1 Samuel 15
15
Saul Destroys the Amalekites
1One day Samuel said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel. Now listen to his message. 2The Lord All-Powerful says: ‘When the Israelites came out of Egypt, the Amalekites tried to stop them from going to Canaan. I saw what the Amalekites did. 3Now go fight against the Amalekites. You must completely destroy the Amalekites and everything that belongs to them. Don’t let anything live; you must kill all the men and women and all of their children and little babies. You must kill all of their cattle and sheep and all of their camels and donkeys.’”
4Saul gathered the army together at Telaim. There were 200,000 foot soldiers and 10,000 other men, including the men from Judah. 5Then Saul went to the city of Amalek and waited in the valley. 6He said to the Kenites, “Go away! Leave the Amalekites. Then I won’t destroy you with the Amalekites. You showed kindness to the Israelites when they came out of Egypt.” So the Kenites left the Amalekites.
7Saul defeated the Amalekites. He fought them and chased them all the way from Havilah to Shur, at the border of Egypt. 8Agag was the king of the Amalekites. Saul captured Agag alive. Saul let Agag live, but he killed all the men in Agag’s army. 9Saul and the Israelite soldiers felt bad about destroying everything. So they let Agag live. They also kept the fat cattle, the best sheep, and the lambs. They kept everything that was worth keeping. They didn’t want to destroy those things. They destroyed only what was not worth keeping.
Samuel Tells Saul About His Sin
10Then Samuel received this message from the Lord: 11“Saul has stopped following me, so I am sorry that I made him king. He is not doing what I tell him.” Samuel became angry and cried to the Lord all night.
12Samuel got up early the next morning and went to meet Saul. But the people told Samuel, “Saul went to Carmel. He went there to set up a stone monument to honor himself. Then he left there and went down to Gilgal.”
So Samuel went to Saul. Saul had just offered the first part of the things he took from the Amalekites as a burnt offering to the Lord.#15:12 Saul had just offered … Lord This is from the ancient Greek version. 13When Samuel came near to Saul, Saul greeted him and said, “The Lord bless you! I have obeyed the Lord’s commands.”
14But Samuel said, “Then what is that sound I hear? Why do I hear sheep and cattle?”
15Saul said, “The soldiers took them from the Amalekites. They saved the best sheep and cattle to burn as sacrifices to the Lord your God. But we destroyed everything else.”
16Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! Let me tell you what the Lord told me last night.”
Saul answered, “Tell me what he said.”
17Samuel said, “In the past you didn’t think that you were important, but the Lord chose you to be the king. So you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. 18The Lord sent you on a special mission. He said, ‘Go and destroy all the Amalekites. They are evil people. Destroy them all! Fight them until they are completely finished.’ 19So why didn’t you listen to the Lord? You did what the Lord said is wrong because you wanted to keep what you took in battle.”
20Saul said, “But I did obey the Lord! I went where the Lord sent me. I destroyed all the Amalekites. I brought back only one—their king Agag. 21And the soldiers took the best sheep and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord your God at Gilgal.”
22But Samuel answered, “Which pleases the Lord more: burnt offerings and sacrifices or obeying his commands? It is better to obey the Lord than to offer sacrifices to him. It is better to listen to him than to offer the fat from rams. 23Refusing to obey is as bad as the sin of sorcery. Being stubborn and doing what you want is like the sin of worshiping idols. You refused to obey the Lord’s command, so he now refuses to accept you as king.”
24Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned. I did not obey the Lord’s commands, and I did not do what you told me. I was afraid of the people, and I did what they said. 25Now I beg you, forgive me for doing this sin. Come back with me, so I may worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to Saul, “I won’t go back with you. You rejected the Lord’s command, and now the Lord rejects you as king of Israel.”
27When Samuel turned to leave, Saul caught Samuel’s robe. The robe tore. 28Samuel said to Saul, “In this same way the Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today. He has given the kingdom to one of your friends, a man who is a better person than you. 29The one who lives forever, the God of Israel, does not lie and will not change his mind. He is not like a man who is always changing his mind.”
30Saul answered, “All right, I sinned! But please come back with me. Show me some respect in front of the leaders and the Israelites. Come back with me so that I may worship the Lord your God.” 31Samuel went back with Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord.
32Samuel said, “Bring King Agag of the Amalekites to me.”
Agag came to Samuel. Agag was tied with chains and thought, “Surely he won’t kill me.”#15:32 Surely … kill me The ancient Greek version has “This treatment is worse than death.”
33But Samuel said to Agag, “Your sword took babies from their mothers. So 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. And Saul went up to his home in Gibeah. 35After that Samuel never saw Saul again. Samuel was very sad for Saul. And the Lord was very sorry that he had made Saul king of Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: ERV
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© 1987, 2004 Bible League International
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