1En dag sagde Samuel til Saul: „Det var Herren, som sendte mig hen for at salve dig til konge over hans folk, Israel. Lyt nu godt efter Herrens budskab og adlyd.2Herren siger til dig: ‚Jeg har besluttet at gøre regnskabet op med amalekitterne, fordi de kæmpede mod Israels folk, dengang de kom fra Egypten.3Gå nu til angreb på amalekitterne og ødelæg alt, hvad de ejer. Skån ingen, men dræb både mænd, kvinder, børn, spædbørn, hornkvæg og småkvæg, kameler og æsler.’ ”4Så samlede Saul sin hær ved Telaim. Der var 10.000 mand fra Juda og 200.000 fra de andre stammer.5De drog af sted og lagde sig i baghold i dalen nedenfor amalekitternes hovedby.6Men Saul advarede kenitterne: „Flyt væk fra amalekitternes område, så vi ikke kommer til at slå jer ihjel sammen med dem. I var jo venlige mod israelitterne, dengang de kom fra Egypten.” Derfor flyttede kenitterne væk fra området.7Så huggede Saul amalekitterne ned hele vejen fra Havila til Shur, som ligger øst for Egypten.8Agag, amalekitternes konge, tog han til fange, men resten af befolkningen slog han ihjel.9Saul og hans mænd skånede altså Agags liv. De tog også de bedste dyr blandt småkvæget og hornkvæget og de fedeste lam og kalve til sig selv, ja, alt det bedste tog de som bytte. De ødelagde kun det, der alligevel ikke var meget værd.10Da sagde Herren til Samuel:11„Det piner mig, at jeg gjorde Saul til konge. Han har vendt sig fra mig og igen nægtet at adlyde mig.” Samuel var så oprørt, at han råbte til Herren hele natten.12Da han tidligt næste morgen gik ud for at finde Saul, fik han at vide, at Saul var taget til byen Karmel i Judas land, hvor han havde rejst sig et monument. Derfra var han taget videre til Gilgal.13Da Samuel endelig fandt ham, hilste Saul ham opstemt. „Herren velsigne dig,” sagde han. „Jeg har gjort, som Herren befalede.”14„Hvad er det så for en brægen og brølen, jeg hører?” spurgte Samuel.15„Folkene skånede nogle af de bedste husdyr,” indrømmede Saul. „Men vi har tænkt os at ofre dem til Herren, din Gud. Resten har vi tilintetgjort.”16Da sagde Samuel: „Ti stille, Saul! Nu skal jeg sige dig, hvad Herren fortalte mig i går aftes.” „Hvad sagde han?” spurgte Saul.17Samuel svarede: „Det kan godt være, at du ikke regner dig selv for noget, men Herren har nu engang gjort dig til konge over Israel.18Og her gav han dig en bestemt opgave og sagde udtrykkeligt: ‚Gå ud og tilintetgør de syndige amalekitter, indtil de alle er udryddet.’19Hvorfor adlød du så ikke Herren? Hvorfor kastede du dig over krigsbyttet, så du gjorde, hvad der var ondt i Herrens øjne?”20„Jamen, jeg adlød da Herren!” påstod Saul. „Jeg gjorde da, hvad han bad mig om! Jeg dræbte alle amalekitterne med undtagelse af kong Agag, som jeg tog til fange.21Og folket tog det bedste af krigsbyttet for at ofre det til Herren, din Gud, i Gilgal.”22Samuel svarede: „Tror du, at Herren er mere interesseret i brændofre og slagtofre end i lydighed? Nej, at adlyde Herren er vigtigere end at ofre til ham. Han foretrækker lydhørhed frem for vædderfedt.23I Herrens øjne er en oprørsk indstilling lige så stor en synd som trolddomskunst, og egenrådighed er lige så slemt som afgudsdyrkelse. Siden du har forkastet Herrens ord, har han forkastet dig som konge!”24Da indrømmede Saul: „Ja, jeg har været ulydig. Jeg har ikke adlydt Herrens befaling eller rettet mig efter dig. Jeg var bange for folkene og gjorde, som de ønskede.25Men tilgiv mig nu min synd og lad os sammen tilbede Herren.”26Men Samuel svarede: „Nej, jeg går ikke med dig. Du har forkastet Herrens ord, og nu har han til gengæld forkastet dig som konge i Israel!”27Samuel vendte sig for at gå, men Saul greb fat i hans kappe og kom til at rive den i stykker.28Da sagde Samuel: „Se! Sådan har Herren i dag revet kongedømmet ud af dine hænder, og han har givet det til en anden, der er bedre end dig.29Han, som er Israels herlighed, lyver ikke og skifter ikke mening hele tiden, som mennesker gør.”30Saul blev imidlertid ved. „Ak,” sagde han. „Jeg har syndet! Men vis mig i det mindste den ære overfor folkets ledere og hele Israel at tage med os, så vi kan tilbede Herren, din Gud, sammen.”31Så fulgte Samuel med ham, og Saul tilbad Herren.32Bagefter sagde Samuel: „Før kong Agag til mig!” Agag trådte forhåbningsfuld frem for Samuel, for han tænkte: „Nu er det værste overstået, og mit liv er reddet.”33Men Samuel sagde: „Dit sværd har dræbt mange mødres sønner. Nu er det din mors tur til at miste sin søn!” Så huggede han kong Agag ned foran Herrens alter i Gilgal.34Bagefter gik han hjem til Rama, mens Saul vendte tilbage til sit hjem i Gibea.35Det var sidste gang, Samuel så Saul. Men han sørgede uafbrudt over ham, fordi Saul havde vist sig at være ubrugelig som konge over Israel.
English Standard Version
The Lord Rejects Saul
1And Samuel said to Saul, “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 in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt.3Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction* all that they have. Do not spare them, 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 the Kenites, “Go, depart; go down from among the Amalekites, lest I destroy you with them. 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.7And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt.8And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword.9But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep and of the oxen and of the fattened calves* 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“I regret* that I have made Saul king, for he has turned back from following me and 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 Carmel, 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, “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, for 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, “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? Why did you pounce on the spoil and do what was evil in the sight of the Lord?”20And Saul said to Samuel, “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.21But 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, “Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to 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 idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king.”24Saul 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.25Now therefore, please pardon my sin and return with me that I may bow before the Lord.”26And Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you. For you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.”27As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore.28And Samuel said to him, “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 will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.”30Then he said, “I have sinned; yet honor me now before the elders of my people and before Israel, and 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.* Agag said, “Surely the bitterness of death is past.”33And Samuel said, “As your sword has made women childless, so shall your mother be childless among women.” And Samuel hacked Agag to pieces before the Lord in Gilgal.34Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul.35And Samuel did not see Saul again until the day of his death, but Samuel grieved over Saul. And the Lord regretted that he had made Saul king over Israel.
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