15
1 Samuel
said to Saul, “The
LORD sent me
to anoint you
to be king
over his people,
over Israel. Now
therefore listen
to the voice
of the LORD’s
words.
2 The
LORD of Armies
says, ‘I remember
what Amalek did
to Israel, how
he set himself
against him on
the way when
he came up
out of Egypt.
3 Now
go and strike
Amalek, and
utterly destroy
all that they
have, and don’t
spare them; but
kill both man
and woman, infant
and nursing baby,
ox and sheep,
camel and
donkey.’ ”
4 Saul
summoned the
people, and
counted them in
Telaim, two
hundred thousand footmen
and ten thousand
men of Judah.
5 Saul
came to the
city of Amalek,
and set an ambush
in the valley.
6 Saul said
to the Kenites, “Go, depart, go down
from among the
Amalekites, lest I
destroy you with
them; for you
showed kindness to
all the children
of Israel when
they came up
out of Egypt.”
So the Kenites
departed from
among the
Amalekites.
7 Saul
struck the
Amalekites, from
Havilah as you go
to Shur, which is
before Egypt.
8 He
took Agag the king
of the Amalekites
alive, and utterly
destroyed all the
people with the
edge of the
sword.
9 But
Saul and the
people spared Agag
and the best
of the sheep,
of the cattle,
of the fat calves,
of the lambs,
and all that
was good, and
were not willing
to utterly destroy
them; but
everything that
was vile and
refuse, that they
destroyed utterly.
10 Then
the LORD’s word
came to Samuel,
saying,
11 “It 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.” Samuel
was angry; and
he cried to
the LORD all
night.
12 Samuel
rose early to
meet Saul in
the morning; and
Samuel was told,
saying, “Saul came
to Carmel, and
behold, he set
up a monument
for himself,
turned, passed on,
and went down
to Gilgal.”
13 Samuel
came to Saul;
and Saul said
to him, “You
are blessed by
the LORD! I
have performed the
commandment of the
LORD.”
14 Samuel
said, “Then what
does this bleating
of the sheep
in my ears and
the lowing of
the cattle which
I hear mean?”
15 Saul said,
“They have brought
them from the
Amalekites; for
the people spared
the best of
the sheep and
of the cattle,
to sacrifice to
the LORD your
God. We have
utterly destroyed
the rest.”
16 Then
Samuel said to
Saul, “Stay, and
I will tell
you what the
LORD said to
me last night.”
He said to
him, “Say on.”
17 Samuel said,
“Though you were
little in your
own sight, weren’t
you made the
head of the
tribes of Israel?
The LORD anointed
you king over
Israel;
18 and
the LORD sent
you on a
journey, and said, ‘Go, and utterly
destroy the
sinners the
Amalekites, and
fight against them
until they are
consumed.’
19 Why
then didn’t you
obey the LORD’s
voice, but took
the plunder, and
did that which
was evil in
the LORD’s sight?”
20 Saul
said to Samuel, “But
I have obeyed
the LORD’s voice,
and have gone
the way which
the LORD sent
me, and have
brought Agag the
king of Amalek,
and have utterly
destroyed the
Amalekites.
21 But
the people took
of the plunder,
sheep and cattle,
the best of the
devoted things, to
sacrifice to the
LORD your God
in Gilgal.”
22 Samuel
said, “Has the
LORD as great
delight in burnt
offerings and
sacrifices, as in
obeying the LORD’s
voice? Behold, to
obey is better
than sacrifice,
and to listen
than the fat
of rams.
23 For
rebellion is as
the sin of
witchcraft, and
stubbornness is as
idolatry and
teraphim.
Because you have
rejected the LORD’s
word, he has
also rejected you
from being king.”
24 Saul
said to Samuel, “I
have sinned; for
I have
transgressed the
commandment of the
LORD and your
words, because I
feared the people
and obeyed their
voice.
25 Now
therefore, please
pardon my sin,
and turn again
with me, that
I may worship
the LORD.”
26 Samuel
said to Saul, “I
will not return
with you; for
you have rejected
the LORD’s word,
and the LORD
has rejected you
from being king
over Israel.”
27 As
Samuel turned
around to go
away, Saul grabbed
the skirt of
his robe, and
it tore.
28 Samuel said
to him, “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.
29 Also
the Strength of
Israel will not
lie nor repent;
for he is
not a man, that
he should repent.”
30 Then
he said, “I have
sinned; yet please
honor me now
before the elders
of my people
and before Israel,
and come back
with me, that
I may worship
the LORD your
God.”
31 So
Samuel went back
with Saul; and
Saul worshiped the
LORD.
32 Then
Samuel said, “Bring Agag
the king of
the Amalekites
here to me!”
Agag came to
him cheerfully. Agag said, “Surely
the bitterness of
death is past.”
33 Samuel
said, “As your
sword has
made women childless,
so your mother
will be childless
among women!” Then
Samuel cut Agag in
pieces before the
LORD in Gilgal.
34 Then
Samuel went to
Ramah; and Saul
went up to
his house to
Gibeah of Saul.
35 Samuel
came no more
to see Saul
until the day
of his death,
but Samuel mourned
for Saul. The
LORD grieved that
he had made
Saul king over
Israel.