1 Samuel 15
1 And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to put the holy oil on you and to make you king over his people, over Israel: so give ear now to the words of the Lord.
And Samuel said to Saul, The Lord sent me to anoint thee king over Israel: and now hear the voice of the Lord.
2 The Lord of armies says, I will give punishment to Amalek for what he did to Israel, fighting against him on the way when Israel came out of Egypt.
Thus said the Lord of hosts, Now will I take vengeance for what Amalec did to Israel, when he met him in the way as he came up out of Egypt.
3 Go now and put Amalek to the sword, putting to the curse all they have, without mercy: put to death every man and woman, every child and baby at the breast, every ox and sheep, camel and ass.
And now go, and thou shalt smite Amalec and Hierim and all that belongs to him, and thou shalt not save anything of him alive, but thou shalt utterly destroy him: and thou shalt devote him and all his to [destruction], and thou shalt spare nothing belonging to him; and thou shalt slay both man and woman, and infant and suckling, and calf and sheep, and camel and ass.
4 And Saul sent for the people and had them numbered in Telaim, two hundred thousand footmen and ten thousand men of Judah.
And Saul summoned the people, and he numbered them in Galgala, four hundred thousand regular troops, and Juda thirty thousand regular troops.
5 And Saul came to the town of Amalek, and took up his position in the valley secretly.
And Saul came to the cities of Amalec, and laid wait in the valley.
6 And Saul said to the Kenites, Go away, take yourselves out from among the Amalekites, or destruction will overtake you with them: for you were kind to the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt. So the Kenites went away from among the Amalekites.
And Saul said to the Kinite, Go, and depart out of the midst of the Amalekites, lest I put thee with them; for thou dealedst mercifully with the children of Israel when they went up out of Egypt. So the Kinite departed from the midst of Amalec.
7 And Saul made an attack on the Amalekites from Havilah on the road to Shur, which is before Egypt.
And Saul smote Amalec from Evilat to Sur fronting Egypt.
8 He took Agag, king of the Amalekites, prisoner, and put all the people to the sword without mercy.
And he took Agag the king of Amalec alive, and he slew all the people and Hierim with the edge of the sword.
9 But Saul and the people did not put Agag to death, and they kept the best of the sheep and the oxen and the fat beasts and the lambs, and whatever was good, not desiring to put them to the curse: but everything which was bad and of no use they put to the curse.
And Saul and all the people saved Agag alive, and the best of the flocks, and of the herds, and of the fruits, of the vineyards, and of all the good things; and they would not destroy them: but every worthless and refuse thing they destroyed.
10 Then the Lord said to Samuel,
And the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying,
11 It is no longer my pleasure for Saul to be king; for he is turned back from going in my ways, and has not done my orders. And Samuel was very sad, crying to the Lord in prayer all night.
I have repented that I have made Saul to be king: for he has turned back from following me, and has not kept my word. And Samuel was grieved, and cried to the Lord all night.
12 And early in the morning he got up and went to Saul; and word was given to Samuel that Saul had come to Carmel and put up a pillar, and had gone from there down to Gilgal.
And Samuel rose early and went to meet Israel in the morning, and it was told Saul, saying, Samuel has come to Carmel, and he has raised up help for himself: and he turned his chariot, and came down to Galgala to Saul; and, behold, he was offering up a whole-burnt-offering to the Lord, the chief of the spoils which he brought out of Amalec.
13 And Samuel came to Saul; and Saul said to him, May the blessing of the Lord be with you: I have done what was ordered by the Lord.
And Samuel came to Saul: and Saul said to him, Blessed [art] thou of the Lord: I have performed all that the Lord said.
14 And Samuel said, What then is this sound of the crying of sheep and the noise of oxen which comes to my ears?
And Samuel said, What then [is] the bleating of this flock in my ears, and the sound of the oxen which I hear?
15 And Saul said, They have taken them from the Amalekites: for the people have kept the best of the sheep and of the oxen as an offering to the Lord your God; all the rest we have given up to destruction.
And Saul said, I have brought them out of Amalec, that which the people preserved, even the best of the sheep, and of the cattle, that it might be sacrificed to the Lord thy God, and the rest have I utterly destroyed.
16 Then Samuel said to Saul, Say no more! Let me give you word of what the Lord has said to me this night. And he said to him, Say on.
And Samuel said to Saul, Stay, and I will tell thee what the Lord has said to me this night: and he said to him, Say on.
17 And Samuel said, Though you may seem little to yourself, are you not head of the tribes of Israel? for the Lord with the holy oil made you king over Israel,
And Samuel said to Saul, Art thou not little in his eyes, [though] a leader of one of the tribes of Israel? and [yet] the Lord anointed thee to be king over Israel.
18 And the Lord sent you on a journey and said, Go and put to the curse those sinners, the Amalekites, fighting against them till every one is dead.
And the Lord sent thee on a journey, and said to thee, Go, and utterly destroy: thou shalt slay the sinners against me, [even] the Amalekites; and thou shalt war against them until thou have consumed them.
19 Why then did you not do the orders of the Lord, but by violently taking their goods did evil in the eyes of the Lord?
And why didst not thou hearken to the voice of the Lord, but didst haste to fasten upon the spoils, and didst that which was evil in the sight of the Lord?
20 And Saul said, Truly, I have done the orders of the Lord and have gone the way the Lord sent me; I have taken Agag, the king of Amalek, and have given the Amalekites up to destruction.
And Saul said to Samuel, Because I listened to the voice of the people: yet I went the way by which the Lord sent me, and I brought Agag the king of Amalec, and I destroyed Amalec.
21 But the people took some of their goods, sheep and oxen, the chief of the things which were put to the curse, to make an offering of them to the Lord your God in Gilgal.
But the people took of the spoils the best flocks and herds [out] of that which was destroyed, to sacrifice before the Lord our God in Galgal.
22 And Samuel said, Has the Lord as much delight in offerings and burned offerings as in the doing of his orders? Truly, to do his pleasure is better than to make offerings, and to give ear to him than the fat of sheep.
And Samuel said, Does the Lord take pleasure in whole-burnt-offerings and sacrifices, as in hearing the words of the Lord? behold, obedience [is] better than a good sacrifice, and hearkening than the fat of rams.
23 For to go against his orders is like the sin of those who make use of secret arts, and pride is like giving worship to images. Because you have put away from you the word of the Lord, he has put you from your place as king.
For sin is [as] divination; idols bring on pain and grief. Because thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, the Lord also shall reject thee from being king over Israel.
24 And Saul said to Samuel, Great is my sin: for I have gone against the orders of the Lord and against your words: because, fearing the people, I did what they said.
And Saul said to Samuel, I have sinned, in that I have transgressed the word of the Lord and thy direction; for I feared the people, and I hearkened to their voice.
25 So now, let my sin have forgiveness, and go back with me to give worship to the Lord.
And now remove, I pray thee, my sin, and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God.
26 And Samuel said to Saul, I will not go back with you: for you have put away from you the word of the Lord, and the Lord has put you from your place as king over Israel.
And Samuel said to Saul, I will not turn back with thee, for thou hast rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord will reject thee from being king over Israel.
27 And when Samuel was turning round to go away, Saul took the skirt of his robe in his hand, and the cloth came away.
And Samuel turned his face to depart, and Saul caught hold of the skirt of his garment, and tore it.
28 And Samuel said to him, The Lord has taken away the kingdom of Israel from you this day by force, and has given it to a neighbour of yours who is better than you.
And Samuel said to him, The Lord has rent thy kingdom from Israel out of thy hand this day, and will give it to thy neighbour who is better than thou.
29 And further, the Glory of Israel will not say what is false, and his purpose may not be changed: for he is not a man, whose purpose may be changed.
And Israel shall be divided to two: and [God] will not turn nor repent, for he is not as a man to repent.
30 Then he said, Great is my sin: but still, give me honour now before the heads of my people and before Israel, and come back with me so that I may give worship to the Lord your God.
And Saul said, I have sinned; yet honour me, I pray thee, before the elders of Israel, and before my people; and turn back with me, and I will worship the Lord thy God.
31 So Samuel went back after Saul, and Saul gave worship to the Lord.
So Samuel turned back after Saul, and he worshipped the Lord.
32 Then Samuel said, Make Agag, the king of the Amalekites, come here to me. And Agag came to him shaking with fear. And Agag said, Truly the pain of death is past.
And Samuel said, Bring me Agag the king of Amalec: and Agag came to him trembling; and Agag said Is death thus bitter?
33 And Samuel said, As your sword has made women without children, so now your mother will be without children among women. And Agag was cut up by Samuel, bone from bone, before the Lord in Gilgal.
And Samuel said to Agag, As thy sword has bereaved women of their children, so shall thy mother be made childless among women: and Samuel slew Agag before the Lord in Galgal.
34 Then Samuel went to Ramah; and Saul went up to his house in Gibeah, in the land of Saul.
And Samuel departed to Armathaim, and Saul went up to his house at Gabaa.
35 And Samuel never saw Saul again till the day of his death; but Samuel was sorrowing for Saul: and it was no longer the Lord's pleasure for Saul to be king over Israel.
And Samuel did not see Saul again till the day of his death, for Samuel mourned after Saul, and the Lord repented that he had made Saul king over Israel.
