1 Samuel 15
15
Samuel rejects Saul’s kingship
1Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Listen now to the LORD’s words! 2This is what the LORD of heavenly forces says: I am going to punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel: how they attacked the Israelites as they came up from Egypt. 3So go! Attack the Amalekites; put everything that belongs to them under the ban.#15.3 A technique of holy war that often involves total destruction, in which everything that is destroyed is dedicated to the deity who helps in the battle; also in 15:8-9, 15, 18, 20-21. Spare no one. Kill men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys.”
4Saul called out the troops and counted them at Telaim: two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand more troops from Judah. 5Then Saul advanced on the Amalekite city and laid an ambush in the valley. 6Saul told the Kenites, “Get going! Leave the Amalekites immediately because you showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt. Otherwise, I’ll destroy you right along with them.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites. 7Then Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah all the way to Shur, which is near Egypt. 8He captured Agag the Amalekite king alive, but Saul placed all the people under the ban, killing them with the sword. 9Saul and the troops spared Agag along with the best sheep, cattle, fattened calves,#15.9 LXX lambs, and everything of value. They weren’t willing to put them under the ban; but anything that was despised or of no value#15.9 LXX; Heb uncertain they placed under the ban.
10Then the LORD’s word came to Samuel: 11“I regret making Saul king because he has turned away from following me and hasn’t done what I said.” Samuel was upset at this, and he prayed to the LORD all night long.
12Samuel got up early in the morning to meet Saul, and was told, “Saul went to Carmel, where he is setting up a monument for himself. Then he left and went down to Gilgal.”
13When Samuel reached Saul,#15.13 LXX adds he was offering entirely burned sacrifices to the LORD, the best of the plunder that he had taken from Amalek. As Samuel approached Saul. Saul greeted him, “The LORD bless you! I have done what the LORD said.”
14“Then what,” Samuel asked, “is this bleating of sheep in my ears and mooing of cattle I hear?”
15“They were taken from the Amalekites,” Saul said, “because the troops spared the best sheep and cattle in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. The rest was placed under the ban.”
16Samuel then said to Saul, “Enough! Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.”
“Tell me,” Saul replied.
17Samuel said, “Even if you think you are insignificant, aren’t you the leader of Israel’s tribes? The LORD anointed you king over Israel. 18The LORD sent you on a mission, instructing you, ‘Go, and put the sinful Amalekites under the ban. Fight against them until you’ve wiped them out.’ 19Why didn’t you obey the LORD? You did evil in the LORD’s eyes when you tore into the plunder!”
20“But I did obey the LORD!” Saul protested to Samuel. “I went on the mission the LORD sent me on. I captured Agag the Amalekite king, and I put the Amalekites under the ban. 21Yes, the troops took sheep and cattle from the plunder—the very best items placed under the ban—but in order to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.”
22Then Samuel replied,
“Does the LORD want entirely burned offerings and sacrifices
as much as obedience to the LORD?
Listen to this: obeying is better than sacrificing,
paying attention is better than fat from rams,
23because rebellion is as bad as the sin of divination;
arrogance is like the evil of idolatry.#15.23 Sym, LXXB; MT evil and idolatry
Because you have rejected what the LORD said,
he has rejected you as king.”
24Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned because I disobeyed the LORD’s command and your instructions. I was afraid of the troops and obeyed them. 25But now please forgive my sin! Come back with me, so I can worship the LORD.”
26But Samuel said to Saul, “I can’t#15.26 Or won’t return with you because you have rejected what the LORD said, and the LORD has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27Samuel turned to leave, but Saul grabbed at the edge of his robe, and it ripped. 28Then Samuel told him, “The LORD has ripped the kingdom of Israel from you today. He will give it to a friend of yours, someone who is more worthy than you. 29What’s more, the enduring one of Israel doesn’t take back what he says and doesn’t change his mind. He is not a human being who would change his mind.”
30“I have sinned,” Saul said, “but please honor me in front of my people’s elders and before Israel, and come back with me so I can worship the LORD your God.” 31So Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshipped the LORD.
32“Bring me Agag the Amalekite king,” Samuel said.
Agag came to him in chains, asking, “Would death have been as bitter as this is?”#15.32 LXX; Heb uncertain
33Samuel said, “Just as your sword left women without their children, now your mother will be childless among women.” Then Samuel cut Agag to pieces in the LORD’s presence at Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah, but Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. 35Samuel never saw Saul again before he died, but he grieved over Saul. However, the LORD regretted making Saul king over Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: CEB
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2011 Common English Bible. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 15
15
1And Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore hearken to the words of the Lord. 2Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I will punish what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way, when they came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have; do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.’ ”
4So Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley. 6And 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 people of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7And Saul defeated the Amalekites, from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them; all that was despised and worthless they utterly destroyed.
10The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11“I repent that I have made Saul king; for he has turned back from following me, and has not performed my commandments.” And Samuel was angry; and he cried to the Lord all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning; and it was told Samuel, “Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set up a monument for himself and turned, and passed on, and went down to Gilgal.” 13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Say on.”
17And Samuel said, “Though you are little in your own eyes, are you not the head of the tribes of Israel? The Lord anointed you king over Israel. 18And the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, utterly destroy the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? Why did you swoop on the spoil, and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” 22#Mk 12.33. And Samuel said,
“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
he has also rejected you from being king.”
24And 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. 25Now therefore, I pray, pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.” 26And 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.” 27As Samuel turned to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28And Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you this day, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent.” 30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel turned back after Saul; and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibe-ah of Saul. 35And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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