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1.Samuel 15 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version

1.Samuel 15 | New International Reader’s Version

The Lordis sad that he made Saul king

1 Samuel said to Saul, ‘The LORD sent me to anoint you as king over his people Israel. So listen now to a message from him. 2 The LORD who rules over all says, “I will punish the Amalekites because of what they did to Israel. As the Israelites came up from Egypt, the Amalekites attacked them. 3 Now go. Attack the Amalekites. Completely destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare the Amalekites. Put the men and women to death. Put the children and babies to death. Also kill the cattle, sheep, camels and donkeys.” ’ 4 So Saul brought his men together at Telaim. The total number was 200,000 soldiers on foot from Israel and 10,000 from Judah. 5 Saul went to the city of Amalek. Then Saul had some of his men hide and wait in the valley. 6 Then Saul said to the Kenites, ‘You were kind to all the Israelites when they came up out of Egypt. Get away from the Amalekites. Then I won’t have to destroy you along with them.’ So the Kenites moved away from the Amalekites. 7 Saul attacked the Amalekites. He struck them down all the way from Havilah to Shur. Shur was near the eastern border of Egypt. 8 Saul captured Agag, the king of the Amalekites. But he and his men totally destroyed with their swords all Agag’s people. 9 So Saul and the army spared Agag. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They spared the fat calves and lambs. They spared everything that was valuable. They weren’t willing to completely destroy any of those things. But they totally destroyed everything that was worthless and weak. 10 Then the LORD gave Samuel a message. He said, 11 ‘I am very sad I have made Saul king. He has turned away from me. He has not done what I instructed him to do.’ When Samuel heard that, he was angry. He cried out to the LORD during that whole night. 12 Early the next morning Samuel got up. He went to see Saul. But Samuel was told, ‘Saul went to Carmel. There he set up a monument in his own honour. Now he has gone on down to Gilgal.’ 13 When Samuel got there, Saul said, ‘May the LORD bless you. I’ve done what he instructed me to do.’ 14 But Samuel said, ‘Then why do I hear the baaing of sheep? Why do I hear the mooing of cattle?’ 15 Saul answered, ‘The soldiers brought them from the Amalekites. They spared the best of the sheep and cattle. They did it to sacrifice them to the LORD your God. But we totally destroyed everything else.’ 16 ‘That’s enough!’ Samuel said to Saul. ‘Let me tell you what the LORD said to me last night.’ ‘Tell me’, Saul replied. 17 Samuel said, ‘There was a time when you didn’t think you were important. But you became the leader of the tribes of Israel. The LORD anointed you to be king over Israel. 18 He sent you to do something for him. He said, “Go and completely destroy the Amalekites. Go and destroy those evil people. Fight against them until you have wiped them out.” 19 Why didn’t you obey the LORD? Why did you keep for yourselves what you had taken from your enemies? Why did you do what is evil in the sight of the LORD?’ 20 ‘But I did obey the LORD,’ Saul said. ‘I went to do what he sent me to do. I completely destroyed the Amalekites. I brought back Agag, their king. 21 The soldiers took sheep and cattle from what had been taken from our enemies. They took the best of what had been set apart to God. They wanted to sacrifice them to the LORD your God at Gilgal.’ 22 But Samuel replied, ‘What pleases the LORD more? Burnt offerings and sacrifices, or obeying the LORD? It is better to obey than to offer a sacrifice. It is better to do what he says than to offer the fat of rams. 23 Refusing to obey the LORD is as sinful as using evil magic. Being proud is as evil as worshipping statues of gods. You have refused to do what the LORD told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king.’ 24 Then Saul said to Samuel, ‘I have sinned. I’ve broken the LORD’s command. I haven’t done what you instructed me to do. I was afraid of the men. So I did what they said I should do. 25 Now I beg you, forgive my sin. Come back into town with me so I can worship the LORD.’ 26 But Samuel said to him, ‘I won’t go back with you. You have refused to do what the LORD told you to do. So he has refused to have you as king over Israel!’ 27 Samuel turned to leave. But Saul grabbed the hem of his robe, and it tore. 28 Samuel said to Saul, ‘The LORD has torn the kingdom of Israel away from you today. He has given it to one of your neighbours. He has given it to someone better than you. 29 The God who is the Glory of Israel does not lie. He doesn’t change his mind. That’s because he isn’t a mere human being. If he were, he might change his mind.’ 30 Saul replied, ‘I have sinned. But please honour me in front of the elders of my people and in front of Israel. Come back with me so I can worship the LORD your God.’ 31 So Samuel went back with Saul. And Saul worshipped the LORD. 32 Then Samuel said, ‘Bring me Agag, the king of the Amalekites.’ Agag was in chains when he came to Samuel. Agag thought, ‘The time for me to be put to death must have passed by now.’ 33 But Samuel said, ‘Your sword has killed the children of other women. So the child of your mother will be killed.’ Samuel put Agag to death at Gilgal in front of the LORD. 34 Then Samuel left to go to Ramah. But Saul went up to his home in Gibeah of Saul. 35 Until the day Samuel died, he didn’t go to see Saul again. Samuel was filled with sorrow because of Saul. And the LORD was very sad he had made Saul king over Israel.

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English Standard Version

The Lord Rejects Saul

1 And 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. 2 Thus 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. 3 Now 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.’” 4 So Saul summoned the people and numbered them in Telaim, two hundred thousand men on foot, and ten thousand men of Judah. 5 And Saul came to the city of Amalek and lay in wait in the valley. 6 Then 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. 7 And Saul defeated the Amalekites from Havilah as far as Shur, which is east of Egypt. 8 And he took Agag the king of the Amalekites alive and devoted to destruction all the people with the edge of the sword. 9 But 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. 10 The 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. 12 And 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.” 13 And Samuel came to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed be you to the Lord. I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 And Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears and the lowing of the oxen that I hear?” 15 Saul 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.” 16 Then Samuel said to Saul, “Stop! I will tell you what the Lord said to me this night.” And he said to him, “Speak.” 17 And 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. 18 And 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.’ 19 Why 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?” 20 And 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. 21 But 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.” 22 And 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. 23 For 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.” 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 return with me that I may bow before the Lord.” 26 And 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.” 27 As Samuel turned to go away, Saul seized the skirt of his robe, and it tore. 28 And 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. 29 And also the Glory of Israel will not lie or have regret, for he is not a man, that he should have regret.” 30 Then 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.” 31 So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul bowed before the Lord. 32 Then 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.” 33 And 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. 34 Then Samuel went to Ramah, and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah of Saul. 35 And 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.