1 Samuel 15
15
1And Samuel saith unto Saul, ‘Me did Jehovah send to anoint thee for king over His people, over Israel; and now, hearken to the voice of the words of Jehovah:
2‘Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, I have looked after that which Amalek did to Israel, that which he laid for him in the way in his going up out of Egypt.
3Now, go, and thou hast smitten Amalek, and devoted all that it hath, and thou hast no pity on it, and hast put to death from man unto woman, from infant unto suckling, from ox unto sheep, from camel unto ass.’
4And Saul summoneth the people, and inspecteth them in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen, and ten thousand [are] men of Judah.
5And Saul cometh in unto a city of Amalek, and layeth wait in a valley;
6and Saul saith unto the Kenite, ‘Go, turn aside, go down from the midst of Amalek, lest I consume thee with it, and thou didst kindness with all the sons of Israel, in their going up out of Egypt;’ and the Kenite turneth aside from the midst of Amalek.
7And Saul smiteth Amalek from Havilah — thy going in to Shur, which [is] on the front of Egypt,
8and he catcheth Agag king of Amalek alive, and all the people he hath devoted by the mouth of the sword;
9and Saul hath pity — also the people — on Agag, and on the best of the flock, and of the herd, and of the seconds, and on the lambs, and on all that [is] good, and have not been willing to devote them; and all the work, despised and wasted — it they devoted.
10And the word of Jehovah is unto Samuel, saying,
11‘I have repented that I caused Saul to reign for king, for he hath turned back from after Me, and My words he hath not performed;’ and it is displeasing to Samuel, and he crieth unto Jehovah all the night.
12And Samuel riseth early to meet Saul in the morning, and it is declared to Samuel, saying, ‘Saul hath come in to Carmel, and lo, he is setting up to himself a monument, and goeth round, and passeth over, and goeth down to Gilgal.’
13And Samuel cometh in unto Saul, and Saul saith to him, ‘Blessed [art] thou of Jehovah; I have performed the word of Jehovah.’
14And Samuel saith, ‘And what [is] the noise of this flock in mine ears — and the noise of the herd which I am hearing?’
15And Saul saith, ‘From Amalek they have brought them, because the people had pity on the best of the flock, and of the herd, in order to sacrifice to Jehovah thy God, and the remnant we have devoted.’
16And Samuel saith unto Saul, ‘Desist, and I declare to thee that which Jehovah hath spoken unto me to-night;’ and he saith to him, ‘Speak.’
17And Samuel saith, ‘Art not thou, if thou [art] little in thine own eyes, head of the tribes of Israel? and Jehovah doth anoint thee for king over Israel,
18and Jehovah sendeth thee in the way, and saith, Go, and thou hast devoted the sinners, the Amalekite, and fought against them till they are consumed;
19and why hast thou not hearkened to the voice of Jehovah — and dost fly unto the spoil, and dost do the evil thing in the eyes of Jehovah?’
20And Saul saith unto Samuel, ‘Because — I have hearkened to the voice of Jehovah, and I go in the way which Jehovah hath sent me, and bring in Agag king of Amalek, and Amalek I have devoted;
21and the people taketh of the spoil of the flock and herd, the first part of the devoted thing, for sacrifice to Jehovah thy God in Gilgal.’
22And Samuel saith, ‘Hath Jehovah had delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as [in] hearkening to the voice of Jehovah? lo, hearkening than sacrifice is better; to give attention than fat of rams;
23for a sin of divination [is] rebellion, and iniquity and teraphim [is] stubbornness; because thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, He also doth reject thee from [being] king.’
24And Saul saith unto Samuel, ‘I have sinned, for I passed over the command of Jehovah, and thy words; because I have feared the people, I also hearken to their voice;
25and now, bear, I pray thee, with my sin, and turn back with me, and I bow myself to Jehovah.’
26And Samuel saith unto Saul, ‘I do not turn back with thee; for thou hast rejected the word of Jehovah, and Jehovah doth reject thee from being king over Israel.’
27And Samuel turneth round to go, and he layeth hold on the skirt of his upper robe — and it is rent!
28And Samuel saith unto him, ‘Jehovah hath rent the kingdom of Israel from thee today, and given it to thy neighbour who is better than thou;
29and also, the Pre-eminence of Israel doth not lie nor repent, for He [is] not a man to be penitent.’
30And he saith, ‘I have sinned; now, honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of my people, and before Israel, and turn back with me; and I have bowed myself to Jehovah thy God.’
31And Samuel turneth back after Saul, and Saul boweth himself to Jehovah;
32and Samuel saith, ‘Bring ye nigh unto me Agag king of Amalek,’ and Agag cometh unto him daintily, and Agag saith, ‘Surely the bitterness of death hath turned aside.’
33And Samuel saith, ‘As thy sword bereaved women — so is thy mother bereaved above women;’ and Samuel heweth Agag in pieces before Jehovah in Gilgal.
34And Samuel goeth to Ramath, and Saul hath gone unto his house — to Gibeah of Saul.
35And Samuel hath not added to see Saul till the day of his death, for Samuel mourned for Saul, and Jehovah repented that He had caused Saul to reign over Israel.
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1 Samuel 15: YLT98
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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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