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
I Samuel 15
15
Saul Spares King Agag
1Samuel also said to Saul, #1 Sam. 8:11“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, #1 Sam. 9:16; 10:1how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3Now go and #Ex. 17:8, 14; Num. 24:20; Deut. 25:17–19attack Amalek, and #Deut. 25:19utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ ”
4So Saul gathered the people together and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand foot soldiers and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to a city of Amalek, and lay in wait in the valley.
6Then Saul said to #Lev. 27:28, 29; Num. 24:20; Deut. 20:16–18; Josh. 6:17–21the Kenites, #Num. 24:21; Judg. 1:16; 4:11–22; 1 Chr. 2:55“Go, depart, get down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. For #Gen. 18:25; 19:12, 14; Rev. 18:4you showed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt.” So the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7#Ex. 18:10, 19; Num. 10:29, 32And Saul attacked the Amalekites, from #1 Sam. 14:48Havilah all the way to #Gen. 2:11; 25:17, 18Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8#Gen. 16:7; Ex. 15:22; 1 Sam. 27:8He also took Agag king of the Amalekites alive, and #1 Sam. 15:32, 33utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9But Saul and the people #1 Sam. 27:8, 9spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed.
Saul Rejected as King
10Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11#1 Sam. 15:3, 15, 19“I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has #Gen. 6:6, 7; 1 Sam. 15:35; 2 Sam. 24:16turned back from following Me, #Josh. 22:16; 1 Kin. 9:6and has not performed My commandments.” And it #1 Sam. 13:13; 15:3, 9grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to #1 Sam. 15:35; 16:1Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, #Josh. 15:55; 1 Sam. 25:2“Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.”
14But Samuel said, “What then is 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 the Amalekites; #Gen. 14:19; Judg. 17:2; Ruth 3:10; 2 Sam. 2:5for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.”
16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Be quiet! And I will tell you what the Lord said to me last night.”
And he said to him, “Speak on.”
17So Samuel said, #(Gen. 3:12, 13; Ex. 32:22, 23); 1 Sam. 15:9, 21; (Prov. 28:13)“When you were little in your own eyes, were you not head of the tribes of Israel? And did not the Lord anoint you king over Israel? 18Now the Lord sent you on a mission, and said, ‘Go, and 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 down on the spoil, and do evil in the sight of the Lord?”
20And Saul said to Samuel, #1 Sam. 9:21; 10:22“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. 21#1 Sam. 15:13; (Prov. 28:13)But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”
22So Samuel said:
#1 Sam. 15:15“Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
As in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, #Ps. 50:8, 9; 51:16, 17; (Prov. 21:3; Is. 1:11–17; Jer. 7:22, 23; Mic. 6:6–8; Heb. 10:4–10)to obey is better than sacrifice,
And to heed than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft,
And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry.
Because you have rejected the word of the Lord,
#(Eccl. 5:1; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 5:24; 9:13; 12:7; Mark 12:33)He also has rejected you from being king.”
24#1 Sam. 13:14; 16:1Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the Lord and your words, because I #Num. 22:34; Josh. 7:20; 1 Sam. 26:21; 2 Sam. 12:13; Ps. 51:4feared the people and obeyed their voice. 25Now therefore, please pardon my sin, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord.”
26But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, #(Ex. 23:2; Prov. 29:25; Is. 51:12, 13)for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”
27And as Samuel turned around to go away, #1 Sam. 2:30Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28So Samuel said to him, #1 Kin. 11:30, 31“The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29And also the Strength of Israel #1 Sam. 28:17, 18; 1 Kin. 11:31will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.”
30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet #Num. 23:19; Ezek. 24:14; 2 Tim. 2:13; Titus 1:2honor me now, please, 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 Agag king of the Amalekites here to me.” So Agag came to him cautiously.
And Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”
33But Samuel said, #(John 5:44; 12:43)“As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag in pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went to #(Gen. 9:6); Num. 14:45; Judg. 1:7; (Matt. 7:2)Ramah, and Saul went up to his house at #1 Sam. 7:17Gibeah of Saul. 35And #1 Sam. 11:4Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the Lord regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel.
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The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.