1 Samuel 15
15
Saul Disobeys the Lord
1 #
1 S 10.1. One day, Samuel told Saul:
The Lord told me to choose you to be king of his people, Israel. Now listen to this message from the Lord: 2#Ex 17.8-14; Dt 25.17-19. “When the Israelites were on their way out of Egypt, the nation of Amalek attacked them. I am the Lord All-Powerful, and now I am going to make Amalek pay!
3“Go and attack the Amalekites! Destroy them and all their possessions. Don't have any pity. Kill their men, women, children, and even their babies. Slaughter their cattle, sheep, camels, and donkeys.”
4Saul sent messengers who told every town and village to send men to join the army at Telaim. There were 210,000 troops in all, and 10,000 of these were from Judah. Saul organized them, 5then led them to a valley near one of the towns in#15.5 one … in: Or “the town of.” Amalek, where they got ready to make a surprise attack. 6Some Kenites lived nearby, and Saul told them, “Your people were kind to our nation when we left Egypt, and I don't want you to get killed when I wipe out the Amalekites. So stay away from them.”
The Kenites left, 7and Saul attacked the Amalekites from Havilah#15.7 from Havilah: Or “from the valley” (see 15.5). to Shur, which is just east of Egypt. 8Every Amalekite was killed except King Agag. 9Saul and his army let Agag live, and they also spared the best sheep and cattle. They didn't want to destroy anything of value, so they only killed the animals that were worthless or weak.#15.9 animals … weak: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
The Lord Rejects Saul
10The Lord told Samuel, 11“Saul has stopped obeying me, and I'm sorry that I made him king.”
Samuel was angry, and he cried out in prayer to the Lord all night. 12Early the next morning he went to talk with Saul. Someone told him, “Saul went to Carmel, where he had a monument built so everyone would remember his victory. Then he left for Gilgal.”
13Samuel finally caught up with Saul,#15.13 Saul: One ancient translation adds “Saul had sacrificed to the Lord the best animals they had taken from Amalek, when Samuel came up to him.” and Saul told him, “I hope the Lord will bless you! I have done what the Lord told me.”
14“Then why,” Samuel asked, “do I hear sheep and cattle?”
15“The army took them from the Amalekites,” Saul explained. “They kept the best sheep and cattle, so they could sacrifice them to the Lord your God. But we destroyed everything else.”
16“Stop!” Samuel said. “Let me tell you what the Lord told me last night.”
“All right,” Saul answered.
17Samuel continued, “You may not think you're very important, but the Lord chose you to be king, and you are in charge of the tribes of Israel. 18When the Lord sent you on this mission, he told you to wipe out those worthless Amalekites. 19Why didn't you listen to the Lord? Why did you keep the animals and make him angry?”
20“But I did listen to the Lord!” Saul answered. “He sent me on a mission, and I went. I captured King Agag and destroyed his nation. 21All the animals were going to be destroyed#15.21 animals … destroyed: The Hebrew means things that were set aside for God. They could not be used for anything else, so they had to be destroyed. anyway. That's why the army brought the best sheep and cattle to Gilgal as sacrifices to the Lord your God.”
22“Tell me,” Samuel said. “Does the Lord really want sacrifices and offerings? No! He doesn't want your sacrifices. He wants you to obey him. 23Rebelling against God or disobeying him because you are proud is just as bad as worshiping idols or asking them for advice. You refused to do what God told you, so God has decided that you can no longer be king.”
24“I have sinned,” Saul admitted. “I disobeyed both you and the Lord. I was afraid of the army, and I listened to them instead. 25Please forgive me and come back with me so I can worship the Lord.”
26“No!” Samuel replied, “You disobeyed the Lord, and I won't go back with you. Now the Lord has said that you can't be king of Israel any longer.”
27 #
1 S 28.17; 1 K 11.30,31. As Samuel turned to go, Saul grabbed the edge of Samuel's robe. It tore! 28Samuel said, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today, and he will give it to someone who is better than you. 29Besides, the eternal#15.29 eternal: Or “glorious.” God of Israel isn't a human being. He doesn't tell lies or change his mind.”
30Saul said, “I did sin, but please honor me in front of the leaders of the army and the people of Israel. Come back with me, so I can worship the Lord your God.”
31Samuel followed Saul back, and Saul worshiped the Lord. 32Then Samuel shouted, “Bring me King Agag of Amalek!”
Agag came in chains,#15.32 in chains: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text. and he was saying to himself, “Surely they won't kill me now.”#15.32 Surely … now: Hebrew; one ancient translation “It would have been better to die in battle!”
33But Samuel said, “Agag, you have snatched children from their mothers' arms and killed them. Now your mother will be without children.” Then Samuel chopped Agag to pieces at the place of worship in Gilgal.
34Samuel went home to Ramah, and Saul returned to his home in Gibeah. 35Even though Samuel felt sad about Saul, Samuel never saw him again.
The Lord Chooses David To Be King
The Lord was sorry he had made Saul the king of Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: CEV
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
1 Samuel 15
15
1 Samuel 15
1¶ And Samuel said unto Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee to be king over his people, over Israel; now, therefore, hearken thou unto the voice of the words of the Lord.
2Thus hath said the Lord of the hosts, I remember that which Amalek did to Israel, how he laid wait for him in the way when he came up from Egypt.
3Now go and smite Amalek and utterly destroy all that they have and spare him not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass.
4And Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.
5And Saul came to a city of Amalek and laid wait in the valley.
6And Saul said unto the Kenite, Go, depart, go out from among those of Amalek lest I destroy you with them, for ye showed mercy to all the sons of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. So the Kenite departed from among those of Amalek.
7And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah until thou comest to Shur that is over against 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, but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.
10¶ Then the word of the Lord came unto Samuel, saying,
11It grieves me that I have set up Saul to be king, for he has turned back from following me and has not performed my commandments. And it incensed Samuel, and he cried unto the Lord all night.
12And when Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning, it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and, behold, he set himself up a monument and is gone about and passed on and gone down to Gilgal.
13And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said unto him, Blessed be thou of the Lord; I have performed the commandment of the Lord.
14Then Samuel said, What means then this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?
15And Saul said, They have brought them from Amalek, for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God, and the rest we have utterly destroyed.
16Then Samuel said unto Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord hath said to me this night. And he said unto him, Say on.
17And Samuel said, When thou wast little in thine own sight, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel, and the Lord anointed thee king over Israel?
18And the Lord sent thee on a journey and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners of Amalek and fight against them until they are consumed.
19Why then didst thou not hear the voice of the Lord but didst fly upon the spoil and didst evil in the sight of the Lord?
20And Saul said unto Samuel, But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord and have gone the way which the Lord sent me and have brought Agag, the king of Amalek, and have utterly destroyed the Amalekites.
21But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the firstfruits of the anathema, to sacrifice them unto the Lord thy God in Gilgal.
22And Samuel said, Does the Lord have as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in hearing the voice of the Lord? Behold, to hear is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is the sin of witchcraft, and to break the word of the Lord is iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected thee from being king.
24¶ Then Saul said unto Samuel, I have sinned; for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and thy words because I feared the people and consented unto their voice.
25Now, therefore, I pray thee, pardon my sin and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord.
26And Samuel said unto Saul, I will not return with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected thee from being king over Israel.
27And as Samuel turned about to go away, he laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent.
28And Samuel said unto him, The Lord has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee today and has given it to a neighbour of thine that is better than thou.
29And also the Overcomer of Israel will not lie nor repent concerning this, for he is not a man, that he should repent.
30Then he said, I have sinned; yet honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people and before Israel and turn again with me that I may worship the Lord thy God.
31So Samuel turned again after Saul, and Saul worshipped the Lord.
32¶ Then Samuel said, Bring me Agag, the king of Amalek. And Agag came unto him delicately. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is near.
33And Samuel said, As thy sword has made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless among women. Then Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.
35And Samuel came no more to see Saul until the day of his death; nevertheless, Samuel mourned for Saul because the Lord had repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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The Jubilee Bible 2000 (JUB) by Ransom Press International