooing and sheep bleating?”
15Saul answered, “My men took them from the Amalekites. They kept the best sheep and cattle to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD your God, and the rest we have destroyed completely.”#15.15 destroyed completely: These animals had been unconditionally dedicated to the LORD and had to be destroyed (see Lev 27.28).
16“Stop,” Samuel ordered, “and I will tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul said.
17Samuel answered, “Even though you consider yourself of no importance, you are the leader of the tribes of Israel. The LORD anointed you king of Israel, 18and he sent you out with orders to destroy those wicked people of Amalek. He told you to fight until you had killed them all. 19Why, then, did you not obey him? Why did you rush to seize the loot, and so do what displeases the LORD?”
20“I did obey the LORD,” Saul replied. “I went out as he told me to, brought back King Agag, and killed all the Amalekites. 21But my men did not kill the best sheep and cattle that they captured; instead, they brought them here to Gilgal to offer as a sacrifice to the LORD your God.”
22Samuel said, “Which does the LORD prefer: obedience or offerings and sacrifices? It is better to obey him than to sacrifice the best sheep to him. 23Rebellion against him is as bad as witchcraft, and arrogance is as sinful as idolatry. Because you rejected the LORD's command, he has rejected you as king.”
24“Yes, I have sinned,” Saul replied. “I disobeyed the LORD's command and your instructions. I was afraid of my men and did what they wanted. 25But now I beg you, forgive my sin and go back with me, so that I can worship the LORD.”
26“I will not go back with you,” Samuel answered. “You rejected the LORD's command, and he has rejected you as king of Israel.”
27 #
1 Sam 28.17; 1 Kgs 11.30–31 Then Samuel turned to leave, but Saul caught hold of his cloak, and it tore. 28Samuel said to him, “The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today and given it to someone who is a better man than you. 29Israel's majestic God does not lie or change his mind. He is not a human being — he does not change his mind.”
30“I have sinned,” Saul replied. “But at least show me respect in front of the leaders of my people and all Israel. Go back with me so that I can worship the LORD your God.” 31So Samuel went back with him, and Saul worshipped the LORD.
32“Bring King Agag here to me,” Samuel ordered. Agag came to him, trembling with fear, thinking to himself, “What a bitter thing it is to die!”#15.32 trembling with fear… die; or confidently, thinking to himself, “Surely the bitter danger of death is past!” 33Samuel said, “As your sword has made many mothers childless, so now will your mother become childless.” And he cut Agag to pieces in front of the altar in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and King Saul went home to Gibeah. 35As long as Samuel lived, he never again saw the king; but he grieved over him. The LORD was sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: GNBUK
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
1 Kings 15
15
1And 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.
2Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I have reckoned up all that Amalec hath done to Israel. How he opposed them in the way when they came up out of Egypt.
3Now 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.
4So Saul commanded the people, and numbered them as lambs: two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand of the men of Juda.
5And when Saul was come to the city of Amalec, he laid ambushes in the torrent.
6And 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.
7And Saul smote Amalec from Hevila, until thou comest to Sur, which is over against Egypt.
8And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive: but all the common people he slew with the edge of the sword.
9And 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.
10And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying:
11It 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.
12And 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.
13And when Samuel was come to Saul, Saul said to him: Blessed be thou of the Lord. I have fulfilled the word of the Lord.
14And Samuel said: What meaneth then this bleating of the flocks, which soundeth in my ears, and the lowing of the herds, which I hear?
15And 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.
16And 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.
17And 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.
18And 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.
19Why 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.
20And 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.
21But 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.
22And 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.
23Because 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.
24And 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.
25But now bear, I beseech thee, my sin: and return with me, that I may adore the Lord.
26And 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.
27And Samuel turned about to go away; but he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28And Samuel said to hinm: The Lord hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee this day, and hath given it to thy neighbour who is better than thee.
29But the triumpher in Israel will ot spare, and will not be moved to repentance: for he is not a man that he should repent.
30Then 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.
31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul adored the Lord.
32And 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?
33And 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.
34And Samuel departed to Ramatha: but Saul went up to his house in Gabaa.
35And 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.
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An historical text maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.