1 Samuel 15
15
The Lord Rejects Saul
1And Samuel said to Saul, #ch. 9:16“The Lord sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the Lord. 2Thus says the Lord of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel #See Ex. 17:8-16; Deut. 25:17-19in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and strike Amalek and #Lev. 27:28, 29; Josh. 6:17, 21 devote to destruction#15:3 That is, set apart (devote) as an offering to the Lord (for destruction); also verses 8, 9, 15, 18, 20, 21 all that they have. Do not spare them, #[ch. 22:19]but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’”
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. 6Then Saul said to #ch. 27:10; Judg. 1:16 the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. #[Ex. 18:10, 19; Num. 10:29, 32]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. 7#ch. 14:48 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from #Gen. 2:11; 25:18 Havilah as far as #ch. 27:8; [Gen. 16:7; Ex. 15:22]Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive #[ch. 27:8, 9; 30:1]and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9#ver. 15, 21; [ch. 28:18]But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves#15:9 The meaning of the Hebrew term is uncertain and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them. All that was despised and worthless they devoted to destruction.
10The word of the Lord came to Samuel: 11#See Gen. 6:6 “I regret#15:11 See also verses 29, 35 that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and #ver. 3, 9; [ch. 13:13]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 #Josh. 15:55Carmel, 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, #See Ruth 2:20“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 that I hear?” 15Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites, #ver. 9, 21for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen to sacrifice to the Lord your God, and the rest we have devoted to destruction.” 16Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.”
17And Samuel said, #[ch. 9:21]“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, devote to destruction the sinners, the Amalekites, and fight against them until they are consumed.’ 19Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord? #ch. 14:32Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?” 20And Saul said to Samuel, #ver. 13“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 devoted the Amalekites to destruction. 21#ver. 15But 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.” 22And Samuel said,
#
Ps. 40:6-8; 50:8, 9; Prov. 21:3; Isa. 1:11-13, 16, 17; Jer. 7:22, 23; Mic. 6:6-8; Heb. 10:6-9 “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices,
as in obeying the voice of the Lord?
Behold, #Eccles. 5:1; Hos. 6:6; Matt. 9:13; 12:7; Mark 12:33to obey is better than sacrifice,
and to listen than the fat of rams.
23For rebellion is as the sin of divination,
and presumption is as iniquity and #See Gen. 31:19, 34 idolatry.
Because #ver. 26 you have rejected the word of the Lord,
# ch. 13:14 he has also rejected you from being king.”
24Saul said to Samuel, #[2 Sam. 12:13]“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, please pardon my sin and #ver. 30return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. #ver. 23 For you have rejected the word of the Lord, #ch. 16:1and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27#[1 Kgs. 11:30, 31]As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28And Samuel said to him, #ch. 28:17, 18“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 #Num. 23:19; [Ezek. 24:14]will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet #[John 5:44; 12:43] honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, #ver. 25and return with me, that I may bow before the Lord your God.” 31So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord.
32Then Samuel said, “Bring here to me Agag the king of the Amalekites.” And Agag came to him cheerfully.#15:32 Or haltingly (compare Septuagint); the Hebrew is uncertain Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.” 33And Samuel said, #[Judg. 1:7] “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord #ver. 12, 21in Gilgal.
34Then Samuel went #[ch. 1:19] to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in #ch. 11:4Gibeah of Saul. 35#[ch. 19:24] And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, #ch. 16:1 but Samuel grieved over Saul. #ver. 11And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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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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