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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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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1 Samuel 15
15
1And Samuel said to Saul, Jehovah sent me to anoint thee king over his people, over Israel: now therefore hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah. 2Thus saith Jehovah of hosts: I have considered what Amalek did to Israel, how he set himself against him in the way, when he came up from Egypt. 3Now go and smite Amalek, and destroy utterly all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 4And Saul summoned the people, and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5And Saul came to the city of the Amalekites, and set an ambush in the valley. 6And Saul said to the Kenites, Go, depart, and go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them; for ye shewed kindness to all the children of Israel when they came up out of Egypt. And the Kenites departed from among the Amalekites. 7And Saul smote Amalek from Havilah as thou comest to Shur, which is opposite to Egypt. 8And he took Agag the king of Amalek alive, and utterly destroyed all the people with the edge of the sword. 9And Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep and oxen, and beasts of the second bearing, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not devote them to destruction; but everything that was mean and weak, that they destroyed utterly.
10And the word of Jehovah came to Samuel, saying, 11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king; for he is turned away from following me, and hath not fulfilled my words. And Samuel was much grieved; and he cried to Jehovah all night. 12And Samuel rose early to meet Saul in the morning. And it was told Samuel, saying, Saul came to Carmel, and behold, he set him up a monument, and has turned about, and passed on, and gone down to Gilgal. 13And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, Blessed art thou of Jehovah: I have fulfilled the word of Jehovah. 14And Samuel said, What means then this bleating of sheep in mine ears, and the lowing of oxen which I hear? 15And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites, because the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim and the rest we have utterly destroyed. 16And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, that I may tell thee what Jehovah has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on. 17And Samuel said, Was it not when thou wast little in thine eyes that thou becamest the head of the tribes of Israel, and Jehovah anointed thee king over Israel? 18And Jehovah sent thee on a way and said, Go and utterly destroy the sinners the Amalekites, and fight against them until they be consumed. 19Why then didst thou not hearken to the voice of Jehovah, but didst fall upon the spoil, and didst evil in the sight of Jehovah? 20And Saul said to Samuel, I have indeed hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and have gone the way which Jehovah 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 choicest of the devoted things, to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim in Gilgal. 22And Samuel said, Has Jehovah delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices, As in hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, Attention than the fat of rams. 23For rebellion is as the sin of divination, And selfwill is as iniquity and idolatry. Because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He hath also rejected thee from being king.
24And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of Jehovah, and thy words; for I feared the people, and hearkened to their voice. 25And now, I pray thee, forgive my sin, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah. 26And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn again with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah has rejected thee from being king over Israel. 27And as Samuel turned to go away, Saul laid hold upon the skirt of his mantle, and it rent. 28Then Samuel said to him, Jehovah has rent the kingdom of Israel from thee to-day, and has given it to thy neighbour, who is better than thou. 29And also the Hope of Israel will not lie nor repent; for he is not a man, that he should repent. 30And he said, I have sinned; honour me now, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn again with me, that I may worship Jehovah thy God#GodHebrew: Elohim 31So Samuel turned again after Saul; and Saul worshipped Jehovah.
32And Samuel said, Bring ye near to me Agag the king of Amalek. And Agag came to him gaily. And Agag said, Surely the bitterness of death is past. 33And Samuel said, As thy sword has made women childless, so shall thy mother be childless above women. And Samuel hewed Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal. 34And Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house to Gibeah of Saul. 35And Samuel saw Saul no more until the day of his death; for Samuel mourned over Saul; and Jehovah repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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First published in 1890. This edition is maintained by the British and Foreign Bible Society.